MORE people are wanting to spend holidays in the Harrogate district.

Figures recently released show a 43 per cent increase in numbers seeking last year's Harrogate holiday and visitor guide.

Tourist promotion manager Hayley Gray reported receiving more than 26,000 tourism inquiries last year about the district.

Ms Gray said selling the destination was a key role of Harrogate International Centre and the aim to make the district even more popular would continue.

Although Harrogate is just about as far as you can get from the coastline, it does boast its pier head - an open space overlooking Montpellier Gardens - which often confuses unsuspecting visitors into thinking it is a coastal resort, and leads them to ask which way it is to the sea- front.

The newly-published visitor guide has been expanded from its Harrogate district tag to Harrogate and the Yorkshire Dales also taking in Ripon, Knaresborough, Masham, Pateley Bridge and Boroughbridge.

The popularity of the town has also been enhanced because of its success in winning the 2004 Entente Floral, the top European award in the petal-power stakes.

One of the district's villages Darley, in Nidderdale,was also a winner in the European event at the same time.

The new guide book features praise for the district from television gardening personality Alan Titchmarsh who says: "Harrogate really is the gateway to the beautiful Yorkshire Dales. I would urge anyone who hasn't been, to get a date in their diary."