Forget the bright lights of London and sunny shores of Spain, a campaign to boost tourism in Yorkshire has been voted the best in Europe.
Welcome to Yorkshire, launched only 18 months ago, was named Europe’s Leading Marketing Campaign at the World Travel Awards Europe gala ceremony in Turkey.
It beat off fierce competition from Thomas Cook, Visit London and Expedia.com as well as marketing campaigns in Denmark and Spain to take the title.
Welcome to Yorkshire international sales director Peter Dodd said: “This is an absolutely phenomenal feat for us.
"We have beaten off some tough competition from seven other tourism bodies across Europe but we have worked hard to plant Yorkshire firmly in the public eye and on the tourist map and this award reflects that."
All eyes are now on the ultimate accolade of winning the World’s Leading Tourist Board 2010 when Welcome to Yorkshire goes head-to-head with 15 other contenders from across the globe.
Yorkshire will be pitted against the likes of tourist agencies from Abu Dhabi, Australia, Dubai Jamaica, India, the Maldives, South Africa and New York for the prestigious World Travel Award trophy.
The winner will be announced at the World Travel Awards in London on November 7.
By Linsey McNeill
