LAST minute holidaymakers will have to look elsewhere this weekend as the North East is fully booked.
Hotels across the region will be packed to capacity with more than 250,000 eager music fans descending for Take That concerts in Sunderland at the same time that Newcastle’s Evolution festival takes place.
With just a handful of rooms remaining, city centre hotels in Newcastle had inflated their prices to more than £200 a room, more than double the usual cost in some cases.
Tourism chiefs have said the sold-out hotels will inject millions into the region’s economy, with the potential for the positive effects to be felt far beyond the Bank Holiday boost.
Sarah Stewart, chief executive of the NewcastleGateshead Initiative, said the events offered a chance to change people’s ideas about the North East.
She said: “The way to change people’s perceptions of the region is to get them to come visit, because we know the more they see it, the more they’ll realise they like it.
“It’s a great combination to have Take That and the Evolution festival coinciding, as concerts like that are essential for bringing in first time visitors.
“And once someone has visited it makes them more receptive to the idea of coming to live, work or study here, which is all good for the economy.”
Last night hotel booking website LateRooms.com showed over 175 hotels in Newcastle, Sunderland, Durham and Middlesbrough as fully booked. And what few rooms remained were either priced over £199 or miles from the major cities.
Mrs Stewart said: “We’re often asked about the fact that there are five or six hotels under development and eight or nine proposed sites and whether we can support so many, but we have a steady level of bookings, probably second only to London, and peak times like this prove we need more.
“More visitors can also only be of benefit to shops, restaurants, bars and clubs. And as when people come overnight they often do other things the next day so it helps to support the region’s attractions.”
According to the new Destination: Music report, produced by industry representatives UK Music, around 740,000 people attend concerts and festivals in the North East each year.
Of those, 286,000 are visitors to the region, who spend on average nearly £54 per person if visiting for a day, 54 per cent more than a standard day tripper, or almost £123 if staying overnight.
That all amounts up to more than £35m annually for North East businesses and supports the equivalent of 221 full time jobs. Jonathan Walker, of the North East Chamber of Commerce (NECC), said this weekend would be “a tremendous boost for the economy.”
He said: “It’s not just about hotels and retailers. Efforts have been made to bring local businesses on board as suppliers for these events and it all helps.
“What this shows is the region is now on the map.
“And not only will that lead to a boost in people seeing what is on offer and coming back for holidays but also more and more it will be seen as an venue for major events like this.”
