Officials in the English county of Yorkshire hope that the recent success of the nation's athletes in the London 2012 Olympic Games will boost tourism to the region, reports The Daily Mail.
Cities such as Leeds and Sheffield plan to promote the recent gold medal wins of athletes including boxing champion Nicola Adams and track star Jessica Ennis to attract visitors to Yorkshire. Regional tourism authority Welcome to Yorkshire has branded the area "God's Own Country," to coincide with these recent Olympic success stories and highlight the county's natural beauty.
"Yorkshire’s success at the Olympics has really put the county on the map globally," said Gary Verity, chief executive officer of Welcome to Yorkshire, as quoted by the news source. "Nicola Adams wrote a new chapter in global sporting history and is a fiercely proud Leeds lass who’s a real people’s champion. We always knew she would be a world-beater and fantastic ambassador for our county."
Almost 3,000 international visitors were expected to travel to the United Kingdom to watch the Games, according to data from property rental specialist HomeAway. More than 580,000 people from around the U.K. were predicted to spend time in London for the duration of the Olympics, with approximately 5.5 million people expected to make day trips to the British capital.
