
Tourism contributed more than £1 billion to County Durham's economy for the second year running after more than 20 million people visited the region.
According to the latest STEAM figures – calculating the volume and value of the visitor economy – County Durham’s expenditure rose by 18.8 per cent in 2023 to £1.23 billion, with more than 20.15 million people visiting last year, an increase of 12.5 per cent.
Employment in the tourism and hospitality sector also increased by 12.4 per cent meaning more than 13,000 people are full-time employed in that sector and a further 2,619 employed through the supply chain.