DOZENS of tourism businesses in the region have revealed that their revenue has plummeted by more than half since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Welcome to Yorkshire has published the results of a survey conducted with the Tourism Alliance on how the Government can best assist the region’s tourism and hospitality businesses emerge from the pandemic.

The findings will be shared with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, as well as Yorkshire MPs.

Of the 224 anonymous replies to questions on topics such as the impact of Covid-19 on business performance and expectations for 2022,

more than a third have seen revenue decline by more than a half since the pandemic started.

More than 120 businesses had access to less than two months of cash reserves.

Views were also sought on individual Government measures that would be helpful to Yorkshire businesses.

But despite more than a quarter of respondents experiencing cancellation rates of more than 50 per cent for the first three months of 2022, only 5.4 per cent believed their business was 'very likely to fail' between now and the end of the year.

Additional sector specific grants, currently administered by local councils, were the most popular demand of Whitehall.

Other requests include the maintenance or reduction of the current 12.5 per cent VAT rate and the easing of Plan B Covid restrictions.

Chair of Welcome to Yorkshire, Peter Box, said: “We will always make the strongest possible case for more support for Yorkshire’s tourism and hospitality sectors which continue to be the beating heart of our economy.

“Having first-hand data about the experiences, hopes and fears of these businesses based on the past two turbulent years really helps us in this task.

“Many have found it incredibly challenging, particularly following the arrival of the Omicron variant just as the normally profitable festive season was getting underway.

“I commend the support the Government has provided since 2020, including the additional funding the Chancellor announced just before Christmas.

“But ministers have rightly continued to stress their belief that Covid-19 will be with us for years to come. That must surely mean that direct assistance for Yorkshire’s tourism and hospitality industry should remain in place.

“It is my sincere hope that the results of this survey will encourage the Government to bring forward tailored and generous solutions to help these businesses well into the future.”