Visit County Durham has reported that the county’s visitor economy hit £1.23bn in 2023 following a 12.5% increase in visitors to 20.15million last year, with visitor spending up by 18.8%.

The figure reflects the county’s investment which has also seen tourism employment increase by 12.4% to over 13,000 employees. Visit County Durham says that new attractions, including the Spanish Gallery and Faith Museum, part of The Auckland Project, and further additions to the 1950s Town at Beamish Museum, have been instrumental in the county’s success.

Building on this, the New Hall at Locomotion opened last month to create the largest under cover collection of historic rail vehicles in Europe. Meanwhile, in Durham City, The Story has brought the county’s history to life at the new state-of-the-art history centre. The ambitious development at Raby Castle has also recently opened, with The Rising expanding its visitor offer with reimagined walled gardens, restored heritage buildings, and a new restaurant.

With interactive and live performance at Kynren, taking place across the summer near Bishop Auckland, a new pre-show experience, Return of the Vikings, enables visitors to experience the recreation of a 9th century village complete with cookhouse, cottages, and a working blacksmith’s forge.

Meanwhile, Durham City has been awarded the Confederation of Passenger Transport’s ‘Coach Friendly’ accreditation in recognition of the city’s commitment to coach tourism.

Find out more about trips and tours in County Durham here.