Partner Article

Event puts wind in sails of tourist industry

AS THE region prepares for one of the biggest cultural events in the summer season, new figures have revealed a marked climb in visitor numbers to the North East this year.

Around one million visitors are expected to flock to Hartlepool between 7-10 August to see the Tall Ships sail into the North East from Norway.

Meanwhile, figures released by One North East show an increase in pre-bookings in the Tees Valley on Sunday 8 August in 2010 of 40 percentage points compared to 2009.

In addition 79% of hotel accommodation in the Tees Valley and Durham is already booked for Saturday 6 August compared with 63% at the same point in 2009.

Reservations for the whole of the North East show that 52% of rooms pre-booked by 1 July compared to 41% in 2009.

Julia Frater, head of area tourism partnership visitTeesvalley, said: “These figures are really fantastic encouraging and demonstrate that there is significant interest in The Tall Ships Races – Hartlepool 2010. This is a massive event for Hartlepool, the Tees Valley and the North East as a whole. It provides us with a great opportunity to attract visitors from far and wide and show them what a wonderful area this is.”

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