Our unique chance to shine

Upcoming events in North East may entice investment

A UNIQUE year of events in the North East will give the region the chance to sell itself to the world, experts say.

The Great Exhibition of the North, the Tall Ships Race, the rugby European Champions Cup and the World Transplant Games will bring millions of visitors to the region.

The region has also been boosted by Newcastle being named as the Number One place to visit in the world by the Rough Guides, with the global brand describing 2018 as “Newcastle’s time to shine”.

Hopes are high that the range of events in the summers of 2018 and 2019 will not just attract more tourists to the region but also put the North East in the global shop window, sparking investment and job creation down the line.

The Invest in the North East campaign – launched this week by The Chronicle and our sister paper, The Journal – is backing the region’s bid to attract new investment to create more and better jobs, and to raise aspirations for young people.

The Great Exhibition of the North is being delivered by the Newcastle Gateshead Initiative (NGI), whose chief executive Sarah Stewart said: “The Great Exhibition gives us an opportunity to shine a light, not only on the North as a region but also Newcastle and Gateshead specifically. What we want to show is the huge transformation there has been made here.

“We want to boost the pride of the people who already live and work here but also to change the image and perception of people who don’t know us that well by showcasing and bringing to life all the amazing things going on in the North, be it art and culture or the research at our universities or the really innovative work being done by companies across the North. “The fact that we’re hosting the Exhibition here helps us to do that because everyone says that when they arrive in Newcastle, when they walk down Grey Street or come to the Quayside, their reaction is often: ‘I never knew it was like this.’ “We want to raise pride and shift perceptions and if we can do that, the Great Exhibition will really have left a legacy. “That will be ongoing in terms of more visitors coming here and higher hotel occupancy here but it should also

translate into more investment, attracting more students and convincing more of our graduates and school leavers that there are opportunities in the North East.”

Newcastle and Gateshead’s successful bid to host the Great Exhibition of the North was instrumental in the Rough Guides naming Newcastle as its top place to visit, with the guides describing the 80-day event set to open on June 22 as a “two-month jamboree that will tell the story of Northern England”.

The Rough Guides praise of Tyneside also mentions “Geordie geniality”, “a burgeoning restaurant scene”, “fantastic museums” and praise’s the region’s architecture.

It is hoped the Exhibition and the other events taking place across the North East will spark economic benefits in years to come, similar to the estimated £300m and 800 new jobs that have been created by Hull’s year as UK City of Culture.