Tourism numbers for the Whitby area

Issue: NYC and YNYCA forward plans and strategies are being developed using figures for the visitor economy drawn from the North Yorkshire STEAM Surveys. The NY STEAM survey 2025 showed that some 2M visitors to Whitby spent 3.6M days in Whitby, with an economic impact of £353M.

• Previous estimates and surveys of the number of visitors to Whitby, over the past 20 years, strongly suggest that the current STEAM figures for Whitby are significantly underestimated.
• STEAM modelling is not designed to provide a precise and accurate measurement of tourism in a local area, but rather to provide an indicative base for monitoring trends.
• The STEAM report for the North York Moors National Park and influence area includes the Whitby ‘enclave.’ But it is unclear which areas of the National Park and/or former Scarborough Borough Council have been included/omitted from the North Yorkshire STEAM model.

If the Natl. Park figures are included in full within the N. Yorks. figures, then the 2025 STEAM Reports would suggest that:

1. The NYM National Park’s visitor economy generated £1.13 billion, which would represent 26% of North Yorkshire’s total visitor economy of £4.3 billion.
2. There were 9.8 million tourism visits to the NYM National Park, which would represent 31% of the 31.2 million visitors to North Yorkshire.
3. There were 7.9 million tourism visits by day visitors to the NYM National Park, which would represent 32% of the 25M day visitors to North Yorkshire.

Some earlier reports estimating the number of visitors to Whitby:

• 2005 : Over 1.5 M visitor days (from Eng. Heritage and SBC report)
• 2006 : 1.7 to 2M visitors to Whitby (from Whitby Beacon Town Forum / EU CREST project) NB The CREST Traffic Survey analysed all NYC hourly traffic flow data for 2005 for the local road network, by type, direction, time-of-day, etc. Some 5M vehicles entered Whitby during the year. Amongst other findings it demonstrated that 45% of visitors entered the town using the A169 from Pickering and 45% using the A171 from Guisborough. Hence the Whitby Park & Ride was sited at the Western entry to the town.
• 2011 : DEFRA’s NE Coastal Strategy (2) report commented that the level of tourism in Whitby: “demonstrates a value to the UK economy, not only the regional or local economy.”
• 2011/12/13 : 3M+ visitors p.a. [from STEAM reports for Whitby commissioned by WBTF CIC]
• 2016/17 : 3.65M visitors (from the York Potash / Sirius Mine Planning Application to NYMNPA which found that 59% of visitors to the NYMNP included Whitby in their visit.)

Other factors to be considered:

1. If around half of all visitors to the NYMNP do include Whitby in their itinerary, then Whitby would represent a very significant proportion of the total North Yorkshire visitor economy – despite its population of c.13,000 residents, which represents only 2% of the population of NYC.
2. The earlier STEAM statistics, compiled before 2022, did not include visitors staying in AirBnBs, of which there are currently 1380 listed in Whitby. In addition, there are 1340 second homes paying the second homes premium, which represents 20% of the NYC total for all towns. The Whitby Housing Needs Assessment (HNA) by AECOM in 2024 noted that up to 44% of housing in the town comprises holiday or second homes.
3. From a different standpoint, the NYC Tourism Survey 2023 (by Emotional Logic) reported that, of the 12 most attractive specific towns named by survey participants: 23% said they wanted to visit Whitby for an overnight stay, while Harrogate and Scarborough came joint 2nd with 12% each. For day trips, Harrogate was the most popular destination mentioned by 17%, with Whitby coming 2nd at 15%, followed by Skipton at 7%.

Local Concerns:

• Whitby has a failing infrastructure that is unable to cope with the existing volumes of traffic, despite NYC providing well over 2,000 off-street parking places plus on-street parking. The current economic climate has increased the volume of day visitors, placing yet further demand on car and coach parking facilities. Both the town centre and approach roads are subject to significant daily traffic congestion. Motorists, both visitors and residents, circle the densely-built steep and narrow streets, searching for a parking space.
• Whitby is the only town in England which is wholly enclosed, on land, by a National Park. Thus, all visitors to Whitby must cross the Natl. Park using single-carriageway moorland roads (or, to a minor extent, by train from Middlesbrough or via the North York Moors Railway from Pickering).
• The NYM National Park has commenced its review of the Local Plan 2026-2041. A key objective is to “Address priorities for 2025–2040 including landscape, climate change, nature recovery, housing, and tourism” – but only within the Natl. Park boundary, so excluding consideration of the needs of the Whitby enclave.
• 2028 is the 300th Anniversary of the birth of Captain James Cook, which is likely to attract a further substantial increase in visitor numbers to Whitby. The tricentennial celebrations include the planned return visit to Whitby of the authentic replica HMS Bark Endeavour from Sydney, Australia. The marked national and international response following her first visit in 1997 kick-started the growth of Whitby’s visitor economy. Whitby was awarded “Best Seaside Resort 2006“, by Which? Holiday magazine and still appears almost every year in the various Top 10 listings of seaside resorts.

Summary of Concerns

Urgent action is needed, to safeguard Whitby’s current and future contribution to the NYC and YNYCA visitor economy. Effective transport, traffic and parking plans need to be in operation by 2028. Detailed traffic flow studies and realistic estimates of current visitor numbers are required urgently, in order to develop and implement such plans. The NYM National Park should be invited to participate in all such planning.