Newcastle faces calls for culture and transportation revamp after biggest tourism drop in over 15 years
Written by Andrew Beharie on 12th June 2026
A new study has discovered that Newcastle is facing its lowest tourism numbers in almost two decades.
VisitBritain, who hold tourism visit statistics for areas across the UK, have found that the most recent year on record showed that only 199,000 tourists visited Newcastle in 2024.
Excluding 2020 and 2021 due to the Coronavirus pandemic, the 2024 number is the lowest total of visitors to the city since VisitBritain began its detailed towns data scheme in 2009.
Tourism in Newcastle has been on a steady decline since its peak in 2016, when 305,000 tourists visited the city.
The debate on what needs to happen to Newcastle to begin turning around this near-decade-long decline.
Shop worker Thomas Wilson, 23, from Blyth, has called for a culture shake-up, saying: “Newcastle needs to move away from the nightlife identity, I feel it targets a specific audience which doesn’t cater to everyone.
“The more we move towards a more all-around setting here, I think that will attract more people to visit the city.”
Civil servant Jamie Carr, 22, who is also from Blyth, said: “There needs to be more attractive offers for concerts, theatre, cinema, etc.
“More regular events annually, for example, Record Store Day is an annual event, but it’s always a massive success.
“Local stores could put on more regular promotion events to attract customers.”
One popular event that attracts people to Newcastle is the Super League’s Magic Weekend, which has taken place at St. James’ Park eight times since 2015.
However, it was announced by the Rugby League that Magic Weekend for 2026 has been moved to Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium.
Magic Weekend brings an attendance of around 65,000 across two days, and the event being moved to Merseyside already robs the city of the chance of adding valuable tourism.
Paramedic Hayley Brightman, 23, was more critical of the transport links to the city, saying: “The transport links to the city aren’t the best, especially the metro.
“I feel that if they expand it to cover a bigger area of the North-East, like what they are doing with the Northumberland line, that would help with the issue.”
Sports Development officer Bayley Milligan, 24, targeted money and transport for improvement, saying: “We need cheaper drinks, better and more improved public transport and cheaper places to stay.”
Spark Sunderland have contacted Newcastle’s tourism board, NewcastleGateshead, for comment.
