Fantastic fourth win for Beamish at Tourism Awards

Beamish, The Living Museum of the North is celebrating being named Large Visitor Attraction of the Year for the fourth year running.

The museum was presented with the Gold Award at the North East England Tourism Awards 2017 ceremony in Newcastle last night (16^th November).

Richard Evans, Beamish’s Director, said: “We are really delighted to win the award for the fourth year in a row.

“It’s a real credit to all of our staff and volunteers at the museum for all of the hard work they do. I hope they are proud of the success they’ve achieved.”

The North East England Tourism Awards were hosted by BBC Radio Newcastle presenter Alfie Joey, at The Boiler Shop in Newcastle’s Stephenson Quarter, celebrating the region’s amazing attractions and tourism businesses.

Beamish was shortlisted alongside Kielder Water & Forest Park and The Alnwick Garden. Other awards included Hotel of the Year, Taste of England Award, Guided Tour of the Year, Business Tourism Award and Dog Friendly Business of the Year.

Beamish will now have the chance to enter the national VisitEngland Awards for Excellence 2018.

Sarah Stewart, chief executive of NewcastleGateshead Initiative, said: “Huge congratulations to all of the winners. It’s been another brilliant year for entries and we received a high standard of entrants across all categories.

“The tourism sector in the North East of England continues to thrive, from our buzzing city centres to our beautiful coastline and varied countryside.”

The Large Visitor Attraction of the Year award marks another successful year for Beamish, which saw record visitor numbers of 750,406 visitors in 2016/17, which have more than doubled in the last eight years. The museum now has about 420 staff and more than 500 volunteers.

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.

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.

Northumbrian Water supported the awards for the sixth consecutive year, joined by Newcastle College and Bidfood as event sponsors for 2017.