ATTRACTIONS across the district will play a key role in kick-starting Yorkshire’s tourism economy once the coronavirus crisis is over.

That’s the message from James Mason, chief executive of tourism body Welcome to Yorkshire, who said the organisation meantime was investigating other avenues to promote the region as the pandemic took a grip of the industry and all aspects of life.

The former Bradford City FC chief operating officer said his home city and its surrounds could be at the forefront of getting the county back on its feet post-coronavirus.

Currently many popular tourist attractions – including the Bronte Parsonage Museum at Haworth, East Riddlesden Hall, Cliffe Castle Museum and the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway – are closed to the public to help stop the spread of the virus.

Mr Mason said: “Bradford will play a huge role in kick-starting the Yorkshire economy.

“Tourism is the lifeblood of much of the county and is presently worth £9 billion a year.

“In the district we have a host of tourist attractions such as the Science and Media Museum, Salts Mill and Haworth and the Bronte Parsonage to name but a few – all on our doorstep – with the Yorkshire Dales only a matter of miles away.

“Bradford has a huge part to play in the bigger picture of Yorkshire’s tourism economy and we are here to support the city.

“It’s vital that we and our members prepare ourselves to hit the ground running and be ready for the world to enjoy Yorkshire again when we come out the other side of the COVID-19 crisis.

“We chose Bradford as our host city for the Y20, not because I am from there but because Bradford is showing to the rest of the UK how a city can plan together.”

Mr Mason said that while many locations were currently off-limits due to the pandemic, the Welcome to Yorkshire website was hosting a series of online events.

Activities have included a World Cup of Yorkshire, in which attractions battled it out in a public vote.

There is also a voucher scheme, which is seeing visitors commit to a future visit to a tourism venue.

And a Yorkshire Days In campaign aims to keep attractions on the map.

Mr Mason added: “As much as we’d love to say ‘welcome to Yorkshire’ to visitors from across the UK and abroad, we simply can’t right now.

“But the closed sign on the door is very much a temporary one.”