Page 11 - Great Yorkshire Show 2017

SATURDAY JULY 01 2017 YORKSHIRE POST
SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT
Welcome To Yorkshire
We’ve so much to shout about in county
Visitors to this year’s Great Yorkshire Show can look forward to a packed line-up of entertainment and guest appearances at the Welcome to Yorkshire stand from July 11-13.
There’ll be famous faces, food and drink demos, donkeys on the beach, and plenty of surprises on stand 704 under our huge pink and white tent.
Yorkshire’s Favourite Pub – voted for by the public – will be announced at our stand on the first day of the show, which a racts people from all over the country. And they won’t be disappointed at the Welcome to Yorkshire stand, one of the biggest and most prominent.
At Welcome to Yorkshire we work hard throughout the year
to showcase our wonderful county to the millions of UK and overseas visitors who come here. It’s been an exciting year so far with a Rio Olympic and Paralympic homecoming celebration on the streets of Leeds, and a record- breaking Tour de Yorkshire, and
a beautiful show garden at RHS Chelsea.
Transport has been a focus this year as Welcome to Yorkshire led the way on planes, trains and lorries. In the air, branded Flybe planes have carried our county’s name 800,000 miles across 15 countries over the past year.
At ground level, Yorkshire witnessed an amazing spectacle
as we joined forces with Virgin Trains, Network Rail, the National Railway Museum and Hitachi to bring together four trains spanning four generations of rail transport. The world-famous Flying Scotsman and three Virgin trains ran side by side in the same direction from the North Yorkshire village of Tollerton to York station, celebrating the past, present and future of the East Coast Main Line.
And images of our county’s stunning scenery are now a regular sight for millions of people on the motorways and roads of Europe and the UK after Welcome to Yorkshire teamed up with Boroughbridge- based Reed Boardall to brand 50 of their lorries.
Sir Gary Verity, chief executive of Welcome to Yorkshire, said: “We’re ge ing the Yorkshire message out there, across the UK and beyond.
“We want to inspire people
to visit our beautiful and diverse county, to enjoy its vibrant cities, marvel at its stunning landscape and architecture, and meet the wonderful people.”
The beauty of the Yorkshire coastline was transported to the capital at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in May. More than 130,000 visitors saw Flamborough Head’s white chalky cliffs flanking a pebble beach with a lapping shoreline, wild flowers and a ruined abbey in the Welcome to Yorkshire garden.
The seaside garden was designed by Sheffield-born Tracy Foster and awarded a silver medal, which was added to Welcome to Yorkshire’s
PICTURE THIS: Main picture, the Welcome to Yorkshire stand at the Great Yorkshire Show. Above left, the group’s award- winning seaside garden at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show and, above right, the Tour de Yorkshire is growing in popularity.
Leeds to hand over the 5,000th donated bike.
The success of the county’s tourism industry would not be possible without the businesses that make Yorkshire such a unique destination.
Welcome to Yorkshire’s annual White Rose Awards – the biggest tourism event of its kind in the UK
– recognise this contribution. This year 105 businesses have been shortlisted in 17 categories, and they can look forward to a gli ering awards ceremony later this year.
Sir Gary said: “The awards give Yorkshire businesses and services an invaluable opportunity to shout about what they do best. We recognise how much they do for the county’s tourist economy and make it a fantastic destination for people near and far.”
This year we reached across
the other side of the planet when Captain Cook’s North Yorkshire co age became an honorary member of Welcome to Yorkshire. It was rebuilt in Melbourne, Australia, in the 1930s and the famous pink Welcome to Yorkshire plaque was presented to co age curators in February. It is now displayed on the building for visitors from around the world to see.
The theme at this year’s Y17 – the UK’s biggest tourism conference
– was “Yorkshire on Show”. There was a special appearance at York Theatre Royal from the Kaiser Chiefs who announced they were joining Welcome to Yorkshire in backing Leeds’s bid to become the 2023 European Capital of Culture, along with Corinne Bailey-Rae.
Welcome to Yorkshire also unveiled a film at Y17 showing our magnificent county, which will hit cinema screens later this summer. It will be shown at Everyman, City Screen Picturehouse, Cineworld, Vue and a selection of independents in London, the North East, the
North West and Yorkshire. The county’s accolades this year include being named the top UK county
for holidays with a literary link by VisitBritain.
And Welcome to Yorkshire is preparing for the Great Exhibition of the North from June to September next year. The exhibition in Newcastle will reveal the design,
culture and innovation in Yorkshire and the rest of the north of England,
and show how it inspires people to
come to the North to live and work.
Sir Gary Verity said: “It’s been
a great year for Yorkshire so far
and we’re looking forward to some
fantastic events over the next few years, which
will show off Yorkshire at its finest. It’s no surprise the
county is one of the UK’s premiere destinations.”
collection of five People’s Choice awards, one gold medal, one silver gilt, and five silvers. The gently moving water and the sound of seagulls were a huge hit with Chelsea visitors.
Sir Gary said: “The Chelsea Flower Show is the perfect platform for us to show Yorkshire to the world. Everything in this year’s garden has come from Yorkshire anditwasajoytoseehowmuch
We’re ge ing the Yorkshire message out there, across the UK and beyond.
visitors appreciated its beauty and tranquillity.”
The Tour de Yorkshire continues to go from strength to strength with a record 2.2m spectators this year. Teams of world-class riders have been flocking to the county for the three-stage Tour de Yorkshire since the Grand Départ of the Tour de France in July 2014.
It is now a major player in Yorkshire’s economy, worth more than £60m to the county.
And the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) Road World Championships is coming to Yorkshire in 2019. The event features 12 races over eight days and includes individual and team trials as well as full road races.
Sir Gary said: “We are planning to make the Tour de Yorkshire even
bigger and be er next year, and are very excited about hosting the world championships in 2019 when Yorkshire’s reputation as
the heartland of cycling
will be further
cemented.”
The Yorkshire Bank Bike Libraries scheme continues
to grow with
45 libraries,
58 stations,
5,090 donated
bikes and 38,406
opportunities to
cycle. Earlier this year,
2016 Tour de Yorkshire
champion Thomas Voeckler visited Richmond Hill Primary School in