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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

Cost of living resource

25 Jan 2023

The North East Chamber of Commerce has launched a cost of living resource to help individuals and businesses get help and advice during these challenging economic times. The website uses expert knowledge to provide practical advice and tools on how to weather the tough economic headwinds, and...

Industry

Popular County Durham adventure park invests £300,000 into new play areas

25 Jan 2023

County Durham tourist attraction, Adventure Valley, has invested £300,000 into its facilities ahead of the Easter holidays. The new play areas are to be built using fully sustainable raw materials in a bid for Adventure Valley to go greener. The new investment plans also come shortly after the...

Industry

The Funky Monk Brings Ecclesiastical Elegance to Durham

25 Jan 2023

Durham city’s newest accommodation offering has brought together style, sophistication – and a touch of divine intervention. The Funky Monk serviced apartments have just opened their doors at Victoria Terrace, offering visitors to the historic city the opportunity to stay in lavish...

Industry

Renowned Earth artwork, Gaia, coming to Durham Cathedral this summer

20 Jan 2023

This summer, Durham Cathedral will be giving visitors an out-of-this-world experience as Gaia, Luke Jerram’s replica artwork of planet Earth, lands in the cathedral. From 10 July - 10 September, visitors to Durham Cathedral will be able to experience the Earth as it’s seen from space as the...

Industry

Brilliant 2023

18 Jan 2023

Applications for the BRILLIANT artwork commissioning scheme are now open. This is your chance to become a Lumiere Durham artist in 2023! Be part of the bold and ambitious Lumiere programme, part of Durham County Culture. You don't need to be a practising artist or have any previous experience to...

Industry

Plan Ahead!

18 Jan 2023

There's a lot going on across County Durham in 2023 which can be used in your own marketing activity and give your customers a reason to visit and perhaps stay longer. From Fire & Ice to Wolsingham Show, and of course, the return of Lumiere, check out the events happening over the coming year....

Visit County Durham

Save the Date

18 Jan 2023

Seaham Food Festival returns Saturday 5th to Sunday 6th August 2023 and trader applications are now open. As one of the region's biggest food festivals, each year the event is host to hundreds of independent stalls selling everything from sensational street food and delicious desserts to refreshing...

Visit County Durham

Tourism Awards Ceremony

18 Jan 2023

The 2023 North East England Tourism Awards ceremony will take place at Newcastle Civic Centre on Thursday 23rd March 2023. This year the event will be hosted by Radio Pride presenter Ophelia B. The glittering evening is built entirely around celebrating the success of the finalists, who represent...

Industry

Dalton Park toasts record breaking 2022

12 Jan 2023

Dalton Park Outlet Shopping Destination ended 2022 on a high with a record year for sales. Like for like sales across the year were up 14.5 percent vs 2019, the last comparable year due to the pandemic. The results come following an incredible 2022 for the outlet shopping destination as it bounced...

Visit County Durham

Save the Date

12 Jan 2023

Save the date for English Tourism Week: Friday 17th to Sunday 26th March 2023. ETW highlights the importance, value and vast contribution the sector makes to the UK economy. The week provides an essential opportunity to raise the awareness of the visitor economy to key stakeholders - in 2019,...

Industry

Inbound Tourism Forecast

12 Jan 2023

VisitBritain has published the 2023 forecast for inbound visits and spend which shows that spending by international visitors in the UK is forecast to reach £29.5 billion, up 4% on the all-time spending high of £28.4 billion in 2019. Overseas visits to the UK are predicted to rise to 35.1...

Visit County Durham

Durham Pocket Guide 2023

12 Jan 2023

Work is now underway in conjunction with our publishing partner, Offstone, to create the 2023 edition of the Durham Pocket Guide, with Visit County Durham partners able to benefit from exclusive discounted rates. 125,000 copies will be distributed across the region from early May, encouraging...

Visit County Durham

Devolution deal for North East

12 Jan 2023

Plans to bring billions of pounds and more power to North East England have been outlined by the Government. The new deal, which is subject to a governance review and public consultation, offers a potential £4.2 billion of investment and would see the formation of a new combined authority, headed...

Industry

Rising to the challenge together

11 Jan 2023

Growing Durham’s visitor economy is a key priority for Visit County Durham. Here two of the destination management organisation’s board directors give their insights into the importance of investing in tourism and why a partnership approach is always best. With a wealth of experience in...

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...