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Tourists are avoiding York, my home town – but I know how to get them back

Are they put off by the hen parties, the tea rooms or the £5-an-hour parking? No matter. It’s time for my bold new approach ...

York may be falling out of fashion with tourists. The BBC reports January-to-June visitor numbers to my home town fell 8% compared with 2025, with visits to city attractions down by 17%.

This inspires a cocktail of conflicting emotions – selfish relief, a bit of huffiness (how dare they reject the birthplace of the Chocolate Orange and the KitKat?) and consternation. Slaloming through unpredictable, slow-moving tourist hordes in narrow medieval streets is far from my favourite activity (albeit probably good for my cognitive reserve), but tourists keep this city afloat. Our main economic activities in 2026 are “dressing up”, “tea and cake”, and “hen/stag night services (sub-categories: booze, kebabs, feather boas)”. This city runs on genteel treats and big, messy nights out: two things that are, yes, deeply incompatible. I wonder if that’s part of the problem – the bookshops, churches and scones crowd are put off by the inflatable-penis-toting, kebab-throwing party people, and vice versa – but most residents blame the £5-an-hour parking.

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