Bradford's multi-million pound tourism industry is booming.

New figures show a huge increase in the number of visitors to the district last year and indicate that 2003 is likely to be even more of a bumper year.

Experts believe the district's high-profile European Capital of Culture bid has played a significant role in attracting visitors - despite the fact that Bradford did not make it on to the shortlist.

Last year, there was a massive 35 per cent increase in the number of people visiting the Tourist Information Centre in Centenary Square, Bradford, and an 11 per cent increase in visitors to the centre in Haworth. So far this year, there has been a further 15 per cent increase in the number of visitors, painting a glowing picture of the state of an industry which, in 2000 - the latest year for which financial figures are available - was worth a hefty £408 million to the district.

Conferences brought a further £20 million into Bradford's coffers.

The district now looks set to build on the momentum of the Capital of Culture campaign thanks to a £400,000 tourism action plan which was approved last year and which has generated a whole series of initiatives designed to exploit Bradford's potential as a visitor destination.

Catherine Bowhill, of Bradford Tourist Information Centre, said they were receiving lots of positive comments from visitors.

"When they get here and see what there is, people are saying they wished they had visited sooner," she said. "They are saying how much they have enjoyed themselves and that there was so much to see they didn't have time to do everything they wanted to do."

Bradford Council's tourism and marketing officer, John Swinburn, said the increase in visitor numbers could largely be attributed to the Capital of Culture bid.

The authority is setting up a number of partnerships involving the private sector to sell Bradford's "brands" - Bronte Country, Ilkley and Wharfedale, Saltaire and the Aire Valley and Bradford city centre.

They meet regularly to discuss issues related to tourism and marketing and the success of their work has been illustrated by the Bronte Country Partnership, which this year generated 600 new leads for business when it attended the Great Days Out consumer show in Cumbria.

"It's about working with the private sector to raise the profile of various areas which will have the net effect of increasing the profile of the Bradford district. That will boost the economy, bring jobs to the area and raise the standard of living," said Mr Swinburn.

Paul Brookes, who headed Bradford's Capital of Culture of bid, said he was not surprised the work surrounding it was still having an impact.

"The important thing about the bidding process was that it raised the profile of Bradford and in a very positive way managed to highlight some of the really attractive things the district has to offer," he said. "Some of the projects we did, such as the Bradford Embassy, really put us on the map on a national basis."

Poster and leaflet campaigns had urged people to come and see Bradford for themselves and, he said, he would not the surprised to find out that people were making return visits because they liked what they found.

"From my own experience, it was always a pleasure to take ministers or people interested in backing Bradford's bid around the district because they were always so surprised at what it had to offer," he said.

Alan Bentley, museum manager at the Bronte Parsonage, in Haworth, said visitor numbers were up by two per cent during last year but so far this year were up by between 10 and 15 per cent.

The museum was sustaining interest for foreign visitors and last week had played host to two groups of American tourists, something which had declined following the foot and mouth outbreak.

The fact that the pound was now weaker was also positive for tourists.

"We're doing well," he said. "Yorkshire Tourist Board and Yorkshire Forward seem to be doing quite a bit of promotional work. The village itself is looking better.

"The Council also seems to be taking tourism a lot more seriously."

Bradford's National Museum of Photography, Film and Television is also playing a role in the tourism boom. It attracted a record 12,000 visitors - including some from the US and Far East as well as from other parts of the UK - to its Unknown Pleasures exhibition which ran for two months earlier this year and featured items from the world-renowned Royal Photographic Society collection.

This year's Bradford Film Festival has also proved a huge success and the museum is expecting widespread interest in an exhibition of Julia Margaret Cameron's work which runs from late June until mid-September before travelling to the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles.

A number of other initiatives are also underway as part of the Council's £400,000 tourism drive. They include encouraging visitor attractions to be part of a "kitemarking" scheme to ensure high standards, spending more than £130,000 to improve tourist information facilities and working with tourist attractions, including St Leonard's Farm, Esholt, the Bronte Parsonage and Haworth Parish Church to develop visitor facilities.