Bids for the business and its assets – including its yorkshire.com website – need to be made by 4pm on Monday, March 28. It follows the company being put into administration at the start of the month after council leaders decided to stop funding the agency as part of a plan to set up a new destination management organisation.
If the business is not sold outright, remaining assets that have been unsold will be made available through an online auction.
Among the assets being put up for sale is the Y Magazine that is produced by the tourism agency, the White Rose tourism awards it puts on and its www.letour.yorkshire.com website.
Council leaders have already indicated an interest in buying Welcome to Yorkshire assets, including its name.
Rob Adamson, Joint Administrator, said: “We continue to seek a buyer for the Welcome to Yorkshire business following our appointment as Administrators on March 1, 2022. We’re keen to hear from any interested parties in the purchase of the business as a whole, or its individual assets, including the iconic www.yorkshire.com domain name, so synonymous with this beautiful region.”
If a buyer is not found, acting agents BPI Asset Advisory RICS, will be auctioning all assets individually – including 150 domain names – via online auction.
Andrew Cromack, BPI Asset Advisory Director and RICS valuer, said: “We are seeing significant interest in the business as a going concern from the travel and tourism sector as we’d expect, in addition to multiple enquiries from publishing outlets.
“A domain such as www.yorkshire.com coming to market will always cause a stir due to its rarity. From existing Yorkshire businesses or those expanding into the region, brands looking for campaign domains or simply proud Yorkshire bidders, we expect high levels of interest.”
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