North Yorkshire Council

Executive Committee

15 October 2024

Adoption of the North Yorkshire Destination Management Plan 2024 - 2034

Report of the Corporate Director for Community Development

1.0       PURPOSE OF REPORT

1.1 To seek agreement of the Executive to adopt the North Yorkshire Destination Management Plan 2024-2034.

2.0       SUMMARY

2.1 This paper sets out the proposal to adopt a new Destination Management Plan to support the sustainable growth of North Yorkshire’s visitor economy.  The plan provides the Council and stakeholders across the county with a clear, focussed set of priorities to drive this important sector.

3.0       BACKGROUND

3.1 The visitor economy is a major driver of North Yorkshire’s local economy. With an economic value of £4bn and responsibility for providing 38,500 jobs, it is a sector to be taken seriously. A vibrant visitor economy not only supports businesses directly within the tourism industry, but also supports in attracting investment and making North Yorkshire a truly great place to live.

3.2       The attached 10-year Destination Management Plan comes at a critical time for North

Yorkshire, and one of the most exciting in its recent history. Having recently completed local government reorganisation, the establishment of North Yorkshire Council presents a once in a generation opportunity.

3.3       Through this reorganisation, the Council has established a brand-new tourism service – Visit North Yorkshire – that will take the lead in the delivery of the attached Plan, working with public and private sector partners to promote, support and grow the visitor economy.

3.4       There will also be a new approach to working with our neighbouring destination, York, following the recent establishment of the VisitEngland accredited York & North Yorkshire Local Visitor Economy Partnership (Y&NY LVEP). This partnership will pave the way for a more strategic approach to managing our destinations, maximising shared opportunities, and tackling shared challenges.

4.0 PLAN DEVELOPMENT

4.1       Viewed as a strategic pillar of the new Council and emerging Economic Growth Strategy, it was agreed by the Local Government Reorganisation Implementation Board ahead of vesting day that work should be undertaken to develop a new forward looking, evidence-based Destination Management Plan.

4.2       Development of the plan was undertaken in five stages: inception and scoping; baselining and evidence review; emerging strategic framework; thematic deep dives; and strategy preparation and finalisation.

4.3       Extensive consultation has been undertaken and inputs from the sector and external stakeholders have been sought as detailed in the next section.

4.4 The plan has been developed during what has been a turbulent period for the economy but also during a time of great change and opportunity with the new Council and a new Mayoral Combined Authority for York and North Yorkshire. 

Though this is a ten-year plan, the intention is to review the plan and associated action plans annually to reflect the changing economic, social and environmental landscape.

5.0       CONSULTATION UNDERTAKEN AND RESPONSES

5.1 Over 500 industry stakeholders, key partners and council services have been involved in the development of this Destination Management Plan. Colleagues within the Economic Development, Regeneration, Tourism and Skills service have been involved in forming the plan, including staff involved in the delivery of current tourism services. Feedback on the final draft of the plan has been positive and the associated action plans are widely supported and reflect local, regional and nationwide aspirations.

5.2       Consultation to inform the plan has occurred in three stages.

i. A first stage consisted of series of scoping discussions with strategic senior level stakeholders including the Leader, Portfolio Holder, and Chief Executive to understand and set out the ambitions and priorities for the plan.

ii. Between May 2023 and January 2024, 39 workshops with industry partners and stakeholders focused on the five priorities of the plan, Data & Intelligence, People, Place, Product and Position & Profile.

iii. Based on feedback received between May 2023 and January 2024, a second draft was produced. This second draft was then shared with key stakeholders in September 2024 to allow for additional feedback. The second draft was also reviewed by the Council’s Management Board, the Transport, Economy, Environment and Enterprise Overview and Scrutiny Committee, and Cabinet. At the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee and Cabinet, the importance of improved transport links, traffic management, public conveniences, managing the balance between visitor and resident needs, and raising the profile of less visited destinations were raised, endorsing the inclusion of these key areas within the Destination Management Plan and associated action plans.

5.3       Inputs from all rounds of consultation have been incorporated into the final version of the plan attached.

6.0       CONTRIBUTION TO COUNCIL PRIORITIES

6.1 The Council Plan for North Yorkshire Council 2024 to 2028 lists ‘Economy’ as one of its five key ambitions, with tourism playing a key part of the ambition to deliver economically sustainable growth, enabling people and places to prosper and supporting new and existing businesses to thrive and grow.

