Record year for tourism in Calderdale bucks national trends

Congratulations to everyone that we’ve been working with to put Calderdale on the map as a tourist destination.

 It’s been announced that 2018 was a record year for tourism in Calderdale with a more than 10% increase in international visitors (worth ￡348.9m), bucking national trends. And that’s before the ‘Gentleman Jack effect’ which already has seen Shibden Hall visitor numbers treble.

These are fantastic results and the numbers speak for themselves: more than 68,000 international visitors, staying 15% longer and spending 17% more than the previous year. Importantly the visitor economy supported an estimated 6,958 jobs – an increase of 1.5% compared to 2017.

 Behind these figures is the vision of the people we’ve worked with since 2015 to make the place known for something distinctive – its culture. They wanted to make sure that the impact of The Piece Hall reopening in 2017 would benefit the whole region. And they understood the value of a sustained public relations campaign in helping them to achieve that. In Calderdale’s case, we had rich pickings and the freedom to play on the quirks of the towns and villages in a place that dances to its own drum.

 Without exception, the media have loved what they’ve discovered and experienced in Calderdale. From the Lonely Planet to the Kent Messenger; from The Western Australia to The Times and the 100 plus pieces of editorial coverage that have been published.

Locally, as the front page of this week's Halifax Courier reflects, there’s a growing sense of pride that the rest of the world is falling for Calderdale.