Industry News

Visit County Durham is proud to be supporting English Tourism Week, which launches this Friday, 15th March and runs until Sunday, 24th March. The annual initiative provides an important platform to showcase the amazing businesses, people and experiences that are part of the county's visitor economy, which achieved a value of £1 billion for the first time ever in 2022.

The winner of the national Tourism Superstar award will also be announced during English Tourism Week, and we are thrilled that once again a representative from the region has made the shortlist. Amy Whitfield of Triple A Food Tours is one of ten finalists from across the country, and you can show your support for Amy here.

English Tourism Week also marks the start of an exciting year for Durham, with the opening of significant new visitor product in developments at Raby Castle, Locomotion, Redhills and The Story, alongside further enhancements to the visitor offer at The Auckland Project and Beamish, the Living Museum of the North. These projects represent unprecedented levels of investment in the county's visitor economy.

Visit County Durham also continues to work in partnership with NewcastleGateshead Initiative and Visit Northumberland on the Destination Development Partnership pilot. And as part of English Tourism Week on Monday, 18th March, Destination North East England (the name given to the pilot) is hosting a conference focussing on the 10 year strategy being developed for the region.

So please join me in shining a light on the importance of the visitor economy this English Tourism Week and download the toolkit.

Best wishes,
Michelle