Nothern lights

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The Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art.

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The Gateshead Millennium Bridge.

The historic and magnificent newcastle has endured a lot of challenges in recent decades, but as Claire Ferris-Lay observes, the city in the north east of England is fast catching up and ready to shine its light once again.

Newcastle has transformed itself. From fighting out the Scottish to attacking preconceived notions of bad taste and outdated industries, the city is rewriting history to become a thriving cultural and business centre for the North East of England.

A 10-year rejuvenation project along the quayside is completed, old factories have been converted into flourishing art centres and trendy hotels and prospering local and international business interests are proof that the city is on its way up once again.

A major marketing campaign by One NorthEast and the NewscastleGateshead initiative have also helped raise the profile of the area.

But the city hasn't had it easy. One of the leading cities in the Industrial Revolution, its traditional mining and steel industries completely disappeared during the 1980s, thrusting the city into a decade of doom and bust.

Newcastle and the rest of the area was labeled an underperforming region with a prolific unemployment rate.

In recent years, however, unemployment has been reduced and a rejuvenation project that will make the city proud has been undertaken. Newcastle is now a vibrant city for both tourism and business.

According to the United Kingdom Tourism Survey 2005, business tourism in the North East of England represented 23% of all domestic trips and 32% of domestic tourism spending.

The data also suggests that business tourism represents a greater percentage of overall trips and value than it does any other region after London and the West Midlands.

The growing conferencing market is crucial for the city's economic and intellectual impact, which is also helping to build upon the area's reputation for research and innovations, linked with the region's five universities.

The UK Conference Market Survey recently ranked Newcastle sixth in the UK, despite it not being rated at all just five years previously.

Future business events which are expected to have a huge economic impact on the city are the British Council for Shopping Centres Annual Conference & Showcase (with approximately 3,000 delegates) and the Conservative Party Spring Forum in 2008.

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