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Update from the Yorkshire Dales National Park's Tourism Team – we don’t want to lose touch!
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Saturday 15 - Sunday 23 September 2018, Yorkshire Dales Cheese Festival - Celebrating Local Produce Friday 15 February - Sunday 03 March 2019, Yorkshire Dales Dark Skies Festival 2019
Welcome to our May 2018 edition of Tourism Talk.
Here's an update of things going on and activities we're planning over the coming months.
There's lots going on, so please read on to find out what opportunities are on offer for your business, how you can get involved and benefit from our programme.
We are well underway this year with our preparations for the Yorkshire Dales Cheese Festival 2018: Celebrating Local Produce and we have got a fantastic programme of over 50 events lined up during the festival week from
Saturday 15September to Sunday 23September 2018.
We kick off the Festival with the annual Cheese Festival at the Wensleydale Creamery taking place on the 15 and 16 of September 2018 with 35 stalls of local cheese and produce, cookery demonstrations from amazing local chefs, cheese making demonstrations, cheese pairing, butter making, street food, bouncy castle and live music throughout the day.
In the week that follows, you will be able to experience the festival at an array of venues in the area, where events themed around Yorkshire cheese and other local produce will showcase the Yorkshire Dales’ natural beauty and attractions.
Events such as cycling the Westmorland Dales area by following a route in the shape of a cheese wedge - plus opportunities for visitors to sample true Yorkshire food and cheese at amazing restaurants and tearooms who are all putting on special menus for the event from Aysgarth, Bainbridge, Hawes, Sedbergh, Airton, Barbon, Settle, Skipton, Bolton Abbey, Pateley Bridge, Masham and Leyburn.
There will be also be cheese making courses, visits into the depths of caves, cheese and wine tasting evenings, a game evening, forest schools for the children and woodland bushcraft experiences for the adults, along with specialist cycle rides and runs. We will also have informative guided walks with a dairy twist and our interesting historical learnings at the Dales Countryside Museum focusing on the history of Cheese.
Over the final weekend of the Festival, on the 22September, we have got a fantastic Beef and Beer Festival taking place near Masham in Nidderdale where you will get the opportunity to try and sample the most amazing local Dexter Beef alongside some of the finest ales produced in the Yorkshire Dales.
Look out for promotional fliers over the coming weeks and keep checking the website and facebook page for more detailed information about the amazing events we’ve got planned.
Thank you to everyone who has got involved so far. If you want to be involved by holding your own event there is still time, so please contact Helen Dalton on 01969 652368.
We hope you agree, our cyclethedaleswebsite has just got a whole lot better!
Featuring some great photography, it’s designed to really inspire people to go cycling in the Yorkshire Dales.
It includes loads of information for people planning their trip, such as cycle routes, places for bike hire and repair and links to our online accommodation listing.
The update has allowed the site to be mobile friendly and includes even more downloadable routes for cyclists to enjoy in the Dales.
Take a look here www.cyclethedales.org.uk
Apply for funding from the Yorkshire Dales National Park's Sustainable Development Fund
From April each year, £175,000 is available through our Sustainable Development Fund (SDF) to help fantastic projects, big and small, get off the ground in the National Park.
Grants are on offer to individuals, businesses, community groups and voluntary-sector bodies, and projects can be far-ranging - from community composting and appropriate renewable energy schemes to sustainable transport and eco-tourism.
The Fund supports schemes that promote a more sustainable way of living in, working in and visiting the National Park, while conserving and enhancing its local culture, wildlife, landscape and communities.
We have already received a few applications but we would like to receive a few more. Please get in touch if you have a project idea as the Fund may be able to help get the project off the ground. Enquiries can be made by phone - 01969 652337 or by using the SDF email address – SDF@yorkshiredales.org.uk.
New 'family friendly' mountain bike trail opens in the National Park.
Known as 'The Swale Trail', it's a valley bottom route 20km (12 miles) in length between Reeth and Keld, of which 70% is on unsurfaced tracks. It has been designed specifically for young mountain bikers and families who want to ride together.
