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No place like home

1:32pm Monday 20th July 2009


Brits are snubbing holidays abroad this year and choosing to stay at home. And there’s plenty in the region to keep us happy this summer, says Sharon Griffiths.

POLISH up your smile and shake out the welcome mat – we are having visitors, lots of them. And they are just the boost the region needs during the credit crunch. Every cloud has a silver lining. The recession is causing problems for us all. We already have less to spend.

Meanwhile, the euro and the dollar are costing us more to buy, making a holiday abroad even more expensive.

The result, say the experts, is a boom in staycations this year – more of us holidaying at home and taking short breaks and days out in our own country. And because the pound is better value for foreigners, we are also getting more visitors coming here from abroad.

It means a lot to the region. Tourism brings in about £3.9bn to the North-East and directly employs 60,000 people. That’s 5.2 per cent of the North-East workforce.

Last year it took a knock – not helped by the gloomy weather. In all ways, the overall forecast this year is much brighter.

Even before the recent splendid sunny weather, visitor numbers at resorts and attractions were well up on last year and there are already plenty of bookings ahead.

In the recent sunshine, you could hardly get a bed in Whitby or Richmond. Roads through the dales and moors and on routes to the coast were toe-to-tail with traffic as people made the most of the good weather.

And it wasn’t just the sunshine that was bringing people out in droves. As far back as the February halfterm, those businesses that were open were already doing well, and Easter proved a bumper time.

“We were worried that the recession might affect our visitors numbers, in fact the reverse is true and we have been incredibly busy,” says Richard Evans, director of Beamish Museum.

At Crook Hall in Durham, owners Maggie and Keith Bell had their best Easter ever – 3,000 visitors to their small family-run manor house and gardens. The Weardale Railway had 1,000 passengers over Easter and Locomotion, in Shildon, has welcomed its 750,000th visitor.

“Numbers of tourists were 15 per cent up on the previous May – which was about the only time last year we had good weather,” says Michael Moore, of County Durham Tourist Partnership. “And in the half-term week, numbers were up by 44 per cent.”

It was the same in Yorkshire and Northumberland – visitors were 27 per cent up at the Yorkshire Dales National Park visitor centre in Aysgarth. Tourist information centres were working flat out to find accommodation for all those who wanted it. Campsites and caravan parks were busy.

“We’ve been busy since Easter and many people have booked to come back this month,” says spokesman at Akebar Caravan Park, near Leyburn.

Hotel bookings in Whitby are up on last year, with people booking for longer stays. Seventy per cent of the year is already booked.

“Things look extremely positive so far. Scarborough, Whitby and Filey are busy, mostly taking last-minute bookings. We look set for an absolutely bumper year,”

says Janet Deacon, Scarborough Borough Council’s tourist manager.

Crowds have been flocking to Northumberland too, especially the coast. “All the attractions have been doing really well,” says Sheelagh Caygill, of Northumberland Tourism. “There’s usually a bit of a lull between Easter and the May bank holidays, but this year there was no lull at all. Kielder Water had a great Easter with a food and crafts fair. Woodhorn Museum, near Ashington, had 23,000 visitors in the first three months. Everyone seems to be reporting an increase in visitors.”

But this, of course, hasn’t just happened by itself.

Money is tight and tourist owners and organisations have had to work hard to bring people in, offering bargains and special offers. Visitors are looking for value for money.

THERE’S been a big rise in camping, caravanning and self-catering. It seems as though many families have swapped a break abroad for one under canvas in this country, a cheap holiday to see if they liked it. “People are all looking for discounts,” says the owner of a number of holiday cottages in Whitby and on the North York Moors. “They’ve been leaving it till the last minute – checking out the weather I suppose – so yes, we’ve been giving them special deals. We want people to come here and enjoy themselves. That way, they’ll come back again.”

“In a recession we all know we have to offer value for money, so there are lots of offers of three nights for the price of two, or two-for-one deals,” says Michael Moore.

“Many of our top attractions offer these deals on our website (visitcountydurham.com) and we’ve had a big increase in people taking advantage of them.

“We’re also trying to offer added value with our Taste Durham scheme and encouraging people working in tourism to learn more about the area so they can pass that information on to visitors.

“Bill Bryson famously came to Durham intending to stop for an hour or two but fell in love with the place.

That’s what we want to do – persuade people to visit us and make them fall in love and come back again and again.”

Tourists bring money and jobs to the region, which is good news for us all. Remember that next time you’re stuck behind a caravan… CROOK HALL AND GARDENS The 13th century Grade I listed Medieval hall provides a spectacular backdrop to the idyllic English theme gardens.

Soak up the atmosphere over a home-made cream tea in the pretty courtyard, just a short walk from the city’s bustling market place. Country Life described the hall as having “history, romance and beauty”, and it’s just waiting to capture your heart.

■ Crook Hall and Gardens, Frankland Lane, Sidegate, Durham. Open daily except Fridays and Saturdays until September, Tel: 0191-384-8028; crookhallgardens.co.uk


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