Welcome to Yorkshire (WTY) is the official tourism agency for the traditional county of

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

, the UK's largest

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

, promoting Yorkshire tourism both nationally and internationally. It was formerly known as the Yorkshire Tourist Board until 2009, but underwent a rebranding: a new Welcome to Yorkshire brand, a new website, the launching of various new marketing campaigns and a move to the present site in

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...

. The stated aim of the organisation is: 'to grow the county's visitor economy'. The Chief Executive from 2008 until his resignation in March 2019 was Sir Gary Verity. The current Chief Executive, James Mason, was appointed in 2019 having previously worked as chief operating officer of Bradford City Football Club and a journalist for the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

. James Mason left Welcome to Yorkshire Ltd in 2021 following an investigation, and on 1 March 2022, the business entered administration, before having its assets – including the Welcome to Yorkshire name and trademarks, sold to be run by another organization in future. The business was carrying significant debts at the time of its demise, largely to a local pension fund.

Activities

Aside from the more traditional forms of tourism marketing usually associated with tourist boards, Welcome to Yorkshire has been involved in cultural partnerships such as the Yorkshire entries to the

Chelsea Flower Show The RHS Chelsea Flower Show, formally known as the ''Great Spring Show'',Phil Clayton, ''The Great Temple Show'' in ''The Garden'' 2008, p.452, The Royal Horticultural Society is a garden show held for five days in May by the Royal Horticultural ...

, ''

The Railway Children ''The Railway Children'' is a children's book by Edith Nesbit, originally serialised in ''The London Magazine'' during 1905 and published in book form in the same year. It has been adapted for the screen several times, of which the 1970 film ...

'' tour, the Hockney tour and the Yorkshire Sculpture Triangle. They are also an official partner of

Yorkshire County Cricket Club Yorkshire County Cricket Club is one of 18 first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Yorkshire. Yorkshire are the most successful team in English cricketing hi ...

, sponsoring the team's

Twenty20 Twenty20 (T20) is a shortened game format of cricket. At the professional level, it was introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003 for the inter-county competition. In a Twenty20 game, the two teams have a single innin ...

tour of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

in 2012. Welcome to Yorkshire ran the campaign to host the 2014 Grand Depart of the

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...

in the county. On 14 December 2012 Yorkshire was confirmed as the starting place for the race.

Expenses scandal

In 2019, it was found that an

expenses An expense is an item requiring an outflow of money, or any form of fortune in general, to another person or group as payment for an item, service, or other category of costs. For a tenant, rent is an expense. For students or parents, tuition is a ...

scandal following the resignation of chief executive Sir Gary Verity led to further costs for the organisation of nearly £500,000 with

forensic accounting Forensic accounting, forensic accountancy or financial forensics is the specialty practice area of accounting that investigates whether firms engage in financial reporting misconduct. Forensic accountants apply a range of skills and methods to d ...

company BDO unable to determine if £900,000 of expenses were justified due to a lack of clear policies for expenses. Verity repaid over £40,000 and a subsequent police investigation concluded with no action being taken.

Administration and Liquidation of Welcome to Yorkshire Ltd

After the COVID-19 pandemic, and following the expenses scandal, the Welcome to Yorkshire Ltd business endured a period of financial difficulty, before entering administration on 1 March 2022. On 11 April 2022, a deal was concluded to sell the business name, websites, domains and some rights to the Tour de Yorkshire to a business called Silicon Dales Ltd who would continue to run the online operations, and committed publicly to trying to save the

Tour de Yorkshire The Tour de Yorkshire is a road cycling race in the historic county of Yorkshire, England which first took place in May 2015. It is promoted by the Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) and is rated as a 2.HC event as part of the UCI Europe Tour. ...

cycling race in future years. The Welcome to Yorkshire Ltd business was therefore liquidated by administrators, Armstrong Watson. Public records showed that, at the time of its demise, Welcome to Yorkshire Ltd owed a North Yorkshire Pension Fund over £1.4 million, raising questions from the local media – particularly the Yorkshire Post – over whether the administration should have happened much earlier.

References

External links

Welcome to Yorkshire
{{Tourism in the United Kingdom Tourism organisations in the United Kingdom Tourism in Yorkshire Tourism agencies Organisations based in Leeds