The new NewcastleGateshead Pocket Guide will arrive with the Olympic Torch to help shed light on the area’s most interesting things to see, do and visit this summer.
To celebrate the Olympic Torch arriving into NewcastleGateshead on Friday 15th June, a new free Pocket Guide will be launched to help visitors and locals explore the area as Olympic fever hits the ‘twin cities’.
Sarah Stewart, chief executive of NewcastleGateshead Initiative said “We’re pleased to launch the newly designed Pocket Guide as NewcastleGateshead gets ready to welcome visitors from near and far as part of the London 2012 Olympic Games and celebrations. The Pocket Guide provides local knowledge and recommendations, uncovering hidden gems and popular sights to ensure any visit to NewcastleGateshead is exciting and special.”
The free Pocket Guide can be found in visitor information centres, local visitor attractions, hotels and restaurants across North East England, and provides visitors and locals with easy to find information on the city, its surrounding areas and most popular attractions. This includes 10 things not to miss, eating out, culture, history, attractions, shopping and NewcastleGateshead’s world-famous nightlife.
Mark Taylor, a 28-year-old student at Northumbria University from Bensham in Gateshead, said: “The guide is great and even though I’ve lived here my whole life, it has shown me so many more things to see and do across the city. I’m planning on staying local this summer and making the most of the Olympic Games coming here, so the Guide will really help me make the most of my summer break.”
Produced by NewcastleGateshead Initiative, the Pocket Guide will be followed by changes to the popular NewcastleGateshead City Guide mobile app. Currently available on the iPhone for £1.19, the app will be made available free of charge from Friday next week (22 June) with the introduction of an Android version later in the summer. The app which is produced by New Mind is the official visitor app for NewcastleGateshead and one of the most comprehensive destination tourism apps on the market.
Sarah added: “Making the apps free will encourage even more people to take advantage of the service and explore everything that NewcastleGateshead has to offer. It is especially important with Newcastle being named an official Olympic Football Host City, with games at St James’ Park, to offer all of our services free of charge and encourage even more visitors to use them”.
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For media enquiries contact:
Shelley Armstrong
Media & PR Manager
T. +44 (0)191 440 5739
M. +44 (0)771 763 1109
E. shelley.armstrong@ngi.org.uk
Notes to editors:
• NewcastleGateshead Initiative is a destination management and marketing agency; a public-private partnership supported by Gateshead and Newcastle City Councils, working with around 165 private sector member organisations across NewcastleGateshead and the wider region.
All of our activity aims to promote and position NewcastleGateshead as a world-class vibrant tourism destination, through targeted marketing and PR campaigns nationally and internationally and through the work of our cultural programming team and convention bureau.
NewcastleGateshead Initiative is supported by a board offering expertise from a range of sectors and professions. We also work with a wide range of partners, stakeholders and businesses, who share our ambition to promote NewcastleGateshead as a world-class place in which to live, learn, work, and visit.
• United by seven bridges across a spectacular riverscape, Newcastle (a city on the north bank of the River Tyne) and Gateshead (a town on the south bank) form a single, diverse and extremely vibrant visitor destination. World-class culture, vibrant nightlife, award-winning dining, inspiring heritage, fantastic shopping and acclaimed architecture are combined here like nowhere else, by the famous Geordie spirit which is symbolised by Antony Gormley’s iconic Angel of the North as it welcomes travellers to the area.
Imagery / Photography opportunities:
• www.NewcastleGateshead.com/Images – NewcastleGateshead’s Initiative’s extensive royalty free image library
Useful links:
• www.NewcastleGateshead.com/Media – NewcastleGateshead Initiative’s media website
• www.NewcastleGateshead.com – destination website for NewcastleGateshead
• www.NewcastleGateshead.com/discoverdeals – NewcastleGateshead’s visitor deals website