Tees Valley shaping up to be one of UK's 'up-and-coming' tourist destinations

Recent figures show that Tees Valley’s tourism industry is continuing to grow, with more than 19 million people visiting the region in 2017, and spending more than £900m.

The latest figures from STEAM (Scarborough Tourism Economic Activity Modelling), which evaluated tourism activity in 2017, show that day visitors have increased by six per cent year-on-year compared to 2016.

Visitor expenditure in 2017 was up five per cent on 2016 and now stands at over £923m. This supports almost 12,000 jobs - an increase of five per cent on the previous year.

Tees Valley Mayor, Ben Houchen, said: “I’m delighted to see that thousands more from outside our area are coming here, spending money and experiencing what we have to offer.

“Our tourism industry is on the up and it’s clear we’re fast becoming one of the UK’s emerging visitor destinations. This is great news for local people and local businesses.

“While these figures are encouraging, we won’t stop there. With our new visitor destination website, EnjoyTeesValley.com, we’re doing all we can to shout about the amazing things that are happening here, and what’s to come.

“This includes our bid to play host to the Rugby League World Cup in 2021, while we have the Great City Games coming to Stockton in 2019 and the 200th anniversary of the birth of the railways in 2025.”

To support the work of the local authorities to promote tourism in the region, Tees Valley Combined Authority created its own tourism team in 2017.

This has been further augmented by the creation of the region’s first destination marketing team and website for more than seven years. ‘Enjoy Tees Valley’ - managed by the Combined Authority - was launched in March 2018.

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