The North-East has finally nailed the myth about cloth caps and whippets, according to a new survey.

British tourists no longer believe it is quite so grim up North. Indeed, they are more likely to see the region as vibrant and go-ahead.

The research will lend weight to Newcastle-Gateshead's bid for European Capital of Culture status.Researchers interviewed people from the South East, North West and Scotland.According to the report - commissioned by Newcastle Gateshead Initiative (NGI), people are now more likely to talk about the place being vibrant, regenerated, cultural and European than deprived, run-down or boring.

John Bridge, chairman of regional development agency, One NorthEast, said: "In order to bring more people here, we must improve people's perceptions and there is no doubt that this has begun to happen over the past couple of years.

"However, there is still a lot more to be done to ensure that tourism becomes a robust and sustainable industry." Tyneside now comes joint third with Barcelona as the destination people want to visit.

And more people have now heard of the region's icons, from the Angel of the North and BALTIC to the Life Science Centre, Grainger Town and the Quayside.

The NGI has carried out the survey for the past three years as part of its bid to win the European Capital of Culture 2008.

Jeff Hamblin, tourism adviser to NGI and the capital of culture bid, said: "The results of the survey are very encouraging indeed.

"The hard work of the last three years is certainly paying off, but there is still a long way to go if we want to create an even more robust tourism industry for the region.

"There's no doubt that winning the European Capital of Culture title would and hopefully will provide the fast track to a higher profile and the success we've been looking for in what is the fastest growing industry sector in the North East."

Tourism now accounts for ten percent of the region's economy- double the national average - and one in ten jobs in the region are now dependent upon the tourist industry.

There were 3m overnight visitors to Tyne and Wear last year - with 13 pc of the region's visitors coming from overseas.

Conference business has doubled in the past three years - and is now worth £32m a year to Newcastle and Gateshead.