Airport Welcomes tourism partner

Sir Gary Verity joins council, business and airport chiefs at launch event for Great Yorkshire Way

The two organisations will work together to attract more leisure and business tourism to the region.

The £56m Great Yorkshire Way, from junction 3 of the M18 to Parrots Corner slashes travel time to Doncaster Sheffield Airport, helping to act as a gateway to Yorkshire for visitors.

As part of the deal, Flybe, which is due to launch eight new routes from Doncaster Sheffield Airport on March 24 has become Welcome to Yorkshire’s official airline partner for the year.

Sir Gary Verity, chief executive of Welcome to Yorkshire, said: “I’m very excited about this partnership between Welcome to Yorkshire, Doncaster Sheffield Airport and Flybe. Their strong offer to people living in and visiting Yorkshire is about to get even better and we’re delighted to be working with them as they enter this exciting new phase of growth.

“We share the belief that Yorkshire is a great place to visit and do business and I hope that we will see even more people making use of Doncaster Sheffield Airport’s excellent facilities and travelling on some of Flybe’s fantastic new routes.”

Steve Gill, managing director of Doncaster Sheffield Airport said: “This is fantastic news for the region and we are delighted to be working with Welcome to Yorkshire.

“Doncaster Sheffield Airport is currently the fastest growing airport in the UK with flights to over 30 destinations, seeing 18 per cent growth in passenger numbers and a record year for cargo in 2015.

“This partnership will see us working closely with Welcome to Yorkshire to firmly place the airport in people’s minds when they are looking to travel and to work on attracting visitors to our region.”

Welcome to Yorkshire is the official destination management organisation for Yorkshire, working to grow the county’s visitor economy. It is a not-for-profit membership organisation, funded in part by grants, sponsorship and Welcome to Yorkshire members. All money raised is reinvested directly back into promoting Yorkshire.

· Key facts include:

· Tourism in Yorkshire is worth £7 billion annually

· The county’s industry employs almost a quarter of a million people

· Doncaster Sheffield Airport recorded its best year since opening for Cargo business in 2015.

· Recent CAA statistics confirm that Doncaster Sheffield Airport is the UK’s fastest growing airport, 18 per cent growth in the 12 months to January 2016

· Eight new routes in Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin, Faro, Malaga, Alicante, Jersey and Newquay take off from Doncaster Sheffield Airport from March 24 with Flybe.

· Welcome to Yorkshire is the official destination management organisation for Yorkshire, working to grow the county’s visitor economy.

· Welcome to Yorkshire is a not-for-profit membership organisation, funded in part by grants, sponsorship and Welcome to Yorkshire members. All money raised is reinvested directly back into promoting Yorkshire.