A £1.5m campaign to boost Yorkshire's tourist industry is expected to generate an extra £18m for the region's economy.

Yorkshire Forward's Britain's Biggest Break tourism campaign, launched in September 2001, aims to put the region on the map for the this year's holiday season.

And, according to recent analysis by Yorkshire Futures, the campaign has already been an overwhelming success.

About 57,000 extra visitors are expected to flow into the region during the summer months boosting a flagging tourist industry severely hit by foot-and-mouth disease last year.

An estimated £12m is expected to flood into hotel and catering establishments with a further £6m going into other industries helping to create or safeguard up to 800 direct and indirect jobs.

The television advertisements - the first ever for Yorkshire - broke on screens in the South-East and the Midlands on New Year's Eve and featured the region's home-grown stars including Darren Gough, Mel B, Alan Titchmarsh, Brian Turner and Brian Blessed.

In addition, press advertising generated widespread interest with more than 55,000 people responding to one advertisement in the Daily Mail alone.

Heather Hancock, Yorkshire Forward's environment director said: "This research shows the real benefits of launching a concerted, co-ordinated campaign to drive tourism back into the region.

"Yorkshire Forward has invested more of its own money than any other regional development agency - £6m - in foot-and-mouth disease recovery. "The biggest single sum, £1.5m, was invested directly into the campaign to promote tourism, one of the region's largest industries, with rural tourism alone worth £1.7bn to the region's economy."