New Independent research shows that The Tall Ships’ Races this summer attracted hundreds of thousands of visitors to NewcastleGateshead from all over the UK and the world.
The event in July attracted 1.5m visitors in total throughout its four day stay in port, but now new research shows that a high percentage travelled from out of the region.
NewcastleGateshead Initiative, which was responsible for publicising the event, commissioned The Wood Holmes Group to evaluate the event from a tourism perspective and found that the event not only prompted over 300,000 national and international visitors to travel to NewcastleGateshead, but also encouraged them to extend their stay in the North East for up to ten days.
Researchers who quizzed almost 1300 people during the event found that as expected it proved extremely popular with local residents with one fifth of all visitors living in Newcastle and a further third from elsewhere in Tyne & Wear. However what the research team also found was that as many as one in five had travelled from elsewhere in the UK and 4% had arrived from overseas.
Day trippers accounted for the majority of visitors, but as many as 330,000 of all visitors stayed in the region over night, which constituted a 10% increase on the number who did so when NewcastleGateshead last staged the event in 1993.
One third of overnight visitors extended their stay between three and five nights and a quarter remained for up to ten days. Most over-nighters came from the within the UK with the highest percentage travelling from Yorkshire and the South East.
The event also spelled good news for the rest of the region with a quarter of those taking longer stays booking accommodation in Northumberland and one in seven in Durham.
The majority of visitors from out of the area who responded to the survey said they had come especially for The Tall Ships’ Races and as many as four in five, accounting for around 840,000 people, said they would definitely visit NewcastleGateshead again.
Almost everyone felt it was important that NewcastleGateshead invested in events like The Tall Ships’ Races in future and 615,000 of those polled from out of the area said following their visit they now had an improved opinion of NewcastleGateshead
Andrew Dixon, Chief Executive of NewcastleGateshead Initiative, said:” These results are incredibly useful. We knew people living both within and out of the region were eagerly awaiting the return of this incredibly popular event, but these figures categorically demonstrate the importance of bringing world-class events to NewcastleGateshead.
“These events not only have the power to engage the local community but also to act as a real driver for tourism and the region’s economy.”
Councillor David Faulkner, Executive Member for Culture, Heritage, Libraries and Sports, said: "During the Tall Ships Race the spotlight of the world fell on NewcastleGateshead and drew visitors from all over the globe. These findings demonstrate how much a high profile event like this can boost tourism and bring benefit to the whole region. We are also delighted that so many visitors had such a good experience that they would like to come back again."
Cllr John McElroy, Cabinet member for culture at Gateshead Council, said, "The figures speak for themselves, and re-affirm what many of us living in NewcastleGateshead already know - it's a great place to live, work and visit! I think the increased number of visitors is in large part because NewcastleGatesehad has really bloomed in the last 10 years. With The Sage Gateshead, Angel of the North, Gateshead Millennium Bridge and BALTIC really putting us on the map, more and more people now know about this area, are interested in what they hear and want to come and experience some great Geordie hospitality for themselves."
