A TOURISM boom is on the cards in Kirklees.

Tourism officials say 2003 was a bumper year for visitors and numbers at the area's tourist attractions are on the up again.

Each year, £217m is spent by visitors in Kirklees.

Kirklees Council senior tourism officer Helen Rowe said: "Tourism is definitely on the increase. We have a brand new Kirklees Visitor Guide and we have had 3,000 responses to that already this year.

"It is a great part of the country to visit."

The main draws for visitors over the past year were country walking trips, music festivals, visits to the Holme Valley locations of TV show Last Of The Summer Wine and trips to parts of the Colne Valley, made famous in ITV drama Where The Heart Is.

Another attraction is the National Coal Mining Museum at Overton, near Flockton.

Commercial director Richard Saward said 2003 had been a record-breaking year for visitors - and numbers had already increased again by 10%.

He said: "It has been fantastic for us. In April 2002 we made admission free so I think that will have helped. But word has also spread about the Lottery- funded redevelopment we have had here."

Kirklees Council will unveil a draft visitor strategy later this month, stating how it plans to draw visitors to the town over the next four years.

It will be available to view at www.kirklees.gov.uk

To create the strategy, operators of Kirklees tourist attractions and accommodation were asked for their views on how to increase tourism.

The tourism increase in Kirklees reflects a boom which has hit the whole of Yorkshire.

Overseas tourists are spending £50m a year more in Yorkshire now than they did in 2000.