Saltaire is in line for a massive tourism boost with thousands of extra visitors set to descend on the historic Victorian village from as far away as Venezuela.

And the boom is set to have a knock-on effect worth thousands of pounds for local shops, hotels, restaurants and visitor attractions.

The model mill village's tourism leaders dealt with more than 200 inquiries when they promoted its attractions during the British Travel Trade Fair at Birmingham's NEC.

Maria Glot, spokesman for the Saltaire Tourism Marketing Partnership, said that had included more than 30 firm bookings from UK and overseas-based tour operators wanting to bring groups to the area.

Other inquiries came from tour operators in countries ranging from Ireland, Holland, Germany and Sweden to China, Zimbabwe, the Seychelles and Mauritius.

Following the trade fair one UK-based tour operator has agreed to bring a coach-load of visitors to the village every Saturday while a bridal magazine has arranged to do a photo shoot in the area.

Mrs Glot said: "A lot of the inquiries were very specific such as a Swedish tour operator who wants to bring a group over in mid-May and asked us to make the hotel bookings and write up an itinerary.

"Interest used to be limited mainly to Europe but the whole world's travelling now and a lot of operators said they wanted something a little bit different from castle and cathedrals, which is exactly what we have to offer.''

An estimated 750,000 people a year visit Saltaire, which was founded in the mid-19th century by the industrialist Sir Titus Salt as a model village for his mill workers.

Visitors range from architecture students from all over the world to art lovers drawn in by the paintings of David Hockney, many of which are on show in the 1853 Gallery in Salts Mill.

Other draws include the Saltaire United Reformed Church, the Leeds-Liverpool canal and its waterbus service as well as nearby attractions such as the Emmerdale village of Esholt.

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