A LANDLOCKED corner of the region has proved you don't have to be beside the seaside to be a growing holiday resort.

Tourism figures for last year show that Harrogate district received more visitors than places such as Bournemouth, Brighton and Blackpool.

The district includes the towns of Ripon, Knaresborough, Pateley Bridge, and Masham as well as Harrogate.

Total spending by visitors to the district last year was £234.1m, up 17 per cent on 2002, made up of conference, exhibition, business and holiday tourism.

People holidaying in the district spent £74.1m, an increase of £18.5m or 25 per cent on the previous year.

Latest figures, validated by the Tourism Economic Monitor Report for last year, confirm Harrogate's position as third in the national league table of destinations, trailing only Birmingham and London.

Director of Harrogate International Centre Paul Lewis greeted the figures with delight. "They are quite stunning, far better than we expected."

The figures show the holiday trade has finally recovered from the desperate days of 2002, when the tourism industry was still reeling from the foot-and-mouth crisis.

Mr Lewis said the effects of foot-and-mouth disease were now firmly in the past and that the area had recovered well.

Last year, the district attracted 3.5m visitors, a 10 per cent increase on the previous year.