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STEAM Economic Evaluation

STEAM (Scarborough Tourism Economic Activity Monitor) is a tourism economic impact modelling process which approaches the measurement of tourism from the bottom up, through its use of local supply side data and tourism performance and visitor survey data collection.

STEAM quantifies the local economic impact of tourism, from both staying and day visitors, through analysis and use of a variety of inputs including visitor attraction numbers, tourist accommodation bed stock, events attendance, occupancy levels, accommodation tariffs, macroeconomic factors, visitor expenditure levels, transport use levels and tourism-specific economic multipliers.

North Yorkshire in Numbers

Key headlines from 2023 report for North Yorkshire:  

  • North Yorkshire’s visitor economy is worth £4.06 billion, up 0.5% on 2022 (excluding inflation).
  • North Yorkshire welcomed over 31 million people to the region in 2023 including both day and overnight visitors, down 3.9% on 2022.
  • 38,400 people are employed in full-time equivalent roles in North Yorkshire’s visitor economy, up 4% on 2022.
  • Over 6.2 million people had an overnight stay in the region, down 1.2% on 2022
  • The average length of stay of North Yorkshire’s visitors is 4.0 days, in line with 2022, and significantly higher than the national average of 2.8 days (Source: Visit Britain)

Visitor numbers throughout the UK were high in 2022 as a result of a ‘bounce back’ in visitors after the COVID pandemic, therefore areas of limited growth or slight decline were to be expected in 2023.

Download the full report

Towns in Focus

Filey Bay, in North Yorkshire

Filey:  

  • Economic impact: £417.1M (+0.8% from 2022)
  • 1.9M visitors (-7.7% from 2022), spending 4.1M days in Filey ( -5.1%) – average visit 2.2 days.
  • 2718 FTE employment in tourism (+4.3% from 2022)

 

Harrogate:  

  • Economic impact: £452.0M (-3.4% from 2022)
  • 3.0M visitors (-2.1% from 2022), spending 4.7M days in the area ( -3.9%) – average visit 1.6 days.
  • 4210 FTE employment in tourism (+2.6% from 2022)

 

Beautiful streets and independent shops in Harrogate, North Yorkshire
Relaxing views, in North Yorkshire

Knaresborough:  

  • Economic impact: £53.5M (-6.7% from 2022)
  • 517K visitors (-3.3% from 2022), spending 770K days in Knaresborough ( -7.3% ) – Average visit 1.5 days
  • 517 FTE employment in tourism (-0.1% from 2022)

 

Malton:  

  • Economic impact: £92.1M (-3.4% from 2022)
  • 718K visitors (+1% from 2022), spending 1.3M days in Malton ( -3.6% ) – Average visit 1.8 days
  • 898 FTE employment in tourism (+2.6% from 2022)

 

malton
Relaxing views, in North Yorkshire

Masham:  

  • Economic impact: £23.9M (-3.3% from 2022)
  • 196K visitors (-2.5% from 2022), spending 291K days in Masham ( -4.4% ) – Average visit 1.5 days
  • 228 FTE employment in tourism (+2.2% from 2022)

 

Pickering:  

  • Economic impact: £137.M (+0.0% from 2022)
  • 907K visitors (+1.3% from 2022), spending 1.6M days in Pickering ( -2.5% ) – Average visit 1.8 days
  • 1313 FTE employment in tourism (+3.8% from 2022)

 

Pickering Market in full swing
Exploring the history of Richmond North Yorkshire

Richmond:  

  • Economic impact: £132.5M (+0.6% from 2022)
  • 811K visitors (-3.4% from 2022), spending 1.5M days in Richmond ( -4.4% ) – Average visit 1.8 days
  • 1365 FTE employment in tourism (+2.9% from 2022)

 

Ripon:  

  • Economic impact: £81.9M (-5.9% from 2022)
  • 584K visitors (-3.5% from 2022), spending 981K days in Ripon ( -7.8% ) – Average visit 1.7 days
  • 763 FTE employment in tourism (-0.3% from 2022)

 

Exploring the Streets of Ripon, North Yorkshire
Family experiences in North Yorkshire

Scarborough:  

  • Economic impact: £561.6M (-1.6% from 2022)
  • 3.8M visitors (-6.7% from 2022), spending 6.3M days in Scarborough ( -4.4% ) – Average visit 1.7 days
  • 5628 FTE employment in tourism (+3.0% from 2022)

 

Selby:  

  • Economic impact: £41.5M (-4.7% from 2022)
  • 319K visitors (-4.0% from 2022), spending 534K days in Selby ( -6.4% ) – Average visit 1.7 days
  • 414 FTE employment in tourism (+0.6% from 2022)

 

Relaxing views, in North Yorkshire
Boat trips in Skipton, North Yorkshire

Skipton:  

  • Economic impact: £207.0M (0.2% from 2022)
  • 1.7M visitors (-2.9% from 2022), spending 2.6M days in Skipton ( -2.3% ) – Average visit 1.5 days
  • 2204 FTE employment in tourism (+3.9% from 2022)

 

Thirsk:  

  • Economic impact: £128.9M (-2.6% from 2022)
  • 1.2M visitors (-4.1% from 2022), spending 1.8M days in Thirsk ( -5.7% ) – Average visit 1.5 days
  • 1086 FTE employment in tourism (+1.8% from 2022)

 

Thirsk, the heart of James Herriot county, North Yorkshire
Relaxing views, in North Yorkshire

Whitby:  

  • Economic impact: £353.8M (-5.3% from 2022)
  • 2.0M visitors (-8.0% from 2022), spending 3.8M days in Whitby ( -7.1% ) – Average visit 1.9 days
  • 3572 FTE employment in tourism (+0.6% from 2022)

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