At Experience Wakefield, we’re passionate about our district’s amazing tourism businesses! Whether you’re in hospitality, retail, leisure or the food and drink sector, you are the lifeblood of our industry, and we’re so proud to promote everything you do.

As such, we’re here to help – however we can. Be that with an updated listing (making sure your customers know what to expect when they visit you), your venue and events promoted through our social channels, or just keeping you in touch with the latest helpful advice and opportunities in the tourism trade.

That’s where this page comes in. We’ve collected together information we think you’ll find useful.

If you don’t find what you’re looking for here, or for anything else you need, connect with us on our LinkedIn and Facebook channels, or sign up to our regular business newsletter.

Or for a longer, more personal chat, email us with any queries at experiencewakefield@wakefield.gov.uk and we’ll be in touch.

Two people at Yorkshire Sculpture Park, admiring

Wakefield Destination Management Plan

Have you heard about the Wakefield District Destination Management Plan? This plan will pave the way for Wakefield to overcome some of the challenges it faces and make the most of all its tourism assets – present and future – by setting out what it needs to do to become a must-visit cultural destination by 2029.

This will be achieved by working in partnership with the tourism and hospitality sector on shared aims, raisin awareness of the Wakefield district as the sculpture capital of the UK, and ensuring the district’s infrastructure is ready for growth and welcoming visitors.

If you have a business in the tourism and hospitality sector, then this plan is for you. It’s up to all of us to work together to make Wakefield the success we know it can be!

Click this link to read the full plan and find out more. Or click here to take a look at the Wakefield District Destination Storytelling Guide, a toolbox of tips and ideas to help craft and share our destination story.

Visit Britain Advice

Visit Britain’s Business Advice Hub is packed full of practical tips, legal obligations, local support for your tourism business, funding information and more.

Chefs in Qubana, a restaurant

Business Advice Hub
Two women at Yorkshire Sculpture Park, one rides in a mobility scooter and the other walks beside her.

Accessibility & Inclusivity
Cycling at Nostell

Regeneration & Sustainability
A woman in a business suit works remotely at Lobby 1867, Westgate.

Quality Schemes & Accolades
A person presents an award in a box. Behind them, a glitzy ceremony is visible.

VisitEngland Awards
People sit in a conference room, looking at a screen.

Training & Events
A close-up image of a notepad on someone's knee. In their hand, they hold a black ballpoint pen.

Research & Insights
A group of people hold a banner displaying business support for Wakefield Pride

Business Event Support

Support for Wakefield Businesses

There are so many different ways to help your tourism and hospitality business thrive. Get direct business support from organisations like Wakefield First, Wakefield BID and We Are Wakefield. Speak to BIPC at Wakefield libraries for information on how to start, grow or run your own business. Apply for funding to hold an event through Wakefield Council’s Culture Grants. Join Film Wakefield to connect with filmmakers and TV producers – so your business could get a starring role, or support productions behind the scenes. Nova provides support to Wakefield’s VSCEs, and Creative Wakefield offers support including seminars, networking, job opportunities and lots more.

Two women representing Wakefield First, standing before two large pop-up banners.

Wakefield First
The Wakefield BID team at Wakefield Pride, carrying a pink banner.

Wakefield BID
An aerial view of Wakefield civic quarter.

We Are Wakefield
A cosy couch and chair in a library, with bookshelves around it.

BIPC At Wakefield Libraries
A person delivering a poem to a group of people at Getting Gobby in the Lobby.

Culture Grants
A camera on a tripod is recording a scene.

Film Wakefield
A man and woman sit at a table, collaborating on a laptop, engaged in discussion and sharing ideas.

Nova
Three people have a lively conversation at WX - Wakefield Exchange

Creative Wakefield

Further support

Find out about the West Yorkshire Local Visitor Economy Partnership (LVEP), and how your business can get involved and benefit. Get business support from the West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA), and the Mid Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce. If you’re a self-catering accommodation provider, PASC can help with regulations, business challenges and more, and the Bed & Breakfast Association similarly supports B&Bs and guesthouses. Visitor Ready is an industry check-mark, signalling that your hospitality business is up to date on compliance. Arts commissioning body Unlimited has a range of resources to help your business or events be more accessible and inclusive. Citizen Coin is a helps businesses build customer loyalty and footfall through points-based rewards for volunteers.

A view of trees across West Yorkshire.

West Yorkshire LVEP
Wakefield's skyline at night.

West Yorkshire Combined Authority
A view of George and Crown Yard in Wakefield.

Mid Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce

PASC UK
A large, red-brick Victorian house with a bay window and a red front door, behind a low brick wall.

The Bed & Breakfast Association
A person pouring a drink behind a bar.

Visitor Ready
A young person in a wheelchair enjoys a trip along a sunlit pathway.

Unlimited
Two people in fluorecent jackets, wearing lanyards and caps, volunteering at an event in a city centre.

Citizen Coin

Stay in the know!

Sign up to the tourism business newsletter for the latest news for tourism and hospitality businesses in the Wakefield district.

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Want to be listed?

Do you run a distinctive tourism business, hotel or visitor attraction within the Wakefield district? Or are you running an event that visitors to the district would love to attend? You may be able to feature your venue or event on this website! We get more than half a million visitors every year and we use our venue and event listings to fill our social media calendars, print campaigns and digital advertising.

To do this you will need to supply us with information about your venue or event and provide us with high quality photographs:

🔗 Complete the venue listing form.

🔗 Complete the event listing form.

Listings are FREE. All we ask in return is that you signpost your customers to our website for What’s On information, or mention and tag us on your own social channels.

Experience Wakefield is not a general directory and so unfortunately, not every venue or event is suitable to feature on the website, and inclusion on the website is at our discretion.

If you need support filling in the form, or have any queries whatsoever, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us by email at: experiencewakefield@wakefield.gov.uk