Oh we do like to be beside the seaside; TOURISM GROUP LAUNCHES CAMPAIGN TO PROMOTE COAST

Evening Chronicle (Newcastle, England), August 4, 2008

Byline: By SONIA SHARMA and SOPHIE DOUGHTY

TOURISTS looking for a seaside holiday are more likely to head for Blackpool, Brighton or Newquay than Newcastle.

But a tourist organisation is hoping to change all that.

Tourism Tyne & Wear has teamed-up with the Newcastle-Gateshead Initiative, North and South Tyneside councils, and Sunderland City Council to launch a campaign to promote the North East coastline.

To get things started, staff from some of Newcastle and Gateshead's swankiest hotels were yesterday treated to a trip to the seaside.

It is hoped that by educating bar staff, waiters and receptionists about the coast they will then pass on that information to tourists.

Cath Hindle, co-ordinator for Tourism Tyne and Wear, said: "We came up with the idea because we want hotels to signpost visitors to the coast as a destination for their guests - and they can't do that if they don't know what's there.

"The coast has such a lot to offer - there's great food, a huge variety of family entertainment and miles of unspoilt sandy beaches.

"We want the hotel teams to go back to work and tell their guests about how fantastic the coast is - and what better way than letting them experience that for themselves?"

Around 50 people from hotels including the Hilton, Holiday Inn, Malmaison, Jury's Inn, the Thistle Hotel, the Premier Inn and Marriott Hotel were whisked off on a whirlwind tour.

City Sightseeing provided an open-topped bus and a qualified Blue Badge tour guide introduced them to the highlights of Seaburn, South Shields and Tynemouth Longsands beach.

They competed against each other in games such as tug of war, limbo, beach boules and sandcastle building.

Kerri Smith, sales co-ordinator for the Hilton, said: "We've all had a fantastic time. It's always great meeting up with other people in the industry but this was just that little bit special.

"I now feel far more knowledgeable about what our coast-line has to offer and I'm sure we'll all be recommending a coastal visit to our guests."

Among those in the group was Kayleigh Davidson, 21, a conference and events executive at the Hilton in Gateshead.

She said: "It was quite a lot of fun getting involved in things like tug of war, but this whole initiative was a good idea because we got a chance to find out about our coastal areas and we now have a lot more background information."

Kirsty Brash, 17, Deborah Colling, 25, and Amy Leadbit-ter, 22, all receptionists at the Holiday Inn in Washington, were also on the bus.

Kirsty said: "This will help us to inform our guests."

CAPTION(S):

FUN AND GAMES: Kayleigh Davidson leads a team from the Hilton Hotel in a friendly tug of war battle on Tynemouth beach; BIG SPLASH: From left, Susan Bollington of the Jury's Inn, Kathryn Stott from the Holiday Inn, Kerri Smith of the Hilton, Fiona Gardie of the Malmaison and Louise Shaw of the Marriott