Market Town Welcome is a programme managed by Miller Research, a joint project by Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council, supported by the Guisborough Market Town Partnership funded by One NorthEast. Historically the project has included partnership with Northumberland Strategic Partnership, Northumberland Tourism and County Durham Tourism Partnership (on behalf of Tourism Network North East).

The Market Town Welcome Programme helps our towns achieve their full potential as tourist destinations and prioritising investment in improvements to the town’s attractions and facilities.

The most recent town to be undertaken within the programme is the market town of Guisborough, Redcar and Cleveland.  For details on progress in Guisborough, click on the appropriate link on the menu.

The towns included in the first stage of the project were:

• Berwick-upon-Tweed
• Alnwick
• Amble
• Haltwhistle
• Seahouses
• Wooler

In addition, Barnard Castle, Durham and Stanhope will be kept informed of the process, to enable initial awareness raising and to support a separate piece of work at a later date.

Each town has the potential to attract more visitors spending more money throughout the year, supporting more businesses and jobs.

What is your vision for your town, and how will we get there?

In March 2008 each town completed a destination plan which identified investment opportunities for businesses, entrepreneurs, and the public sector.

The strength of arguement each town can make will determine how successful it is in attracting public sector investment and will also benefit the attraction of private investors.

While there are no guarantees on attracting investment, the work will certainly help Regional Tourism bodies to improve their marketing of each town. It will also strengthen our town's ability to attract future investment. After all, we need a strong case for each town - the funding system operates in a competitive environment!

Further updates will be posted on this site as the study develops and will provide you with a way of informing us of your opinions on how ‘visitor friendly’ your town is.