Otley is in line to potentially receive a prestigious tourism award at the end of September.

The West Yorkshire market town in a finalist in the Best Coach Friendly Destination category at the British Coach Tourism Awards that will take place at Birmingham’s National Motorcycle Museum on September 22.

Designed to coincide with the British Tourism & Travel Show, the awards have been a long-time coming, given they have been postponed three times due to the Covid crisis and reflect excellence in 2019-20.

Otley will face stiff competition from fellow finalists Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole Tourism (BCP Tourism), Burnham-on-Sea, Southport and Wells in Somerset, all of which have a strong coach tourism offering.

Otley’s appearance in such a strong category reflects the hard work that has gone into the coach tourism sector by the Town Coordination Committee, an informal group of stakeholders including members of Otley Town Council, Otley Business Improvement District, Otley Town Partnership, Otley Chamber of Trade and Leeds City Councillors representing the town.

In the period leading up to the entry, initiatives included improved signage for coaches, coach drivers and passengers, drop-off/pick-up bays, long-stay coach parking, an incentive scheme for coach drivers and the chance of coaches being welcomed by the Otley Bellman, Terry Ford.

Alongside other tourism initiatives such as the re-branding of the town’s tourism offering, re-vamp of the Visit Otley website and production of various promotional literature, including town walking trails, in 2019 Otley became one of a handful of UK towns awarded the prestigious Coach Friendly Status by the Confederation of Passenger Transport.

Chair of Otley Town Council’s Trade and Tourism Committee Councillor Paul Carter said: “Otley is a fantastic destination for coach tourists. Our riverside location midway between Leeds and the Dales, our history and our role playing the market town of Hotten in the popular soap Emmerdale sees us included in many itineraries.

“We look forward to finally seeing if our hard work in the coach tourism sector has been rewarded at the ceremony, but being part of such a strong group of finalists is ample recognition of how important the work is that we have done in this sector.”

Chair of Otley BID Tom Hatley said: “Coach tourism is a prime driver of visitors to Otley and many of our businesses benefit greatly from the coach parties that visit the town, which is why we have been so proactive in promoting coach visits. With the Covid crisis now seemingly abating, we look forward to welcoming more coaches back to sample all we have to offer.”

Event Director Helen Conway added: “After 18 long months of widespread disruption across the sector, we are delighted to be able to host the British Coach Tourism Award celebrations as we collectively welcome the return of coach tourism.

“Finally, we will find out which of the deserving finalists will be crowned as winners for their exemplary pre-pandemic achievements. Congratulations and good luck to all our finalists!”