Overseas visitors don't do modern, says duchess

Mar 20 2008 by Ben Guy, The Journal

THE Duchess of Northumberland has called for a rethink of the region’s overseas marketing strategy, insisting it is castles and history which pull in visitors and not modern city sculptures.

The duchess was speaking yesterday on a break from her worldwide tour to raise funds for the final stage of development at her Alnwick Garden tourism project.

And she insisted people she has met on her travels are more likely to visit the North East to see its unique historic assets rather than its modern attractions such as the Baltic which they can see the likes of at home.

The duchess said: “It is very difficult to market Newcastle and Gateshead as an attraction, what people want is the history, it is Northumberland.

“Why is someone from Sydney going to want to come and see the Baltic? They have got the Opera House and the weather as an added bonus.

“It made me stop and think of what the visitor wants from a trip to the North East.

“It has shown me that it is really important that the whole of the North East wants to pull together and give the visitor what they want and the number one is the history and the castles of Northumberland.

“It is no good me going out and selling Northumberland when we should be working together for the benefit of our region. There are very few areas in the UK that have got what we have got to offer – countryside, the hills, the castles, the history.

“We have got Durham and the Cathedral, we have got a hell of a package really.

“The key people in tourism in the North East should go out and hear what I am hearing.”

The duchess also called for her home town of Alnwick to improve its offer to visitors, with delivery of a top-class hotel.

And she insisted people would prefer to stay at a hotel on the Northumberland coast, rather than a caravan park.

Her husband the Duke of Northumberland was recently awarded planning permission to build a 54-bedroom hotel on the outskirts of Alnwick, and knocked back in a bid to build a 100-pitch caravan park at coastal Warkworth.

The duchess said: “These tour groups have approached me directly and asked if there is a hotel that is big enough in Alnwick for their visitors to stay in and there is not.

“In the long term, Alnwick needs a big family affordable hotel. One day my hope is that someone will come and build a family hotel with a view over the sea instead of one of the caravan parks.

“These visitors do not want to stay in Newcastle, they want to stay in the countryside.

“I know that the return from caravan parks may be greater than a hotel but I wish somebody would come and do it.”

Regional development agency One NorthEast last night said it must attach equal importance to the North East’s diverse range of attractions in its promotions abroad.

A spokesman said: “North East England has a fantastic history and heritage and the fact that the region has more castles than any other in England is one of our key selling messages.

“Our castles feature prominently in our international marketing in long-haul markets. The castle-hopping campaign in the USA and the choice of Alnwick Castle as the front cover of our Australian holiday guide are good examples of this.

“We face stiff competition for international visitors from other areas of the UK and the fact that we can offer world-class city culture and unspoiled coast and countryside alongside our heritage helps not only attract visitors but keep them in the region for longer.”

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Persuasive advocate for her beloved garden

THE Duchess of Northumberland is touring the world to raise the £42m needed to complete the third and final phase of the Alnwick Garden.

She has given sell-out talks and lectures and made television appearances across the globe to raise the profile of the project.

In the past six months she has been to Chicago, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Australia and San Francisco and is going to New York in April and The Hamptons – playground for America’s rich and famous – in August.

The duchess’s trip has resulted in many overseas groups booking trips to Alnwick, for some of which she will act as tour guide, and many invitations to return.

She is hoping an overseas fundraiser who accompanied her will reap the rewards of her appearances.

The duchess said: "People are aware of the project now, they support the project and now it is up to the fundraiser to turn that into a donation.

"I think we would expect to see money start to come in during the summer months."

Phase three of the garden involves the planting of 350 Tai Haku cherry trees as an orchard which will be the biggest of its kind in the world and which is set to open in spring 2009.

Once funding is secured, the Cherry Orchard will be joined by a skating pond, an adventure play area at The Treehouse and five more themed gardens.

The duchess is already dreaming of a raised platform for wheelchair users as part of the adventure play area.

In the future she hopes to bring more visitors to Alnwick in winter than summer through a lighting programme and is planning a blossom festival.

She is also looking forward to welcoming international students from Chicago and Jordan in May.