Beamish Nominated for North East England Tourism Awards

October 26th 2018

Beamish, The Living Museum of the North is thrilled to be shortlisted for the North East England Tourism Awards 2018.

This is the fifth year Beamish has been nominated for the Large Visitor Attraction of the Year category, with the museum winning the Gold Award every year since 2014.

Rhiannon Hiles, Deputy Director of Beamish, said: “We are over the moon to be nominated for the North East England Tourism Awards – we are very honoured to be a part of North East heritage and feel strongly that the region has so much to offer. It makes us immensely proud to have been nominated amongst the regions finest.”

Beamish has been shortlisted for the award alongside Whitehouse Farm Centre, Alnwick Castle and The Alnwick Gardens.

Winners will be announced at a ceremony on Wednesday, 21st November at Newcastle Civic Centre. BBC Radio Newcastle breakfast show presenter, Alfie Joey, will present the awards.

Other categories include Boutique Guest Accommodation of the Year, Taste of England Award, Sustainable Tourism Award, Business Tourism Award and Dog Friendly Business of the Year.

This year has seen a record number of entries for the awards, up by nearly 150 per cent. Overall, 57 applications made the shortlist for the 15 award categories from a wide range of tourism businesses across County Durham, Tyne and Wear and Northumberland.

Sarah Stewart, Chief Executive at Destination Management and Marketing Organisation NewcastleGateshead Initiative, said: “It’s great to see a record number of applicants for the North East England Tourism Awards this year. We’ve had a variety of new applicants, as well as strong entries from those applying again, and there are some extremely competitive categories.

“Having hosted the biggest event in England in 2018, Great Exhibition of the North, and other significant events in the region, such as Tall Ships, the tourism sector is continuing to grow and flourish in the North East. These awards are a brilliant way to celebrate those businesses that make the tourism industry so successful and we’re looking forward to the award’s ceremony in November.”

Beamish welcomed a record-breaking 764,675 visitors in 2017/18 and has seen visitor numbers more than double over the past eight years. The museum has about 460 staff and more than 500 volunteers.

The museum was named Large Visitor Attraction of the Year at the North East England Tourism Awards in 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017, and won the Tourism and Hospitality Award at the North East Business Awards 2018.

Building work has started on the £18million Remaking Beamish project, which includes a 1950s Town, 1950s Farm and expansion of the Georgian area, including a coaching inn where visitors can stay overnight.

If successful, Beamish will be entered into the national VisitEngland Awards for Excellence 2019. Next year celebrates 30 years of the awards and success in English tourism, with winners from the North East England Tourism Awards highlighted as part of this.

The North East England Tourism Awards are organised and delivered by destination management and marketing organisation NewcastleGateshead Initiative and NGI Solutions in partnership with the Northern Tourism Alliance.

Newcastle College and Bidfood are continuing their support for the awards as event sponsors for 2018.