Visit County Durham
Visit County Durham (VCD) is the destination management organisation for County Durham and one of a portfolio of nationally supported, strategic, and high-performing accredited Local Visitor Economy Partnerships. We provide strong local leadership and governance, and are committed to the promotion, management, and development of County Durham as a great place to live, work, visit and do business.
Visit County Durham works in partnership locally, regionally, and nationally on shared priorities and targets. Our mission is to support and grow the visitor economy through robust destination management, strong stakeholder relationships and clear planning.
Our vision is to create the conditions for our residents, businesses, and the environment to benefit from sustainable growth in our visitor economy. By supporting and marketing our distinctive heritage, landscapes, culture and warm welcome, we will grow both day and overnight visits and make County Durham a compelling, global destination for tourism, culture, and business.
Destination performance
20.15m
(Visitors Annually)
6.5m
(75 Attractions)
8%
(Overnight Stays)
13,178
(Jobs Within the Industry)
£1.23bn
(Annual Income)
Latest news
Seaham Food Festival dates confirmed – trader applications open now
3 Dec 2024
Though the weather might be getting colder, organisers of one of the region’s biggest summer food festivals have announced dates for next year. Durham County Council has confirmed that Seaham Food Festival will return for 2025, on Saturday 2 and Sunday 3 August. The festival welcomes thousands of visitors each year for two days of […]
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England's Historic Cities launch new travel trade itineraries and resource
28 Nov 2024
A new England Originals Travel Trade Guide, brought to you by England’s Historic Cities, has been launched this autumn. England’s Historic Cities is a consortium of 13 Historic Cities in England, including Bath, Cambridge, Canterbury, Carlisle, Chester, Durham, Greenwich, Lancaster, Lincoln, Oxford, Salisbury, Stratford-upon-Avon and York. This new resource is designed to support tour operators/wholesalers and […]
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Save the Date
27 Nov 2024
Join us in celebrating the incredible and diverse tourism businesses in our region at the 2025 North East England Tourism Awards ceremony taking place on Thursday 20 March 2025 at Newcastle Civic Centre. We look forward to seeing you next March! Buy your tickets.
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Stroodles
Stroodles is an Eco Tableware company, famous for its pasta straws, featured on Dragons Den, BBC Good Food, Unilad, and many more. The Stroodles portfolio also includes edible biscuit spoons and stirrers, edible wafer cups, eco wheat bran plates, biscuit bowls and saucers. The Alchemist, de Longhi, Marriott, Hilton and Selfridges are already stroodling Stroodles […]
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Every Season Pest Control
Do you have a business or property in Durham that requires regular/ routine pest inspections? Do you put your pest contract out to tender every year or are you simply looking for a new, reliable pest control provider? Here at Every Season Pest Control we are a local, professional family run company with over 16 […]
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The Holiday Home Housekeeper
The Holiday Home Housekeeper provides holiday home and holiday cottage housekeeping services across North Yorkshire, County Durham and Northumberland. Our experienced team have been cleaning holiday homes for over ten years and we’re passionate about providing the very best service to our holiday homeowners and our guests. From crisp white linen and towels, to industry […]
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3D Virtual Spaces
Do you need a 3D Virtual Tour to market your business? 3D Virtual Spaces create multi-purpose, interactive digital solutions to promote your premises. 3D Virtual Spaces create bespoke 360 3D Virtual Tours to give you a business solution which will captivate your audience and promote your organisation. Our tours have endless applications ranging from marketing […]
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Visit County Durham latest
Do Durham Differently Delivers Great Results
Research has shown that Do Durham Differently, Visit County Durham’s national destination marketing campaign, contributed an estimated £103m in visitor spend – over 8% of the county’s total annual economic impact. The campaign, which ran from autumn 2023 to spring 2024, was delivered in partnership with the tourism industry and featured high profile marketing activity […]
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Durham and Spain lead the way in walking route partnership
The partnership between Durham and north west Spain strengthened this week, as representatives from A Coruña Provincial Council visited the county. The region-to-region partnership, which has been in place for several years, aims to promote the English Way, or Camino Ingles, pilgrimage route and the Northern Saints Trails. Highlighting the connections between County Durham and […]
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VCD Blog - A summer of success
As the signs of autumn begin to show the Visit County Durham team is reflecting on a summer that has seen a number of successful activities take place, driving visitor numbers, supporting partners and raising the county’s profile in the UK and overseas. The team kicked off the summer with a trip to North Yorkshire […]
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Boost for Durham as new developments drive growth in the visitor economy
Latest tourism figures show a major boost for Durham’s economy as the county builds on its bumper £1bn milestone achieved in 2022, with new attractions playing a key role in helping the county reach a new record.
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