Member Article

Culture Secretary visits North East

The Culture Secretary has visited the region as part of a series of ‘2012 Summits’, to speak to businesses in the North East tourism sector about the opportunities the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics will bring.

Speaking at an event at The Sage, Gateshead Jeremy Hunt called on tourism bodies in the region to make the most of the large numbers of visitors in the UK during the Games, stressing the fact that it is a nationwide, rather than a London-centric event.

He commented: “This will be the year in all of our lifetimes when we will be at the centre of the global spotlight.

“We need to ensure that the whole country and the whole world knows about the majesty of Alnwick, Durham Cathedral, the Northumbria coastline, the North Pennines and the renaissance which has happened in Gateshead - there’s so much to see here, and what we need to do is make sure we don’t just read about London, that they read about the North East too.”

While he praised North East businesses who have successfully tendered for Olympic procurement contracts, Mr Hunt is now turning his focus towards tourism.

“This region has been incredibly entrepreneurial in winning contracts for the construction of the Olympic Park, the roofing of the stadium, the planning for the aquatic and the press centre all come from North East companies, so poeple here know what it means to be entrepreneurial.

“However, what we now need to think about is the tourism industry, rather than the construction industry.

Through a number of campaigns, the Government now hopes to attract an extra 4.5 million visitors to the UK over the next four years, and aims to sell one million extra hotel rooms in the next year. This could create upwards of 60,000 jobs.

He continued: “However, it’s not something that the Government can do on it’s own though, we need to work with the local tourism industry, we need them to come up with creative offers which tempt people to come here, but we’ve had a very positive response so far and I’m sure we will here.

“What happens for the Olympics is that it can be a catalyst. When it comes to regeneration, this region can teach the rest of the country a thing or two, and if we’re talking about regeneration I think this could be a moment to show the rest of the country what the North East has done.”

Sarah Stewart, chief executive at NewcastleGateshead Initiative believes the Games will be of real benefit to the North East.

Se added: “We stand to gain significantly from improved external perceptions, greater national and international profile, significant business contracts and a boost for the visitor economy in the long and short term.

“Not only is newcastle an Olympic host city - with nine football matches at St James’ Park which will draw both visitors and coverage - but we are also working with many cultural partners to programme a summer of festivities.

“These events will capture the spirit of celebration around the Games, as well as making NewcastleGateshead an attractive and exciting short break destination for visitors this year.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .