England’s new northern gateway

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Northumberland is home to Hadrian’s Wall.

Since Emirates launched daily flights to Newcastle in 2007, North East England has become one of the UK's hottest destinations outside of London.

Prior to 2007, most Middle East travellers would not have considered a holiday to the North East of England, preferring instead to visit England's much-loved capital, London.

But the launch of Emirates Airline's daily flight to Newcastle last year and the region's inclusion in the prestigious Lonely Planet Blue List 2008 - the region was labelled the ‘most friendly and exciting region in the UK' - has put the North East on the tourist map.

"The response to the Emirates launch fully justified the introduction of the first ever scheduled long-haul service from Newcastle Airport on September 1st last year. The first two Emirates flights sold out in record time, filling up more than two months in advance - the best sales we've ever had for a UK launch," says an Emirates Airline spokesman.

Hayley Beattie, PR officer for UK government development agency One North East concurs that the Emirates flight is "doing really well".

"This is a great new gateway into the UK; nobody needs to go down to London when they can avoid the hassle by flying direct into North East England, which is perfectly placed for popular destinations like Edinburgh, York, the Lake District," she says.

"Emirates Airline has been delighted with the way it's working and there has been a knock-on effect, so we've already seen a lot of improvement work happening at Newcastle Airport as a result. Obviously the airport is now welcoming far more international visitors and it needs to be able to cater to them."

Prior to the Emirates launch the majority of arrivals from the GCC were travelling to the North East region for business, according to Beattie, so One North East is now trying to attract more leisure travellers.

"There is no reason we can't say, ‘ok you're coming over here for business, why not extend it for a few days and have a relaxing time in the region as well?'," she says.

"We're now really trying to get that leisure message out to people, looking at what Middle Eastern travellers want and how we can actually match those needs.

"We're developing a campaign to have some branding up at Dubai Airport, which is in the early stages at the moment."

One North East is marketing the region as a "better value way of getting into the UK" according to Beattie.

"It's an opportunity for Middle East travellers to discover a new part of the country and they can still head down to London. Alternatively fly into London and do a day trip to the North East; jump on a British Airways flight and have a day up at Alnwick Garden and Alnwick Castle and the head back down at the end of the day," she says.

"That's a way for Middle East travellers to experience something different."

The strong presence of VisitBritain in the Middle East is sure to raise awareness of the destination, although it's a challenge to "start from scratch" says Beattie.

"But once they (Middle East travellers) actually find out what attractions are on offer, they are open to trying it and discovering it and we've had a number guests from the region already," she stresses.

Many visitors to the UK have started to look outside London, partly because of the problems with Heathrow's new Terminal 5, according to Beattie.

"We are certainly trying to say to someone thinking of coming to a well known and popular destination like Scotland, for example, ‘fly into Newcastle, have your few days in the North East getting over your jet lag and relaxing and then go up to Edinburgh, which is an hour-and-a-half on the train'," she says.

"York's an hour in the opposite direction and the Lake District is another hour's drive, so the region has easy access to many popular tourist spots."

As well as being a good base from which to explore the rest of Britain, North East England is looking to promote itself as a "region that can host world class events", according to Beattie.

The Tall Ships Race, which was held in the North East for the first time in 2005, attracted two million visitors to the region and the North East will host it again in 2010. The region also hosted the European leg of the World Travel Awards in 2007, which "put it on the map for those kinds of events", according to Beattie.

"The region is very passionate about welcoming people and showing them what we have to offer," she says.

"The attractions are of world-class importance and there's a great mixture of old and new so you can come and discover UK heritage and then you can go into a modern city like Newcastle Gateshead," she adds.

Northumberland

The North East can be easily split into three sub-regions, the first of which is Northumberland - the largest county in the region.

Northumberland is a predominantly rural area, but also home to one of the region's most famous, popular and important tourist sites - Hadrian's Wall.

The UNESCO World Heritage Site that runs 117km across Britain originally marked the northern border of England and boasts a number of forts and, for the more hands-on amongst your clients, the opportunity to get involved in an archaeological dig.

The second must-see in Northumberland is Alnwick Castle where the Duke and Duchess of York still reside for part of the year.

The castle itself is best known as the setting for the Harry Potter films, so it's the perfect attraction for families, but also has enough to keep the parents entertained.

"It's nice because you've got internationally known pieces of art next to family photographs," says Beattie.

"We have more castles in North East England than any other region in the UK and quite a few of them are either hotels or still lived in."

Close to the castle is Alnwick Gardens, born out of the Duchess of Northumberland's desire to have an "internationally renowned garden".

One North East recommends spending the morning strolling around the garden, followed by lunch at the unique tree house restaurant, which has a tree trunk shooting up through its centre.

Beattie adds: "Northumberland's coastline is also absolutely stunning. Quite often you can be on a beach and there is nobody else there, because there are so many beaches and little coves that people don't even know about.

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