Most tourist attractions in Keighley and Haworth have held their own despite a difficult year’s business.

Popular visitor destinations contacted by the Keighley News have reported receiving similar numbers of tourists last year as they did in 2007, defying the economic slump.

Andrew McCarthy, museum director at Haworth’s Brontë Parsonage, said 72,000 people visited it in 2008 compared with 75,000 people the previous year.

He said: “We were quite pleased because in May of last year we were actually 20 per cent down on the previous year.

“We managed to make up a lot of ground.

“For the first time we had an exhibition focusing on Emily Brontë. That ran through the summer and generated a lot of interest.

“We re-open on February 1 with a completely refurbished exhibition area — the first time that’s happened for 30 years.”

Samantha Lawson, of East Riddlesden Hall, said the premises had 25,500 visitors through its doors in 2008, a marginal increase on the previous year.

“The numbers were healthier than we expected given the economic climate and the decline in spending on leisure,” she said.

“But we were helped by people staying local.”

The building re-opens to the public on February 28. This year marks the 75th anniversary of the National Trust’s ownership of the property.

Bob Stott, of the Museum of Rail Travel at Ingrow, said its numbers had been virtually the same as the year before.

“We had just over 10,000 people come into the museum itself but that doesn’t include the people who come into our shop and buy things there,” he said. “That could amount to maybe another 3,000 people.” No figures were yet available from the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway.

But railway spokesman Jim Shipley said: “It’s been pretty steady as she goes really and our impression is that we were on a par with 2007.

“Of course, we did lose some traffic due to the general economic situation but we made up ground because more local people are choosing attractions closer to home.”

Cliffe Castle Museum was visited by 75,116 people last year, compared to 75,468 in 2007.

The Keighley Bus Museum Trust does not keep precise figures for visitor numbers.

But the group’s spokesman, Graham Mitchell, said it had just experienced its most successful year yet for private hire work.

The trust, which is based off Dalton Lane, hires its vintage vehicles out for weddings and parties across northern England.

Mr Mitchell said it had sent buses as far north as Grasmere and as far south as Chatsworth House, in Derbyshire.

“This isn’t something we planned but we’ve managed to become very well established on the wedding circuit,” he said.

“We were even invited to attend two wedding fairs, one in Huddersfield and the other at Coniston Hall.”

He added that the trust also responded to requests for involvement in local galas and staged successful vintage vehicle shows at Ingrow and Oxenhope railway stations.