Media Room
Latest News
All the latest news from the Industry and the Visit County Durham Grapevine newsletter.
Visit County Durham
The Year in Search
21 Dec 2022
Throughout 2022 significant events continued to impact the county's visitor economy, from the lifting of final Covid restrictions to the cost-of-living crisis. Find out how these events, and more, affected what consumers were searching for on thisisdurham.com, the county’s official tourism...
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Visit County Durham
Awards success!
19 Dec 2022
Last week, the Northern Echo County Durham Together Awards, held in partnership with Durham County Council, took place at Ramside Hall. Visit County Durham sponsored the Visitor Economy Award which recognises an individual, organisation or business who has played a vital role in promoting the...
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Visit County Durham
Campaign update
19 Dec 2022
As part of the Memorable Moments destination marketing campaign, Visit County Durham commissioned and hosted three award-winning influencers to create videos showcasing their own memorable moments in the county, covering heritage, outdoors, family fun and culture. The videos are a great promotional...
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Visit County Durham
Closing date reminder
7 Dec 2022
A reminder that trader applications for Bishop Auckland Food Festival are open until January 10th 2023. Spaces are limited and some categories are very busy. The food festival will return to the town's Market Place on Saturday 22nd April and Sunday 23th April 2023.
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Visit County Durham
Tourism Sentiment Report
7 Dec 2022
The Visit County Durham commissioned Tourism Sentiment report for November is now available, providing valuable insights for the county's tourism businesses. The score measures Durham's ability to generate positive word of mouth about our tourism offer through online conversations. This month, the...
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Visit County Durham
£2.25 million boost for the region’s tourism industry as North East announced as the first ever Destination Development Partnership pilot in England
25 Nov 2022
The North East has been chosen for the first regional tourism pilot receiving £2.25 million from national government covering a period to March 2025. ‘The partnership will see Visit County Durham working alongside NewcastleGateshead Initiative and VisitNorthumberland, on behalf of the...
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Visit County Durham
Tourism Superstar
23 Nov 2022
2023 will be the 11th year for VisitEngland's Tourism Superstar competition which recognises the dedication and passion of those working in the tourism industry. Run in partnership with the Mirror newspaper, the campaign recognises and celebrates those in the industry who go the extra mile to...
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Visit County Durham
VE Occupancy data
23 Nov 2022
VisitEngland has published September's serviced accommodation occupancy report. Every month, the England Occupancy Survey (EOS) measures bedroom and bedspace occupancy across the serviced accommodation sector, including mostly hotels, with a very small proportion of serviced apartments and larger...
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Visit County Durham
Energy support guide
23 Nov 2022
UKHospitality has made its information and guidance on energy support available to non-members to help businesses during the cost of living crisis. Resources include an energy bill calculator and a Q&A information sheet. The information and guidance was previously available to UKHospitality...
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Visit County Durham
Small Business Saturday
23 Nov 2022
Small Business Saturday UK is a grassroots, non-commercial campaign, which highlights small business success and encourages consumers to 'shop local' and support small businesses in their communities. This year, the day itself takes place on 3rd December, but the campaign aims to have a lasting...
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Visit County Durham
Campaign update
16 Nov 2022
A month into our Memorable Moments campaign and the content hub on thisisdurham.com has already received over 2,500 page views since it launched on 7th October. Following a full page advertorial in the Guardian's Travel Guide, online advertorials have been placed in the Manchester Evening News and...
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Visit County Durham
Christmas Advent Calendar
9 Nov 2022
Visit County Durham is once again producing a 'Countdown to Christmas Advent Calendar' to provide Partners with a promotional platform. Each day during December a new door will be opened on the digital calendar, hosted on thisisdurham.com, revealing a different competition prize or offer. The...
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Visit County Durham
Shortlist announced
3 Nov 2022
The shortlist for the 2023 North East England Tourism awards has been announced. The awards play a major role in showcasing the fantastic range of high quality experiences in North East England. This year saw more than 160 entries with over 50% coming from businesses who were entering for the first...
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Visit County Durham
Outdoors in Durham
19 Oct 2022
Do you have a few minutes to share your thoughts with Crook Hall Gardens National Trust about getting active outdoors in the Durham area. The survey should only take around 10 minutes and you will have the opportunity at the end to enter a prize draw to win £100 as a thank you for your […]
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Visit County Durham
Chair and Trustee opportunity
19 Oct 2022
If you are passionate about North East England's history, culture and heritage, Beamish Museum is seeking expressions of interest from candidates who are forward thinking, open-minded, constructive and entrepreneurial for the roles of chair and up to 13 trustees to join a new board. Closing date...
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