6.2       The Destination Management Plan’s vision is to recognise, harness and embrace North Yorkshire’s strengths, while identifying sustainable growth opportunities, creating a place for all to be proud of – businesses, residents, and visitors alike. As such the plan has themes and objectives which will contribute to the Place and Environment, Health and Wellbeing and People priorities of the Council.

6.3       The plan is purposefully high level, setting a framework for detailed actions and investment plans to follow, with delivery through both the Council and in partnership with a wide range of other key delivery partners.

7.0       OPTIONS CONSIDERED

7.1 Do nothing. The lack of a clear adopted plan would potentially reduce the success of funding bids as the Council would not be able to easily demonstrate a coherent co-ordinated approach to investment in tourism growth.

7.2 Utilise former district and borough strategies. This would result in a disjointed approach as pre-existing strategies were developed at different times and focused on smaller subsets of the county. With the recent turbulence in the economy from pandemic, war in Europe, and the cost of living and doing business crises, relying on older work may result in not targeting available resources and new investment in the most effective manner.

7.3 Rely on Mayoral Combined Authority, Protected Landscapes and national strategies. This approach would not be reflective of or encompass wider North Yorkshire’s local strengths, opportunities, challenges, and distinctiveness.

8.0       IMPACT ON OTHER SERVICES/ORGANISATIONS

8.1 Outlined in the Destination Management Plan are a range of partnerships and strategic alignments that are critical to its delivery.  It details Council strategies that are key to achieving its objectives ranging from the new Local Transport Plan, Local Plan, Housing Strategy, Skills Strategy and Health and Wellbeing Strategy to name a few. Services responsible for these strategies were consulted with throughout the plan’s development.

External partners and plans such as the York and North Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority, City of York Council, Protected Landscapes Management Plans, Local Skills Improvement Plan etc. are further detailed. Due to the importance of these interlinkages, the plan has been developed with inputs from a wide range of internal services and external partners.

8.2 The last section of the plan - Action Plans and Delivery Through Partnership - sets out how we will work with all the necessary services and organisations to develop the range of action plans that will flow from the plan.

9.0       FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

9.1       There are no financial implications arising from this report.

10.0     LEGAL IMPLICATIONS

10.1     The Council has powers with regard to economic growth within its area and the development of the plan is in line with these powers. There are no specific legal implications arising from this report .

11.0     EQUALITIES IMPLICATIONS

11.1     Consideration has been given to the potential for any adverse equality impacts arising from

this plan see Appendix B Initial Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) screening form.

11.2     The EIA would indicate there are no equalities implications arising from this plan.

12.0     CLIMATE CHANGE IMPLICATIONS

12.1     Consideration has been given to the potential climate change impacts arising from this strategy (see Appendix C Climate Change Impact Assessment).

12.2     Whilst it is difficult at a high-level plan stage to assess the impacts, most activities that result from it should have a positive or neutral impact on climate change. Impacts from actions plans that flow from the plan will require more detailed consideration of their impact on climate change.

13.0     REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS

13.1 Adoption of the Destination Management Plan is recommended in order to support the sustainable growth of North Yorkshire’s visitor economy – a key economic driver for the county.

13.2 By providing a clear strategic framework, it will not only support decision making among important stakeholders in relation to the county’s visitor economy but will also place North Yorkshire in a stronger position to influence investment decisions of the Mayoral Combined Authority and other potential funding bodies.

13.3 As the Council plays a lead role in the development of North Yorkshire’s visitor economy through its Visit North Yorkshire service, this Plan will also provide the foundation upon which this new service can develop.

14.0	RECOMMENDATION(S)
14.1	That Executive: i) adopts the Destination Management Plan ii) agrees that the Destination Management Plan and associated action plans will be reviewed annually to reflect the prevailing economic conditions and wider opportunities that may arise.

            APPENDICES:

Appendix A – North Yorkshire Destination Management Plan 2024 - 2034

Appendix B – Initial Equality Impact Assessment screening form

            Appendix C – Climate Change Impact Assessment

Nic Harne

Corporate Director – Community Development

County Hall

Northallerton

Report Author – Gemma Rio – Head of Tourism / Craig Nattress – Place Development Manager

Presenter of Report – Gemma Rio – Head of Tourism

Note: Members are invited to contact the author in advance of the meeting with any detailed queries or questions.