Holidays in North Norfolk - At Any Time of Year

23 December, 2005

North Norfolk's 2006 holiday brochures are now available, and not just for people planning their summer holidays - there's something to do throughout the year.

As a 'Santa Special' steam train left Sheringham for a journey on the Poppy Line, its carriages packed with children and their parents, North Norfolk District Councillor Hilary Nelson said: "Year-round tourism is now a reality in North Norfolk. The buzz never seems to stop."

North Norfolk District Council has printed 95,000 North Norfolk Coast and Countryside accommodation guides, along with 300,000 attractions guides (called So Much to See and Do), to help entice visitors to the District next year.

To help ensure the standard of the tourism industry in North Norfolk is upheld and keeps improving, the accommodation guide is only open to hotels, guest houses and self-catering establishments that have been assessed by VisitBritain (formerly the English Tourism Council) or the AA.

In 2005, NNDC saw a surge in demand for its accommodation brochures - up 62% on the year before. Similarly, the award-winning Poppy Line, which runs between Sheringham and Holt, has carried 6 per cent more passengers this year than last, bucking the national trend for visits to tourist attractions. This winter, a Christmas Seaside Special show has been running for the first time at the Pavilion Theatre on Cromer Pier, building on the popularity of the famous summer show.

The tourism industry is now worth around £357 million a year to North Norfolk, according to a recent economic impact study commissioned by NNDC.

Councillor Nelson explained: "An awful lot of work has been done in recent years to improve the quality of tourism in North Norfolk - to make it more reliable, without making it less accessible. That work by accommodation-providers, by attractions, and by the District Council, seems to be paying off. Nowhere typifies that more than the Poppy Line."

The Poppy Line was named the best independent railway in the National Railway Heritage Awards this year. It also won the Community Award in this year's inaugural Tourism in Norfolk Awards sponsored by Archant Ltd, publishers of the Eastern Daily Press, and was runner-up in two other Tourism in Norfolk Awards categories: Best Visitor Attraction and Outstanding Contribution to Tourism. And on top of that, it picked up three prizes in the Heritage Railway Association Publications Awards.

Colin Borg, Marketing Manager for the Poppy Line, said: "We have never won as much silverware as we have this year. And with 6 per cent more passengers this year, we're bucking the trend." And he praised the Day Out in North Norfolk travel trade exhibition, run annually by NNDC, which the Poppy Line hosted in April this year [2005]. He said: "Day Out really put us on the map."

The enclosed picture, which shows Councillor Hilary Nelson and the 'Santa Special' steam train, is available by email as a JPEG file. Call Nick Manthorpe on 07748 641715 to be sent this or other images from the launch at Sheringham.

North Norfolk Coast and Countryside is distributed through a local and national advertising campaign organised by NNDC, and overseas in conjunction with the East of England Tourist Board. Copies of So Much to See and Do are distributed to hotels and attraction in Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex, as well as tourist information centres in those counties and elsewhere within North Norfolk's catchment area, and are also sent out to people who request the accommodation brochure.

Advertisers in North Norfolk Coast and Countryside get free listings on North Norfolk's tourism website, and an option to be included in a late-availability booking service through tourist information centres.

To order a copy of the North Norfolk Coast and Countryside guide, call
0870 241 0312 or visit www.northnorfolk.roomcheck.co.uk/

MEDIA CONTACTS:

• Councillor Hilary Nelson, NNDC cabinet member for Tourism:
01263 823581
• Colin Borg, Marketing Manager, the Poppy Line:
0208 789 0478 or 07774 710354
• For digital image files, Nick Manthorpe, NNDC:
07748 641715