Visiting North Yorkshire - traders of the week

Through his business, Visiting North Yorkshire, Chris and co tell the world what makes our area so special.

Chris said: “At Visiting North Yorkshire, we help our members within the tourism sector to promote themselves via our website and social media channels, as well as promoting our beautiful county of York and North Yorkshire.

“We do not just concentrate on the main places to visit but do features on places off the beaten track where visitors can explore more of what is on offer in the county.”

Chris launched the business two years ago from his base at Wigginton, York – just weeks before the UK went into lockdown, which has been no mean feat.

So congratulations to Chris and his team who are this week’s Trader’s of the Week.

Each week we are shining the spotlight on the independent businesses that really make York special. If you would like to nominate a York trader - or perhaps you run a local business and tell us your story - you can tell us more via this online form: www.yorkpress.co.uk/trader/

Meanwhile, here is Chris’s story:

How long has the business been going?

Visiting North Yorkshire has been running for 2years and 2 months, having worked with a Tourism Association for five years prior to this.

What does it sell?

At Visiting North Yorkshire, we help our members within the tourism sector to promote themselves via our website and social media channels, as well as promoting our beautiful county of York and North Yorkshire. Our members get a full web page to promote their business along with social media posts throughout the year for a one-off fee.

Tell us why this business is special?

We work very hard to ensure York and North Yorkshire are kept firmly in people's minds when they are looking for somewhere to visit on holiday, and promote our members throughout the year, not just when they join. We have one cost and treat all our members to the same high standard. As well as places to stay and attractions to visit we have feature pages on our website showing visitors interesting information about York and North Yorkshire so they can plan their full trip if they so wish. We do not just concentrate on the main places to visit but do features on places off the beaten track where visitors can explore more of what is on offer in the county.

York Minster - a must see for visitors

How has it adapted during the Covid-19 crisis?

We launched Visiting North Yorkshire in February 2020 just before the first lockdown so had to adapt very quickly once the pandemic took hold. We have always been passionate about our county and wanted to make sure that whenever people were able to travel again, York and North Yorkshire were firmly in their minds as the place to come.

What is your favourite story about this business?

Just a couple of months after launching we got a phone call from Look North to ask if we would speak to them about how the lockdown was likely to affect tourism in York and North Yorkshire. This was great to be noticed after such a short length of time but also a bit of a surprise as there were other organisations in the region who had been around for a lot longer., but we were able to give a good account of how we saw things going. Since then we have also been interviewed on YO1 Radio, Radio York and ITV's Calendar.

To nominate a York trader - tell us via this online form: www.yorkpress.co.uk/trader/