Following the success of the first Visit Harrogate Restaurant Week, Destination Harrogate is now planning for a second Restaurant Week later in 2023.
Visit Harrogate Restaurant Week – which ran from 6 to 10 February, supported by hotels, restaurants and pubs across the Harrogate district – threw a spotlight on the amazing and diverse range of food and drink experiences that the whole area has to offer.
Diners were encouraged to try out new places and new menus, and re-discover some of their favourite Harrogate district eateries, with a tempting selection of special deals and set price menus of which to take advantage.
It followed a similar format to other successful UK Restaurant Weeks and gave restaurants the opportunity to raise awareness of their business, boost footfall and create new and repeat customers during a time when traditionally, visitor numbers have been lower.
Regional promotion
Launch day was supported by BBC Radio York, who sent reporter Julia Lewis to Harrogate on the morning of 6 February to deliver a flavour of Visit Harrogate Restaurant Week to listeners. Accompanied by Destination Harrogate Partnership Manager, Helen Suckling, Julia filed reports from several participating restaurants and was able to sample some of the excellent food available to diners during the week.
A three-week marketing campaign also ran on Your Harrogate, the district’s bespoke radio station, promoting the Restaurant Week offers through featured podcasts and broadcast interviews with participating restaurateurs and chefs.
Presenters set mouths watering after delving into many of the delicious dishes on offer throughout the week – from Yorkshire Pudding Fajitas to Vegan Apple Crumble and custard – encouraging local visitors to dine out with a discount from their doorstep.
The initiative was promoted on the Visit Harrogate social media channels and on the Visit Harrogate website, with participating restaurant businesses and their special offers listed on a landing page that received more than 9500 visits during the campaign.
Feedback from participating restaurants
Businesses that took part in the inaugural Restaurant Week offered very positive feedback, showing a keen appetite to repeat the exercise later in the year:
“I just want to say that we think the offers went really well and it was also a great promotion for the restaurant and our offering. We had a menu that fitted right in and, as we were offering it as an “Early Bird”, it filled the quieter time slots for the restaurant. We would be very happy to join the next one.” (The Orchid)
“Great initiative to be involved with and would like to support again in the autumn.” (DoubleTree by Hilton Harrogate Majestic Hotel)
“We are delighted to have supported Visit Harrogate’s inaugural Restaurant Week across three of our Provenance Collection venues – The Coach & Horses, The West Park Hotel and The Punch Bowl Inn. It’s a great initiative welcoming both visitors to the town and our loyal guests to enjoy fantastic offers and try our new seasonal dishes. We are thrilled with how many delighted guests we saw over the week and very much look forward to supporting future events.” Anthony Blundell, Head of Business Development at Provenance Collection
Get ready for October
To find out more about how your business can get involved in Visit Harrogate Restaurant Week next October, visit the main Restaurant Week page.
