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All the latest news from the Industry and the Visit County Durham Grapevine newsletter.

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Format: 29-12-2023

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Format: 30-12-2023

Industry

Romans spotted in Hardwick Park!

26 Oct 2023

A County Durham park is now home to a Roman village…of the virtual variety. The new augmented reality attraction, in Sedgefield’s Hardwick Park, gives visitors the opportunity to meet Roman characters, view buildings, solve puzzles, and make iron tools. It’s all experienced through a mobile...

Industry

Largest ever peatland project completed in the North Pennines

26 Oct 2023

The North Pennines AONB Partnership is celebrating the completion of its largest and most complex peatland restoration project to date, as part of the Great North Bog initiative. Working in partnership with the landowner, Raby Estates, and tenant farmer, John Bell, the AONB team has completed a...

Industry

Tapestry bid

25 Oct 2023

The Auckland Project is campaigning to save Henry VIII's extraordinary lost tapestry for the nation. The vast, golden tapestry was ordered by Henry VIII when he declared himself Head of the Church of England, forever changing our national faith and history. One opportunity exists to bring it back...

Industry

New VisitEngland website

25 Oct 2023

VisitBritain/VisitEngland have launched their new industry website. The new website's design and functionality has been driven by accessibility best practices, user data and discovery research to learn what content would be most useful to partners across the visitor economy, including destinations,...

Industry

Purple Tuesday

25 Oct 2023

A reminder that Purple Tuesday returns on 7th November 2023. The initiative inspires leadership and staff of organisations from all sectors and sizes to foster awareness, deepen understanding, and implement solutions for enhanced accessibility in their customer environments.

Visit County Durham

Research reveals Memorable Moments marketing campaign generated millions in visitor spend

24 Oct 2023

Visit County Durham’s national destination marketing campaign, Memorable Moments, generated £86.6 million in visitor spend, research has revealed. The campaign, which ran from October 2022 to April 2023 and was delivered in partnership with the county’s tourism businesses, reached over 2.25...

Industry

Training opportunity

18 Oct 2023

Taking England to the World is aimed at helping your business reach new customers and grow your revenue. The session is delivered by industry experts providing information on insights and research, marketing, product development, distribution and partnerships. Being held 30th November between...

Industry

Durham Business Growth

18 Oct 2023

Durham Business Growth, a new £8.16 million initiative funded through UK Shared Prosperity Fund, has been launched to support 900 local businesses until March 2025. It focuses on strengthening the local economy and creating jobs. Businesses of all sizes and sectors are welcome to participate. The...

Visit County Durham

Do Durham Differently

18 Oct 2023

Visit County Durham is undertaking a new marketing campaign called Do Durham Differently which will showcase unique experiences from across the county, in a way which emphasises how diverse the county is from city, countryside to coast. Running from Autumn 2023 to Spring 2024, activity will include...

Visit County Durham

A message from Visit County Durham's managing director, Michelle Gorman

18 Oct 2023

With the nights drawing in and the leaves starting to turn, there is no escaping that summer has come to an end, and what a summer it has been. From the opening of new attractions in Beamish Museum's 1950s town to record breaking attendance at events such as Seaham Food Festival and Gaia at Durham...

Industry

Green light for boost to County Durham’s culture and regeneration programme

12 Oct 2023

Councillors have pledged £2million towards plans for an enhanced three-year programme of world-class events and community-led activities across County Durham. Durham County Council will now work with partners to progress bids to secure at least the same sum, creating a minimum budget of £4million...

Industry

Tourism Sentiment Tracker

12 Oct 2023

VisitEngland has published the September 2023 domestic Sentiment Tracker showing its highest improvement in perception of the cost of living crisis with 45% of UK adults surveyed stated that the 'worst is still to come', compared to 50% in August and July and 49% in June. In terms of domestic...

Industry

Tourism Awards Shortlist

12 Oct 2023

The shortlist for the 2024 North East England Tourism awards has been announced. The awards play a major role in showcasing the diverse and innovative businesses in North East England. Congratulations to all the shortlisted businesses who will be vying for Gold at the awards ceremony in Spring next...

Industry

The Faith Museum opened its doors to the public for the first time this weekend

10 Oct 2023

The Faith Museum explores the myriad ways in which faith has shaped lives and communities across Britain, through rarely seen objects, personal testimonies, and contemporary commissions. The Faith Museum is part of the wider restoration and redevelopment of Auckland Castle, which has been made...

Industry

1950s homes opening at Beamish Museum to help people living with dementia and other long-term health conditions

5 Oct 2023

Beamish, The Living Museum of the North is opening 1950s aged mineworkers’ homes that provide a space for innovative work with people living with dementia and other long-term health conditions. The facilities, in a replica of cottages from Marsden Road, South Shields, will open this Friday, 6th...