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Attraction beats national figures

Northumberland tourist attraction Belsay Hall, Castle and Gardens has outpaced the current national trend for tourism visitor numbers, according to new figures.

Research by the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions (AVLA) shows that the Grade One listed site saw a 29% rise in visitor numbers last year as it welcomed 76,648 people through its doors.

The site out-performed the national average considerably, with English Heritage sites enjoying an average increase of 11% in terms of visitor numbers.

Jeremy Reed, visitor operations director for English Heritage in the north said: “Belsay was well ahead of visitor trends which is fantastic news for North East tourism.

“More people holidayed in the UK in 2009, choosing to see sites on their doorstep, and the strong euro also encouraged greater visitor numbers from overseas.

“Belsay has a fantastic programme of activity coming up for 2010 to look forward to, including the Extraordinary Measures contemporary art exhibition in May which has international contemporary artists exhibiting UK premiers of their works. We are optimistic that this year will be another strong one for us.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .