TOURISM agency Visit York will retain its brand identity into 2015 as it looks to grow the value of the sector under the umbrella of a new company.

Around 250 delegates at the agency's annual conference Tourism Insights heard how the Visit York name will be kept when the organisation becomes part of Make it York next year.

The new company has been set up by City of York Council to collectively market and attract investment across all sectors of business in the city, including tourism.

Jane Lady Gibson, chairman of both Visit York and Make it York, said: "This is about a bold, collaborative new approach to the way in which York raises its profile, attracts and supports business investment, manages the city centre and markets the city nationally and internationally.

"The new company would be developed to identify new areas for growth, securing a sustainable future for tourism in York and building on success so far."

The conference, held at York Racecourse yesterday, also featured a presentation on the collective performance of Visit York members in the 2013/14 year.

During the year, the agency announced a record-breaking £606 million annual tourism spend figure from 2012's visitors, with the city's eight largest attractions welcoming 2.7 million visits in 2013.

A new television campaign, produced by Visit York to sell the city to first-time visitors aged 25 to 65, was seen by a million cinema-goers, and 6.5 million television viewers in Scotland.

Kate McMullen, head of Visit York, said: "2014 will always be remembered as the year the Tour de France came to York and I am confident we will continue to reap the benefits of global exposure.

"This year we also achieved the 'China Welcome' status for York and we're working hard to ensure York is a 'must visit' destination on the itineraries of the growing, high-spending Chinese visitor market."

Selling York to the Chinese market was one of the key themes of the conference, sitting alongside the launch of a new strategy by Visit York to target Chinese visitors.

The conference's key note speaker and special guest was Professor Dr Wolfgang Arlt, a world expert on inbound tourism from China, who spoke about how businesses can adapt and get ready to tap into the Chinese visitor market.