THE INTERNATIONAL popularity of the Brontë Parsonage Museum in Haworth is expanding across the entire county.

Yorkshire saw a 30 per cent increase in overseas visitors in the first three months of 2017, with 267,000 people spending £99 million.

International spend in Yorkshire is almost double the national average which is up 16 per cent year on year.

The Brontë museum recently reported a 24 per cent increase in visitors during the Easter weekend including its busiest Easter Saturday to 10 years.

This was blamed on the ‘Bronte buzz’ both locally and around the world from the ongoing five-year bicentennial celebrations for the births of Charlotte, Branwell, Emily and Anne.

Sir Gary Verity, Chief Executive of tourism organisation Welcome to Yorkshire, attributed much of the county-wide rise to global events like the Tour de Yorkshire and the UCI Road World Championships.

He said: "These events are televised to hundreds of millions of people around the world creating a giant postcard beaming stunning images of Yorkshire across the globe.”

“Businesses in Yorkshire have told us they’re seeing a real influx of visitors from all over the world.”