As the recession continues to bite, and the pound weakens against the euro, more Brits are snubbing holidays abroad and choosing “staycations”. Sharon Griffiths reports.

POLISH up your smile and shake out the welcome mat – we are having visitors, lots of them. And they are just the boost the region needs during the credit crunch.

Every cloud has a silver lining. The recession is causing problems for us all. We already have less to spend. Meanwhile, the euro and the dollar are now costing us more to buy, making a holiday abroad even more expensive.

The result, forecast the experts, would be a boom in “staycations” – more of us holidaying at home and taking short breaks and days out in our own country. And the bonus was that it would boost our own economy.

What’s more, because the pound was better value for foreigners, we might even get more visitors coming here from abroad.

It all sounded too good to be true. But – whisper it quietly – it seems to be happening.

It means a lot to the region. Tourism brings in about £3.9bn to the North-East and directly employs 60,000 people. That’s 5.2 per cent of the North-East workforce.

Last year it took a knock – not helped by the gloomy weather. In all ways, this year could be brighter.

Even though it’s still early in the season, throughout the region the signs are looking good. Even before the recent splendid sunny weather, visitor numbers at resorts and attractions were well up on last year and there are already plenty of bookings ahead.

In the recent sunshine, you could hardly get a bed in Whitby or Richmond. Roads through the dales and moors and on routes to the coast were toe to tail with traffic as people made the most of the good weather.

And it wasn’t just the sunshine that was bringing people out in droves. As far back as February half-term, those businesses that were open were already doing well, and Easter proved a bumper time.

Richard Evans, director of Beamish Museum, said: “We were worried that the recession might affect our visitors numbers, in fact the reverse is true and we have been incredibly busy.”

At Crook Hall in Durham, owners Maggie and Keith Bell had their best Easter ever – 3,000 visitors to their small family run manor house and gardens. The Weardale Railway had 1,000 passengers over Easter and Locomotion, in Shildon, has welcomed its 750,000th visitor.

“Numbers of tourists are 15 per cent up on last May – which was about the only time last year we had good weather, too,” said Michael Moore, of County Durham Tourist Partnership.

“And in the half-term week, numbers were up by 44 per cent.”

It’s the same in Yorkshire and Northumberland – visitors were 27 per cent up at the Yorkshire Dales National Park visitors’ centre at Aysgarth. Tourist Information Centres were working flat out to find accommodation for all those who wanted it. Campsites and caravan parks were busy.

“We’ve been busy since Easter and many people have already booked to come back in August,” said a spokesman at Akebar Caravan Park, near Leyburn.

HOTEL bookings in Whitby are up on last year, with people booking for longer stays. Seventy per cent of the year is already booked.

Janet Deacon, Scarborough Borough Council’s tourist manager, said: “Things look extremely positive so far. Scarborough, Whitby and Filey are busy, mostly taking last-minute bookings. We look set for an absolutely bumper year.”

Crowds have been flocking to Northumberland too, especially the coast. “But all the attractions have been doing really well,” says Sheelagh Caygill, of Northumberland Tourism.

“There’s usually a bit of a lull between Easter and the May bank holidays, but this year there was no lull at all. Kielder Water had a great Easter with a food and crafts fair. Woodhorn Museum, near Ashington, had 23,000 visitors in the first three months. Everyone seems to be reporting an increase in visitors. It’s looking good.”

But of course it hasn’t just happened by itself.

Money is tight and tourist owners and organisations have had to work hard to bring people in, frequently offering bargains and special offers.

Visitors are looking for value for money.

There’s been a big rise in camping, caravanning and self-catering. It seems as though many families swapped an Easter break abroad for one under canvas in this country, a cheap holiday to see if they liked it.

“People are all looking for discounts,” said the owner of a number of holiday cottages in Whitby and on the North York Moors.

“They’ve been leaving it till the last minute – checking out the weather I suppose – so yes, we’ve been giving them special deals. We want people to come here and enjoy themselves.

That way, they’ll come back again. And we already have had more bookings like that.”

Michael Moore says: “In a recession we all know we have to offer value for money, so there are lots of offers of three nights for the price of two, or two for one deals. Many of our top attractions offer these deals on our website (visitcountydurham.com) and we’ve had a big increase in people taking advantage of them.

“We’re also trying to offer added value with our Taste Durham scheme and encouraging people working in tourism to learn more about the area so they can pass that information on to visitors.

“Bill Bryson famously came to Durham intending to stop for an hour or two but fell in love with the place.

“That’s what we want to do – persuade people to visit us and make them fall in love and come back again and again.”

Tourists bring money and jobs to the region, which is good news for us all.

Remember that next time you’re stuck behind a caravan ...