Saturday, August 18, 2018
International tourists spent more than £4.1bn in the North East last year, as new figures show millions more people visiting the region.
The amount spent by the international and domestic tourists visiting in UK’s North East increased by nearly 4.5% between 2016 and 2017.
There are hopes that tourism will prove even more important to the region this year, with the latest figures representing the year before the region was singled out as the top place to visit in the world by the Rough Guides, and hosted the Great Exhibition of the North and the Tall Ships Race. Newcastle and Gateshead continued to benefit the most from the tourism industry with 18m visitors spending more than £1.6bn last year. The UK tourism sector is also a major employer across Newcastle and Gateshead and employs 15,481 people, 3% more than in 2016.
Sarah Stewart, chief executive at NewcastleGateshead, said that while the visitor numbers increased again last year, they already seen impressive statistics for 2018 and Great Exhibition of the North is set to be a milestone event for the region. After the Exhibition there are many other great events happening that will continue to bring visitors to the region and looking into next year we have two major sporting events which will see supporters travel from all over the world.
Northumberland has the second biggest tourism industry, which was valued at £924.8m. A total of 10.3m visitors travelled to the county, 6% more than in 2016. The county has been working to boost its reputation as a place to visit, and recently invested in The Sill, a discovery centre in Northumberland National Park. Jude Leitch, director at Northumberland Tourism said that given that tourism is so important to Northumberland, supporting nearly 15,000 jobs, this growth is very good news. Confidence amongst our businesses is high and we are seeing a lot of private investment in new attractions, accommodation and restaurants.
Combined visitor numbers from around the region showed a total of 63.1m visits to different parts of the North East in 2017, 4% higher than in 2016. The figures have been published by destination management companies, which are tasked with improving the tourism industry in each area. The data includes figures from the Newcastle, Gateshead, Sunderland, South Tyneside, County Durham, and Northumberland. North Tyneside and Teesside have yet to release their tourism reports. Separately, the Office for National Statistics has released data showing a record 39.2m overseas visitors came to the UK in 2017, up 4% from the year before. Overseas residents spent £24.5bn on visits to the UK in 2017, an increase of 9% compared with 2016.
Separately, the Office for National Statistics has released data showing a record 39.2m overseas visitors came to the UK in 2017, up 4% from the year before. The overseas residents spent £24.5bn on visits to the UK in 2017, an increase of 9% compared with 2016.
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