Tourism and Recreation

To support tourism and recreation as a driver for sustainable economic development in the North East with objectives of:

• Promoting tourism and recreation (including sport and leisure) as an opportunity for business start up and diversification
• Enhancing the contribution of rural areas to the tourism offer of the North East
• Improving the quality of the rural tourism offer in the North East
• Exploring innovative ways of using rural natural, cultural, geological and historic assets in a sustainable way.

The Schil, Pennine Way © Keith Robson

Example Outcomes:

• Facilitating increased cohesion between attractions and facilities to enhance the integration of NE tourism offer
• Increasing public access and understanding of countryside
• Improving quality of service and facilities in rural tourism businesses with a focus on small businesses
• To encourage more business start ups that represent high quality, innovative tourism and recreational opportunities
• To support activity based tourism that promotes increased sustainable use of natural assets
• To support the development of more products that enhance the rural tourism offer (food, crafts etc)
• To support the development of higher quality accommodation relevant to local needs and opportunities
• To encourage collaboration and networking between tourism businesses in areas such as joint purchasing, promotion and product development e.g. genealogy

Along with the farming, agriculture and forestry sectors, the tourism industry has a significant role to play in the economic development of the Northumberland Uplands. Many of the North East’s most popular tourism attractions are located in the Northumberland Uplands, including Hadrian’s Wall, Kielder Water and Forest, the Cheviot Hills, Cragside, and Wallington. Tourism in the Northumberland Uplands generates 2.2million visits and the annual value is calculated to be about £94m (source: STEAM 2006 One NorthEast).

There scope to expand the industry and the full potential of the tourism sector has yet to be realised. For instance, although the numbers employed in the sector are significantly higher for the Northumberland Uplands area (9.2% of the workforce) than the rest of the North East (5.2%), and England (4.7%), the New LEADER approach can continue to develop and add value to tourism businesses in an environmentally sustainable manner. A large proportion of the Northumberland Uplands has been designated as a National Park, making it vitally important for tourism businesses to maintain a careful balance between preservation and promotion. Indeed, a sound approach to sustainable tourism will offer significant local economic impact with minimal environmental impact.

The Northumberland Uplands has considerable tourism assets:

• Natural heritage, including Northumberland National Park, Kielder Water and Forest Park, open spaces, tranquillity and Geodiversity
• Historic and cultural, including the central sector of the Hadrian’s Wall World Heritage Site, the National Trust properties of Cragside and Wallington, prehistoric landscapes, reiver history, traditional music, agricultural shows and festivals
• Outdoor activities, like walking and leisure trails, cycling routes, fishing, and nature-based tourism like wildlife watching and conservation
• Market Towns and Villages, including Haltwhistle, Bellingham, Rothbury, Stamfordham, Kirkwhelpington and Wooler

The Northumberland Uplands contain very high quality clean fresh water courses. The rivers are the best in England for salmon fishing and are vital for the Region’s biodiversity as they support much wildlife. The area contains strategic water supplies most notably at Kielder where what was originally a strategic industrial water supply now offers the growing region a secure supply of fresh domestic water and a rich recreational resource for tourists and day visitors.

Tourism is pivotal to the sustainable future of the Northumberland Uplands for the following reasons:

• It is a key source of employment and income generation and a vital component of a diverse rural economy
• It has the potential to impact both negatively and positively on the wildlife, landscape and communities of the upland areas
• The tourism industry can increase levels of public enjoyment, understanding and appreciation of the Northumberland Uplands and support for the sustainable management of the uplands and the environment as a whole

Tourism is a gradually developing and increasingly important business sector.  However, the tourism sector often pays low wages and many of the jobs are seasonal. Business surveys indicate that most would like to expand which suggests there is spare human and business infrastructure capacity to grow the existing businesses. Northumberland Tourism is a member of Tourism Network North East - a partnership involving One NorthEast Tourism and four Area Tourism Partnerships that is committed to providing a range of integrated services for visitors and tourism businesses.

These three sectors – agriculture, forestry and tourism, are largely based on the area’s natural qualities and have opportunities to grow from renewable energy, higher added value for quality local produce and increasing spend on leisure and recreational activities.  These sectors consist of micro-businesses and their development would lead to sustainable endogenous and neo-endogenous growth. These businesses have effectively decided to settle in the Northumberland Uplands and become part of the community.