Welcome to Yorkshire


Welcome to Yorkshire is the official tourism agency for the traditional county of Yorkshire, the UK's largest county, 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, West Yorkshire. 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.

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 Railway Children tour, the Hockney tour and the Yorkshire Sculpture Triangle. They are also an official partner of Yorkshire County Cricket Club, sponsoring the team's Twenty20 tour of South Africa in 2012.
Welcome to Yorkshire ran the campaign to host the 2014 Grand Depart of the Tour de France 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 scandal following the resignation of chief executive Sir Gary Verity led to further costs for the organisation of nearly £500,000 with forensic accounting 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.