News and opportunities for members
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Congratulations to all our Visit York Tourism Award 2023 Finalists! The winners for the 16 categories will be announced on the 23rd March 2023 at York Racecourse, during a night of glitz, glamour and live entertainment as we celebrate the best in York's tourism, hospitality and culture. To book your tickets and find the full list of finalists click here.
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Baubles, carols and festive fairs – Christmas in York is just around the corner! Extra special plans are in place across the city this year as we celebrate 30 years of St Nicholas Fair, returning 17th November to 23rd December. 70 alpine chalets will line the streets of Parliament Street and St Sampson’s Square with an array of local businesses selling everything from handmade gifts to delicious seasonal treats and crafts.
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The spooky season is upon us with a whole host of tricks and treats to discover this Halloween. We've partnered with the York Dungeon and York Park & Ride to bring you a brand-new video featuring Madame Card at the super scary "Seance" show at the Dungeon. The video is being boosted on our social channels and being promoted via ITV hub. Find out more on the Haunted hub here. Copies of the new Haunted leaflet are available from the Visitor Information Centre.
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York Residents' Festival will be returning next year to bring a series of fun events, offers and attraction entries to York Residents. If your business would like to be involved and include a discount/offer for York Residents during Resident Festival weekend, email membership@makeityork.com
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Back due to popular demand, we'll be running our Christmas Advent Giveaway between the 1st - 24th December on our Visit York social media channels. In 2021, we received over 5,000 entries with a total of over 285,000 social impressions, so if you would like to get involved, email your interest to faye.davis@makeityork.com.
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Brand new for 2022, we'll be creating a series of themed itineraries for visitors to York which will be listed on the Visit York Homepage, include a bespoke video, social content and dedicated content in our e-newsletters. The themes for the Christmas itineraries include Festive Fun for all the Family, Santa Spotting in York, Festive Break in York and Santa Approved Christmas Shopping Experiences. If you would like your business to feature in one of these itineraries, please email faye.davies@makeityork.com.
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Our quarterly results for Q2 (June-August 2022) were presented at our Make It York Attractions meeting in September. This included higher hotel occupancy levels, more attraction visits, more visits to the Visitor Information Centre and a higher use of the Visit York Pass when compared to the summer of 2021. If you would like to view the full report, please email helen.wilkinson@makeityork.com
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As international visitors begin to return, we're busy working on our new international programme of activity. This year will include a presence at WTM taking place from 7-9 November in London at Excel on the UKInbound stand with Visit Leeds. The campaign will include various trade shows, workshops, fam trips, trade liaison, our online travel trade training programme and a new Chinese Student Ambassadors scheme. If you are interested in becoming one of our international partners, please contact michelle.brown@makeityork.com
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With 55% of ceremonies this year coming from couples living outside York, York Registry Office want to make our beautiful city the number 1 destination in the UK to celebrate weddings/civil partnerships. They are looking for additional venues to help achieve this, if you are interested in becoming licenced for ceremonies or if you would like to have a chat about other services on offer, please contact Christine.geddes@york.gov.uk
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The Event Planners' Toolkit is designed to help delegates plan their visit to York. The kit includes social cards for LinkedIn and Twitter, useful links, sample copy, travel info, ‘must-see York’, digital versions of our city guides and more – everything delegates and business visitors need to make the most of their time in York or extend their stay. View and share the toolkit here.
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Visit York works on an annual programme of engagement and promotion with the travel trade in conjunction with VisitBritain, UKInbound and England’s Historic Cities consortium. Whilst some key international markets are still waiting to return, trade engagement has remained strong with virtual or live trade events and seminars to make sure we keep York and our partners front of mind. You can find out more about our marketing activities on our international hub.
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As a Visit York member, you and your business can order free copies of the Mini Guide from Info Display to showcase the best of York in your attractions and venues. You can order your guides here.
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Contact digitalteam@makeityork.com for suggestions on how to improve your page on visityork.org, learn how to take full advantage of your membership or ask any other questions you may have about your web listing.
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On Wednesday 5th October, explore the history of York through the drama of Shakespeare at Barley Hall's new exhibition, The Bard at Barley Hall. The new exhibition features costumes worn by famous actors, an interactive stage where you can dress up yourself. Plus, there'll be samples from the new Barley Hall Coffee Shop. Sign up here.
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The Meetings Industry Association (MIA)'s Wedding Conference on the 11th October is designed to help venues grow existing and new business. This educational event is aimed at team members working in business development, sales, event coordination and venue operations. See the full programme and book your place here.
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York Minster is inviting Visit York members to be among the first to see a new sound and light projection which will illuminate its cavernous Nave later this month. Platinum and Light, which has been designed by award-winning artists Ross Ashton and Karen Monid, will open at the cathedral on the 20th October with a special stakeholder preview event at 7.30pm. Book your free ticket here.
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Martin Evans, The Tourism Business, is offering a series of workshops for businesses involved in the tourism sector. These all day sessions will cover the management and marketing of tourism, hospitality and leisure businesses and help businesses to prepare for 2023. Available in York on the 26th October and the 22nd November at the Bar Convent Centre. Find out more here.
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York Restaurant Week is back on the 10th - 16th October! With a range of mouth-watering offers, enjoy and explore the fantastic food and drink businesses based in York City Centre as restaurant, cafes, pubs, bars, hotels and street food vendors will offer a huge variety of deals over the course of 7 days. For the full list of offers, visit yorkrestaurantweek.co.uk
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Bradley's Jewellers have been awarded the Retail Jeweller of The Year award, a prestigious award given to a destination boutique business, with five stores or less, which excels in fine jewellery. You can read more about the team's win here.
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York Chocolate Story have been awarded their second Sandford Award for Heritage Education for their entertaining and informative workshops with schools. Children of all ages can enjoy fully interactive and engaging tours and workshops which bring the history of chocolate to life. You can read more here.
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Mr Chippy have been named as one of the finalists for this year's Fish and Chip Shop Takeaway of the Year shortlist, where they've already made it into the top 40 and are now competing to be number 1! The winner will be unveiled on February 28th 2023. You can read more about it here
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York has been shortlisted as a finalist for both the Best UK Destination and for the Best Christmas Experience awards by the Group Leisure & Travel Awards 2022. The winners will be announced on the 5th October. You can find out more here.
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The Millie Wright Charity Winter Ball will be hosted by Amy Garcia at York Racecourse on the 26th November 2022 to celebrate the lives of Peter Woodmansey and Millie Wright, and help bridge the gap in support between malignant and non-malignant conditions. An evening of live music from The Y Street Band and Spectrum, drinks reception on arrival with operatic singing from Peter's brother Andrew, sumptuous food, auction and raffle. Book your place here.
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Social Statistics:
(across VisitYork Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn)(this month affected by the Queen's social black-out)
- 879,520 impressions
- 35,065 engagements
- 2,385 clicks to the Visit York website
- 734 new followers
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Website Statistics:
(across VisitYork Website)
- 126,249 unique users on the website
- Most visited pages:
- Christmas
- What’s on
- Things to Do
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Press Statistics:
- 41 print and online articles
- 4,853,531 reach
- Coverage including Countryfile Magazine, Prima, Sunday Mail, York Press, Yorkshire Life and Living North.
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