Strengthening International Connections at VisitBritain Exchange 2026

At a Glance

What we did: Visit York and Visit North Yorkshire attended VisitBritain Exchange 2026 together, representing the York and North Yorkshire Local Visitor Economy Partnership (LVEP) and engaging with international market representatives.

How it benefits York and beyond: Joint representation creates opportunities to showcase the strengths of York and North Yorkshire, strengthen international relationships and support wider destination promotion.

Who it supports: Tourism and hospitality businesses, visitor attractions, cultural organisations and the wider visitor economy across York and North Yorkshire.

The key result: The partnership enabled York and North Yorkshire to share destination stories, priorities, events and opportunities for 2027 with VisitBritain's international network.

The full story

Visit York and Visit North Yorkshire strengthened their international destination connections by attending VisitBritain Exchange (ViBE) 2026 together, representing the York and North Yorkshire Local Visitor Economy Partnership (LVEP) at the dedicated Meet the Markets event in Liverpool on Thursday 29 October.

Representing Visit York, the Marketing and Communications Manager, Samar, joined colleagues from Visit North Yorkshire for a day of focused discussions and networking with VisitBritain's international network, Commercial Partnerships team and VisitEngland Regional Development Team.

The event brought together representatives from Local Visitor Economy Partnerships and strategic partners, providing an opportunity to discuss destination priorities, stories, products, events and opportunities for 2027.

Through their joint attendance, Visit York and Visit North Yorkshire were able to represent the wider destination, highlighting the complementary visitor experiences and strengths of York and North Yorkshire to international market representatives.

The programme included a series of scheduled appointments with VisitBritain's country managers, communications specialists and travel trade representatives. International representation spanned key markets across Europe, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), India, China and North East Asia, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, North America and Brazil.

Each appointment provided an opportunity to discuss what makes the destination distinctive, share key destination stories and updates, highlight forthcoming events and showcase new products, venues and visitor experiences.

The ten-minute meeting format encouraged concise, focused conversations, while dedicated networking opportunities throughout the day allowed further introductions and discussions to take place.

Joint representation through the York and North Yorkshire Local Visitor Economy Partnership (LVEP) reflects the importance of partnership working in strengthening the international profile of York and North Yorkshire. By bringing together destination expertise and working collaboratively, Visit York and Visit North Yorkshire can present a broader and more connected visitor offer to international audiences and the travel trade.

The event also provided an opportunity to identify stories and experiences that could be particularly relevant to international markets as both destinations look towards 2027.

Continued engagement with VisitBritain and its international teams will help support destination awareness, strengthen industry relationships and create further opportunities to champion the visitor offer across York and North Yorkshire.

Through collaborative activity and a shared approach to international destination marketing, Visit York and Visit North Yorkshire continue to support the ambitions of the York and North Yorkshire Local Visitor Economy Partnership (LVEP) and the long-term success of the region's visitor economy.