New visitor guide for County Durham
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(Durham - January 25, 2010, TravMedia.com): Visit County Durham has launched a new pocket sized visitor guide in a bid to encourage domestic tourists to stay longer and explore more of Durham: North East England’s cultural city and county.
The Durham Pocket Guide 2010 - was unveiled last week at Beamish Museum, one of Britain’s best loved open air museums - and profiles the best places in the county to visit, eat, shop and relax.
Durham is one of 14 places vying to become the first ever UK City of Culture in 2013 and is awaiting the results of its bid from the Department of Culture Media and Sport.
It will find out in February whether it has made a shortlist of five cities which could go on to host major events including the Turner Prize, The Booker Prize, BAFTA’S and The MTV Music Awards in 2013.
Craig Wilson, marketing manager for Visit County Durham, said: “It’s such an exciting time for Durham and the Pocket Guide is a great way to highlight the best of our cultural events calendar, the quality of our eateries and the rich diversity of cultural attractions and places to visit in our county.”
The guidebook targets people who have already arrived in the North East and is available at Tourist Information Centres, at visitor attractions, shops, restaurants, libraries and encourages people to consider extending their stays and add new experiences to their travel plans.
It’s expected to be a busy year for tourism to Durham following the boost given to its profile by November’s Lumiere light festival which attracted 75,000 people across three days and a host of national press and TV exposure.
The North East’s biggest food festival, The Wear Valley Food Festival, is back again on April 17 with a new name – The Bishop Auckland Food Festival in the Durham Dales – and aims to showcase the best of artisan food and crafs production alongside an exciting programme of entertainment and family fun.
In May 2010, Durham revives its lost tradition of performing Mystery Plays with new contemporary reworkings of ancient tales including Adam and Eve and Noah and the Flood.
Live performances in the city are planned across three nights from May 27-29 and the city’s hotels and eateries are gearing up for an upsurge in visitors.
“The Mystery Plays are the latest in a series of major cultural events which have helped position Durham as an exciting and affordable UK city break destination.
In the past two years Radisson has opened its first North Eastern property and boutique hotels and luxury guest houses have opened to provide city breakers with even more quality and choice,” added Wilson.
In August, the internationally acclaimed Tall Ships Race comes to Hartlepool, County Durham from the 7th to the 10th - its historic ships and lively atmosphere for crews and visitors are set to further boost the appeal of the North East as a domestic break destination.
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