Business Backing For 2017 Remarkable East Yorkshire Tourism Awards

Hull and East Riding’s premier tourism awards, the REYTAs, have been given unprecedented support from local businesses, with more sponsors of awards than ever before.

Events and companies from Beverley that are in contention for an award are Beverley Food Festival, Beverley Puppet Festival, The Westwood Restaurant, Lempicka Cafe & Bistro, T C Patisserie and Butt Farm Caravan & Campsite.

The 2017 Remarkable East Yorkshire Tourism Awards (REYTAs), organised by Visit Hull and East Yorkshire (VHEY), will culminate in a glittering awards ceremony at The Spa in Bridlington on Thursday March 30.

Now in their eighth year and with more categories than ever before, this year’s REYTAs have attracted record entries; matched by a record number of sponsors.

“We’ve been overwhelmed by the levels of support and the enthusiasm for the REYTAs which I believe demonstrates just how important they are seen by the tourism industry across Hull and East Yorkshire,” said VHEY tourism manager Andy Cray.

New sponsors attracted for 2017 include Doubletree by Hilton, the new Hull hotel being built in Ferensway that is due to open by the end of this year on the site of the former Lexington Avenue nightclub.

The hotel is sponsoring the Remarkable Conference and Meeting Venue category and are joined by other new sponsors, including William’s Den, a new £3 million children’s adventure play centre currently being built at North Cave, the Bridlington Tourism Association, property developers Wykeland and the Tickton Grange Hotel.

“We’re tremendously grateful for support from the local business community, which makes these awards possible,” said Mr Gray. “The tourism industry is a significant employer locally and the growing number of visitors attracted to Hull and East Yorkshire means annual spend with those businesses continues to increase.”

In the ten years since VHEY was launched, the value of tourism to the local economy has risen by £182 million to £797 million per year and is now responsible for 17,422 jobs and supporting an estimated 1,800 private and public sector businesses.

“VHEY is all about leading and co-ordinating a range of activities with a strong focus on improving the visitor experience and increasing visitor spend,” said Mr Gray. “Our target is to generate an additional two million visitors by 2017-18 and increase employment by 3,500 jobs.”