A CAMPAIGN which aims to get people to visit the district – but not yet – is proving a massive success.

The #VisitBradfordLater initiative is promoting the area’s attractions and encouraging visitors to explore, once the coronavirus situation allows.

Figures show that in the past few months, Bradford Council’s Visit Bradford tourism team has seen a 108 per cent surge in visitors to its website.

And there has been an incredible 2,000 per cent increase in the number of people viewing its blogs.

Visit Bradford has been urging local people and those outside the district to keep in contact online – remembering ‘the good times’ and looking ahead to when places reopen.

The team has also run a series of successful Instagram Takeover weeks, with highlights including a garden tour at National Trust property East Riddlesden Hall and a virtual walk around Haworth.

A weekly newsletter is being emailed to more than 17,300 recipients, with latest information and details of things that people can do during the pandemic.

Councillor Sarah Ferriby, the council’s executive member for healthy people and places, said: “We’ve some great places for tourists and locals to visit across the whole of our district – it has been a real shame that people have not been able to visit them this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, but it is still vitally important that people continue to stay at home as much as possible and not congregate in large groups if we are to control the spread of this deadly infection.

“The message of the campaign is #VisitBradfordLater and looking at the numbers of people visiting the website and engaging on social media, it appears that’s what people are planning to do.

“As soon as it’s safe for people to visit the wonderful places and attractions that is what we will be encouraging them to do, but meantime people should continue to work on their plans to #VisitBradfordLater.”

For more details about the campaign, go to visitbradford.com.

Meanwhile, regional marketing body Welcome to Yorkshire has launched the Yorkshire Gift Card as part of its post-Covid-19 recovery plan.

Any business can register for free to accept the gift card. They just need to first sign-up for free affiliate business membership of Welcome to Yorkshire, at yorkshire.com/membership.

James Mason, the organisation’s chief executive, said: “Affiliate membership and the Yorkshire Gift Card are just two of our initiatives to help get Yorkshire back on its feet following Covid-19.

“We want to be able to speak to the whole industry and through our new entry-level affiliate membership, offering free support and resources, we will be able to do this.

“Coupled with this, the Yorkshire Gift Card is designed to help lock-in spend within the county so that businesses across the hospitality and tourism spectrum can benefit.

“If you’re a business owner I would encourage you to sign-up now to become an affiliate member and to accept the Yorkshire Gift Card – it’s completely free and there are no hidden fees.”