Home Magazin Panorama England's North East joins Eritrea on 'must see' list destination for 2008

England's North East joins Eritrea on 'must see' list destination for 2008

Written by Chris Tighe

Thursday, 18 October 2007

England's North East has been named alongside Eritrea, Damascus and Papua New Guinea as a "must see" destination for 2008 by the Lonely Planet Bluelist 2008 guide, published on Wednesday. The region is described as "the most exciting, beautiful and friendly" in the country and is the only part of the UK included in the guide's list of 30 destinations worldwide which it recommends to travellers.   Other places on the list range from Newfoundland and Labrador in Canada, the Bolivian Amazon, Yemen and the Tiwi Islands off Australia, Fez in Morocco and Chengdu in China.   Rejuvenated cities, fascinating history and "the dramatic Northumberland wilderness" are cited as key attractions of a regenerated North East which, says the guide, was once depressed - and depressing.   The region's high points include its scenery, Hadrian's Wall, its 19th century architecture, and more recent additions such as Middlesbrough's new art gallery and the Baltic Centre for contemporary art in Gateshead.   "These are places which are just on the radar now," said Heather Carswell of Lonely Planet. The world, she added, changed yearly, with some places losing their allure from too much tourism while others became more appealing.   Tourism now employs 55,000 in the North East and accounts for 4.6 per cent of gross value added.   In 2006, 8.6m tourists visited the region, where they spent £3.4bn; the 2010 target is 10m visitors.   The Lonely Planet guide's entry for the North East is factual and informative.   But while it warns of "fierce rivalry" between natives, locals of Newcastle and Sunderland might take issue with its assertion that their accents "sound identical". Comments Add New Search RSS Only registered users can write comments!

Last Updated ( Thursday, 18 October 2007 )

 

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