VisitBritain has announced that its flagship annual travel trade event, ExploreGB, is to be held in Harrogate in 2019.
ExploreGB is a trade-focused event with hundreds of international buyers from countries across the globe meeting travel trade suppliers from the UK to do business.
Travel industry buyers and journalists from the UK’s largest and most valuable inbound visitor markets including Australia, France, Germany and the US are expected to attend, and from its high-spending markets including China as well as Brazil, Canada, India and the Gulf Co-operation Council markets.
The event will be held at the Harrogate Convention Centre from May 8th-10th.
VisitBritain chief executive, Sally Balcombe, said: “We are very pleased to be bringing ExploreGB to Yorkshire and the north of England in 2019.
“From its world-renowned reputation as a spa destination to its location in the heart of north Yorkshire’s breath-taking countryside, Harrogate is a fantastic destination to showcase the quality of our tourism offer, the diversity of experiences across the north and a great base for our international buyers to begin their post-event tours across Britain.”
ExploreGB gives UK tourism suppliers and local destinations a valuable opportunity to get their products and services in front of hundreds of international buyers and do business with global markets, boosting visitor numbers and spreading the economic benefits of tourism across the UK.
As well as thousands of business meetings taking place across the two-day trade event, buyers and international journalists will also attend seminars and networking events to boost their knowledge of the UK as a tourist destination.
Delegates will also experience tourism products and services first-hand with pre-and-post event educational trips to destinations across the country.
Last year was a record-breaker for inbound tourism to the UK.
There were 39.2 million inbound visits to the UK in 2017, up four per cent, with visitors spending £24.5 billion, up nine per cent.
Tourism is worth more than £127 billion to the UK economy each year.