Call to get more tourists to stay overnight
LDRSTourism bosses in County Durham have been urged to boost the number of people staying overnight.
A council debate on the region's tourism economy was told the latest data from 2024 recorded 19.93m day visitors but just 1.64m overnight stays in the same period.
Councillors told the meeting it was a "beautiful county" but more was needed to be done to promote it.
The region's tourism body, Visit County Durham, said its coast was one of the fastest-growing areas, but there was a problem with lack of accommodation.
The Local Democracy Reporting Service said Dr Kelly Smith, a co-opted member of the council's environment scrutiny committee, told the meeting: "Durham needs to be an overnight destination.
"People are staying in Newcastle and coming to Durham for a day trip and then going back at night because it's being presented as a night-time destination with theatres, restaurants, and nightlife.
Michelle Gorman, managing director at Visit County Durham, said: "We will always struggle compared to Newcastle – it's a big metropolitan city and Durham is a very small heritage city.
"The night-time economy is something we have always struggled with, not just in Durham City, but the rest of the county."
Councillor Kenny Hope, Reform member for Delves Lane, said: "County Durham is a beautiful county and we don't sell it enough and we don't sell it properly.
"It needs to be promoted better than it is.
"We need to look at investing in the outdoor economy, such as mountain biking, canoeing and kayaking.
"If we don't, we will just sit on our hands and nothing will happen."
Michelle Gorman, managing director at Visit Durham, said the lack of visitor accommodation in the area meant people were not staying longer.
She told the meeting: "We have a fabulous coastline and much has been done over the last 20 years to improve it.
"It is one of our fastest-growing areas, the challenge we have is the lack of visitor accommodation."
A 400m buffer zone is currently in place along the Durham Coast to protect wildlife and sea life and prevent developments.
"To get any visitor accommodation is really challenging," Ms Gorman added.
"We are trying to get more family-friendly accommodation because the coast gets really busy with day visitors."
