The figures are impressive: two World Heritage Sites, around 50 castles (give or take), England’s largest forest, Europe’s largest man-made body of water, the largest Gold Tier Dark Sky Park in Europe, a 40-mile-long (64k) coastal Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, the world’s largest half-marathon, and, arguably, the UK’s most recognisable public artwork. And yet, and yet… North East England languishes at the bottom of the country’s league table for visitor numbers.
And by some margin. The number of overnight trips to the region taken by UK visitors in 2023 was 3.7m, around half the number of the next lowest region, the East Midlands (7.4m). The South West sailed ahead with 16.4m. The number of foreign visitors is similarly thin: a spindly 459,000 while all other regions, apart from Wales, range between 1.1m and 4.3m, with London 20.3m.
Perception could be to blame: it’s “oop north”, so it’s bound to be colder and greyer and tougher than the soft and sunny South West. (I’m from the north, so I can be blunt.) But the Lake District is also in the north (and is wetter) and yet the North West attracted 3.4m overseas tourists plus 13.9m overnighting Brits: more than four times as many.
Is it because it lacks a showpiece attraction? Those castles are pretty spectacular (Alnwick good enough to star as Harry Potter’s Hogwarts). Or are the views unimpressive? I’d direct you to Holy Island, shimmering offshore like a fairy-tale kingdom, the sweep of the North Pennines, Northumberland moorland from Hadrian’s Wall, or beaches that roll like airport runways into the distance, largely untroubled by people.