Harrogate council’s tourism body ‘Destination Harrogate’ facing uncertain future

The Harrogate district’s destination management organisation (DMO) was launched by Harrogate Borough Council last year.

It has four streams aimed at promoting tourism, hosting events, bringing in investment and supporting culture and was launched amid concerns the authority had a fragmented approach to tourism and marketing.

Its campaigns have focused on promoting the district as a health and wellbeing destination to capitalise on Harrogate’s spa town heritage.

But with Harrogate Borough Council ceasing to exist from April 1, to be replaced by the new unitary authority North Yorkshire Council, Liberal Democrat councillor for Hookstone, Pat Marsh, asked senior figures at HBC what will happen to the DMO.

At a meeting last night, Councillor Marsh said: “I’m looking at other authorities that are joining together and I can’t see a DMO other than our own.”

Paula Lorimer, Harrogate Convention Centre’s director, said that following an independent review commissioned by the government into DMOs, it would likely mean that only DMOs from cities or large regions will be able to receive funding from central government, which would exclude Destination Harrogate.

Ms Lorimer suggested Harrogate would have to amalgamate into a wider North Yorkshire DMO, which is yet to be created, to qualify for the funding.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service revealed last month that Harrogate Borough Council spent £2,224,000 on Destination Harrogate in its first year operating — almost a million pounds more than budgeted.

Harrogate Borough Council chief executive Wallace Sampson told councillors that the new authority could look to “identify savings” with Destination Harrogate after it is handed control of the organisation.

He added: “[Destination Harrogate] is a discretionary service and against the background of challenging financial council for new council, every discretionary service will be subject to financial scrutiny.”

Mr Sampson warned of the possible pitfalls of Destination Harrogate being merged into a county-wide tourism body, which he suggested could dilute a focus on individual places.

“From a Harrogate point of view we have Destination Harrogate that has a really strong focus on place branding and marketing and that helps to attract visitors.

"The key question will be — can you retain the focus on individual places in North Yorkshire?

"It’s something the new council will have to grapple with.”