The creation of the Swale Trail has involved considerable construction works to upgrade a number of bridleways and unsurfaced roads and provides an outstanding opportunity for people to immerse themselves in the iconic landscape of Swaledale. Along the trail, people also have the chance to discover more about Swaledale’s Viking history and the lead miners who left their mark on the valley.
We would like to thank all the funders – and also North Yorkshire County Council for its support, as well as the landowners and farmers along the Trail. Thanks also to the contractor Conservefor and Area Ranger Michael Briggs.
A new leaflet and pages on the YDNPA’s popular www.cyclethedales.org.uk website have also been produced.
Copies of the leaflet can be picked up from our National Park Centres.
Looking for a meeting room?
Following the closure of Rathmell School in August 2017, the school building now offers a great venue for meetings.
If you are looking to get away from it all - the facility offers a range of rooms, surrounded by peaceful countryside, within the beautiful village of Rathmell.
For more information on the facilities on offer or to book a room, please contact rathmellschooltrustees@btconnect.com or phone Rosemary Hyslop on M:07714 764329.
Welcome to Suzannah Barningham!
Suzannah joins the YDNPA's Visitor Services section, to work alongside Julie Barker, Tracey Lambert, Kathryn Storey and Helen Dalton to provide part-time admin support to the Tourism Team on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.
Suzannah joined the National Park Authority as a Dales Apprentice in 2013 and many of you may already know her from her previous role as Access Ranger, based at Orton in the North West of the Park. She lives on a farm in Swaledale, keeps sheep and does lots of hillwalking in the Dales.
Who's who in the YDNPA Tourism Team?
The Tourism Team sits within the Visitor Services section of the organisation.
The role of the Visitors Services section includes a wide range of activities such as, the running of National Park Centres and our Dales Countryside Museum, our work with tourism businesses in the Dales and co-ordinating our tourism activity with other UK National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Visitor Services is headed up by Julie Barker. Tracey and Kathryn share the role of Tourism Officer and Helen works part-time as Destination Co-ordinator.
Results of 2017 Yorkshire Dales National Park visitor survey are out!
During 2017, more than 600 visitors to the Yorkshire Dales National Park were asked about various aspects of their visit to the Yorkshire Dales.
The survey was carried out to research our visitor demographic profile, levels of visit satisfaction and research into how visitors plan their trip.
To read the full report, see the facts and figures section of our website. http://www.yorkshiredales.org.uk/living-and-working/other-services/tourism/tourism-facts-and-figures
Our annual 'big do!" and get together of Tourism and Outdoor Activity businesses operating in and around the Yorkshire Dales was held on Thursday 8 March 2018 at the Dales Countryside Museum in Hawes and was attended by over 50 organisations.
Invited speakers included Gordon Seabright CEO of the Eden Project, Dr Susan Miller from the Swaledale Festival, Ross Calladine from VisitEngland and Diane Howarth from the award winning Cottage in the Dales.
The focus for the 2018 event was “How to get more … more visitors, more often, more out of season, more for longer…” with presentations focussed around the theme of Events/Festivals, Accessibility and Destinations.
The original programme had to be changed at short notice as two of the afternoon speakers were unable to attend, due to illness. However, two members of the Destination Dales Board (Jonathon Smith from Where to Walk and Susan Briggs from the Dales Tourism Network), and Mark Corner from Friends of the Dales, valiantly stepped in and delivered interesting sessions with minimal preparation time.
Your business could be a part of England’s world-class bookable tourism offer
National Parks in England are planning unique, immersive visitor experiences which standout in the global marketplace and tell the story of our landscapes, history and culture.
The English National Park Experience Collection is working with local businesses over the next 12 months to develop branded experiences in our National Parks which have greater appeal to international audiences and which can be packaged together for development by and in close association with the inbound travel trade.
The project will initially target the Australian and German markets. There's an opportunity for you to take part in business support and training activities and to create new packages and experiences suitable for overseas markets.
There is an application process for this programme, focusing on lead experience providers and accommodation providers.
There's a sign-up fee which will be required at the beginning of the programme for successful businesses. This is based on the number of employees or how many rooms accommodation provider has. Please note the deadline for application is 5pm on 18 May 2018.
For more information and to receive updates from the English National Park Experience Collection, please click this link.
