Northumberland website bringing in the hits

By The Newsroom

Published 23rd Feb 2017, 14:38 GMT

Updated 1st Mar 2017, 07:52 GMT

Driftwood on the beach at Bamburgh by Darren Chapman

Driftwood on the beach at Bamburgh by Darren Chapman

More than 1.1million unique users visited the county's official tourism website last year, new figures show.

The information has been published as part of Northumberland Tourism’s Year in Review for 2016.

The website – visitnorthumberland.com – attracted 1,106,939 unique visitors, up by 0.5 per cent on 2015. Seventy-two per cent were new users – up by seven per cent, which is above the industry average.Ninety per cent of users were from the UK, while the number of international users was up by five per cent.Holy Island topped the list of most-viewed content. Also making the top-10 list was Love the North; Berwick-upon-Tweed; coast; cottages; Seahouses; Blyth Tall Ships; camping and caravan; Holy Island crossing times; and dark skies.There were also gains on social media, with Facebook followers jumping by 39 per cent, Twitter followers up by 21 per cent and Instagram followers rising by 194 per cent.To help promote the county during 2016, Northumberland Tourism ran the It’s In Our Nature marketing campaign. The spring/summer initiative advertised the Secret Kingdom’s independent spirit and the variety of things to do, with a focus on gardens.It influenced at least 620 visits, with more planned to take place. This meant a return on investment of £35.83 for every £1 spent.The current marketing campaign, which started in October and runs until the end of this month, promotes the county’s stargazing offering. Jude Leitch, director of Northumberland Tourism, said: “The figures are really positive and we have spoken to a lot of businesses who are very positive about the future and we have high hopes for the season.”

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