Beyonce bumps overnight visitor numbers to city

Beyonce came to Sunderland in 2023

Beyonce helped a city achieve its highest number of overnight visitors in a year since the pandemic.

Sunderland saw a 4% rise in overnight stays compared to 2019.

A spokesperson for the Newcastle Gateshead Initiative (NGI) said this rise can largely be attributed to the "bumper summer of live concerts" including Beyonce and Pink at the Stadium of Light.

However total visitor numbers to north-east England continue to lag behind pre-pandemic figures, according to the latest statistics.

About 69 million people visited the region in 2023 in total compared to 73 million in 2019, according to data collected by NGI.

However the area saw a rise in overnight visitors in 2023 compared to pre-pandemic figures in 2019.

Summer concerts such as Sam Fender's in St James' Park, as well as Beyonce and Pink in Sunderland, helped these figures, NGI said.

"Overnight visits represent a greater economic impact than day trippers," a spokesperson said.

Compared to 2022, Durham also saw a 13.7% rise in daytime visitors in 2023.

An NGI spokesperson said it cannot be certain why Durham saw so high an increase last year.

But the region is still at the bottom of domestic and international visitor spend across the UK.

International visitor spend is 45 times lower in north-east England compared to London.

The tourism body Destination North East England said: "The region still lags behind other parts of the UK, often by some margin and it demonstrates more than ever the need to attract greater investment, support more jobs and attract more people to the area."