AS I travel through the Dales in the course of my work, I’m often struck by how each dale is unique but still characteristically “Dales”.

The name “the Dales” conjures up images of barns and walls, windswept, heather-clad moorland, hay meadows, railway viaducts and the Settle Carlisle line.

It is this unique landscape that visitors come to enjoy but, in these hard economic times, how can we make the most of our assets and work together more effectively when engaging with those who may be thinking of coming to the area so that they visit, stay longer and spend more?

Visit England has identified the Yorkshire Dales as one of its main “attract brands”, which reflects the fact that it is one of England’s best-known destinations.

Our Distinctly Dales project aims to help businesses to extol what is special about their particular part of the Dales.

Through this project, we funded Susan Briggs of the Tourism Network to work with businesses to help identify things to see and do through an “insiders’ guide” to the local area – explaining traditions, local products and places to eat and so reinforcing the sense of place and what’s special and distinctive about their locality.

As a next step, we hope businesses within the national park will use the national park logo (under a simple licence) in their own promotional material. While the Yorkshire Dales area is wider than just the national park, for many wouldbe visitors the ram’s head logo is synonymous with the area, and it builds on the brand and gives a clear area identity.

With the Nidderdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, we’ve also set up the Dales Tourism Business Network, run by Susan on a voluntary basis to encourage businesses to work together and build on one another’s experiences – and enable us to work more effectively with them.

The network holds well-attended events, shown by recent events in Hawes and Grassington. The challenge is to link the unique experience of the Dales to local produce and products. We need to encourage visitors to come and spend more money locally – and telling the Dales’ story is fundamental.

Farming, land management, conservation and the tourism economy are interlinked and we need to nurture the goose that lays the golden egg.

For me it’s about ensuring responsible tourism – embracing conservation and promoting the understanding and enjoyment of the area, and having regard to its socio-economic well-being. To this end we’ve created the Dales Tourism Partnership (it includes Welcome to Yorkshire) so organisations can work together through the European Sustainable Tourism Charter.

The partnership is producing its strategy and action plan for the next five years and hopes to encourage visitors to spend more and come at different times of year, working together to make the most of our unique selling point – the Yorkshire Dales National Park.