West Yorkshire Mayor Tracy Brabin calls for more hotels fit for Hollywood A-listers

West Yorkshire's mayor has voiced concerns that the region's hotel sector is unfit for Hollywood royalty.

Tracy Brabin said there was a shortage of luxury hotels outside Leeds and it was a "challenge" identifying appropriate high-end accommodation.

She said: “We need a fabulous hotel where Tom Cruise can stay!"

Cruise visited the North York Moors in 2021 to film scenes for the Mission: Impossible franchise at Levisham near Pickering.

The county has increasingly become a magnet for blockbuster films and television series, including Gentleman Jack, the story of Anne Lister.

Ms Brabin is keen to drum up more appetite for tourism following the collapse of the tourism agency Welcome to Yorkshire, which went into administration last year.

She said there had been "panic" about where Samuel L Jackson was going to stay last year when he was filming at Halifax’s Piece Hall for the Marvel mini-series Secret Invasion because of a lack of "high-quality" hotels.

The issue was highlighted in a report by the West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) which said "limited hotel capacity outside of Leeds" was a "challenge" when compared to other areas across the North of England.

Cllr Jenny Lynn told a WYCA meeting that Calderdale Council had recently put 16th century Grade II-listed Jacobean mansion Clay House, in West Vale up for sale.

"It would make a fabulous hotel," she added.

Ms Brabin said: "We need a fabulous hotel where Tom Cruise can stay!

"Because when Samuel L Jackson came to Piece Hall everyone was panicking, thinking, 'Where’s he going to stay?'"

She added that when the region’s top hotels are full, "we are a little bit stymied".

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