World Tourism day in the North East
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00:00Yet in 2022, the region had the lowest number of tourists compared to anywhere else in the UK.
00:05Many businesses felt at this time, people weren't spending as much money as they were pre-pandemic,
00:11especially due to the cost of living crisis.
00:14However, according to a report published in May of this year, tourism in the North East is on the rise again,
00:20with an increase of 5% since 2022.
00:23Durham in particular has recorded a significant leap in day visitors, with an increase of over 13% since 2022.
00:29Let's speak with some of the visitors on why they like to visit Durham.
00:34We're here for the open day at the uni.
00:41We're in Durham to bring our son back to university
00:44and then we're going off on a few days break into Northumberland.
00:48I'm very happy with the case in the UK.
00:52While the North East is on the rise again,
00:53it was also reported on the Office of National Statistics website
00:57that UK residents made 86.2 million visits abroad, which has also risen since 2022.
01:02I spoke with locals on where they like to visit most
01:04and their thoughts on tourism doubling in the region by 2034.
01:09Right, well we're volunteers, call ourselves the Pointers,
01:13and it's because although we've got perfectly good tourist information,
01:19but it's telephone only, so if a stranger comes into town,
01:23it's nice to have a face-to-face contact,
01:25even if it's just to negotiate around the peninsula and Durham.
01:29Because I remember as a teenager, and I used to come into town for the first time,
01:34I used to get muddled up between Elvet Bridge and Framilget Bridge the first few goes,
01:39but if you've only got an hour or two because you're just passing through,
01:42you don't have time to figure that one out.
01:44So I thought, oh I'll volunteer and it seems to be going very well.
01:48Anywhere in the North East is perfect, yes.
01:52I think Durham's such a perfect spot to live
01:55because in half an hour I can be in the big city, I can be in Newcastle.
01:58In half an hour I can be on the coast
02:00and I've got the choice from Whitley Bay all the way down to Saltburn.
02:05If I head west, I can be in the hills.
02:08I can visit Raby Castle, Bowes Museum.
02:12I can go up and walk on the hills.
02:16It's only an hour or two's drive and I'm in the Lake District
02:20and the Durham Dales, you can't beat Middleton Teesdale
02:24for a beautiful walk along the Tees.
02:26So it's just such a beautiful country.
02:28I feel we've got the best of everything up here, I'm rather biased.
02:32I have a plan to travel to Spain.
02:34I like to travel to Spain because the beaches there, the weather there is quite good.
02:38I think it's a good thing if they can.
02:41I would say, yeah probably the pandemic played a part,
02:44but maybe the facilities as well
02:46because it's got some fantastic places to visit in the northeast.
02:50All my relatives that come say how beautiful it is,
02:53but if the facilities were better in like coastal areas and stuff,
02:56I think it would be more inviting.