Great Start to Year for North East Tourism Businesses
06.05.09
A group of tourism businesses in the North East of England have reported that they’ve had a great start to the year.

How do they know this? Footfall, shifting ice cream cones and happy wedding guests! 

Crook Hall and Gardens, the Prince Bishops River Cruises and Durham Indoor Markets are all based and work together within the ancient City of Durham.

Now, hard on the heels of a highly successful 2008 when each of these high profile visitor magnets managed to attract record numbers of coach parties, they each now state that the sunny Easter weekend has helped them begin 2009 with a bang.

Maggie Bell is the owner of Crook Hall and Gardens which is situated right on the banks of the River Wear overlooking the City’s famous Norman Cathedral:

‘The Easter period has proved to be wonderful for the newly refurbished Crook Hall and Gardens – the decent weather and all of our joint working to get visitors through the doors has really helped us.  We’ve actually had double the numbers of customers coming through our gates compared to Easter 2008!’

Crook Hall also say that they are doing very well for weddings in 2009 with bookings now being made for 2010. And coach parties visiting the attraction are growing year on year.

Durham’s long established indoor market – situated just off the historic marketplace in the very heart of the City – similarly report increased numbers of customers during the first quarter of 2009.

Colin Wilkes is the Managing Director of the Durham Markets Company:

‘The Indoor Market gets close to 2 million visitors each year and because of this it has always had an integral role to play in the economic life of the City – but for 2009, despite the doom and gloom of the credit crunch, we’ve actually seen a 5% increase in footfall for the period January to Easter 2009,’ explains Colin. 

‘And this is made up of visits from many of our loyal customers, people from outside of our area and also to the fact that we are definitely attracting more and more groups of visitors from all over the UK and aboard too.’

 An important factor in the growing attractiveness of Durham City to groups is the free coach parking introduced last year- as well as the ‘Meet and greet’ service for pre-booked coaches arriving in the City, provided by the local Tourist Information Centre.

And the tranquil experience of a Prince Bishops River Cruise on the River Wear is also more popular than ever. Jamie Robson is the director of the Prince Bishops River Cruises:

‘We run scheduled services for visitors and also party nights and private hire cruises – giving the customer maximum choice about how they can best enjoy our relaxing cruise,’ says Jamie.

‘But this year so far we have seen increased numbers, more passengers on board, extra enquiries and a lot more activity generally – even the ice creams we sell are great demand and that is always a sign of a successful day out in Durham!

‘Obviously, the weather has a lot to do with it but our joint message to the visitor about the appeal of taking in a quality shopping experience at Durham Indoor Market, a sublime visit to the beautiful Crook Hall and Gardens as well as a tranquil Prince Bishops Cruise on the River Wear seems to be providing the ingredients for a memorable Durham City visit,’ states Jamie.