A programme of new hotel openings combined with exhibitions and anniversaries is set to make 2025 a great year for groups to discover NewcastleGateshead and the North East region.

Gotham Hotel Newcastle is a new, luxury 5-star property opening in Spring 2025. Combining a former fire station and police station, the hotel will offer 60 bedrooms plus a restaurant and bar. Meanwhile, Dakota on the Newcastle Quayside, also opening in Spring 2025, will offer waterfront suites among 116 rooms. In Alnwick in Northumberland, the Bailiffgate Hotel, located in the historic former premises of the Duchess High School, will open in June. The property will feature 48 bedrooms, suites and apartments, as well as a bar and restaurant.

Looking at attractions and events in 2025, from February the Locomotion railway museum, located in Shildon, will present an exhibition highlighting Railway Firsts. This will coincide with S&DR200, a nine-month international festival taking place across County Durham and Tees Valley in 2025 to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the first journey on the Stockton and Darlington Railway (S&DR).

A number of high-profile events are also taking place across the North East in 2025, including the MOBOS awards on Feb 18, the biggest night in Black music and culture, plus the Come Together Festival, the North East’s biggest ever music festival, which will be held 4-8 June at Newcastle’s Town Moor.

NewcastleGateshead Initiative leaders have also been recognised in the recent New Year’s honours for their services to tourism. Chief Executive Dr Sarah Green has been awarded an OBE, and Chief Operating Officer Ian Thomas, who was a speaker at the CTA Conference & Workshop 2024, has received an MBE.