A NEWLY-released report looking at the tourist industry in Northumberland shows that visitor numbers are booming.

The STEAM report by Northumberland Tourism analyses the impact that tourism has on the local economy, comparing the years from 2009 until 2016.

It shows that last year, there were 9.7 million visits to Northumberland, an increase of two per cent from the 9.5 million in 2015.

Over 15 million days were spent in the county by tourists, an increase of three per cent on the previous year, with 1.7 million overnight visitors spending 7.1 million nights here.

For overnight visitors, those who stayed in serviced accommodation stayed for an average of two nights, those staying in non-serviced accommodation stayed seven nights and people visiting family and friends stayed an average of two nights.

The opening of The Sill: National Landscape Discovery Centre on Hadrian’s Wall at Once Brewed, in July, has reportedly brought flocks of visitors to the area.

Earlier this week, Northumberland National Park Authority confirmed that in its first two weeks of opening, the £14.8m state-of-the-art visitor centre and youth hostel had exceeded its visitor expectations.

The national park authority said the Sill had welcomed more than 71,000 visitors in its first two months, but later revised the figure, stating the actual visitor numbers had totalled 51,000.

Despite the error, the authority said it had still reached half of the expected visitor numbers for an average year in its first two months, with more than 2,000 people having stayed at its world-class, 86-bed youth hostel.

Tynedale is one of the major hubs for tourism in Northumberland, with the likes of Kielder Observatory and Northumberland County Show attracting visitors from far and wide to the area.

It was announced earlier this year that up in Kielder, a new observatory would be built next to the existing award-winning facility in Northumberland’s International Dark Sky Park.

Kielder Observatory has established itself as the UK’s number one dark stargazing haven, with over 24,000 visitors this year travelling from across the world to marvel at Kielder’s inky vistas.

The new observatory, due to open early next year, is expected to attract even more visitors to the area.

And Kielder Observatory’s ambitious five-year plan involves building an astronomy village – featuring a state-of-the-art, 80-seat planetarium and a specially-built telescope with a one metre wide diameter.

With growing visitor numbers, the STEAM report revealed that the economic impact of tourism rose by three per cent from 2015 to 2016, with visitors bringing £852m into the economy in 2016.

On average, overnight visitors spend £233.96 per trip and day visitors bring in £28.70 per day.

The success of the industry shows in the number of jobs supported in tourism-related roles, with 11,875 jobs in the recreation, shopping, accommodation, transport and food and drink industries, an increase of 1.7 per cent on 2015.

But in order to keep visitor numbers growing, the offer needs to be kept fresh and exciting so that people continue to be attracted to the area.

While it’s early days for The Sill, the National Park Authority is already doing some forward planning.

“Our plan is to carry on listening as we keep moving forward,” said Tony Gates, chief executive of Northumberland National Park Authority.

“We already have plans to further develop the centre to keep the visitor experience fresh and inclusive.

“This includes weekly activities, such as Sill Sundays, meet-the-maker events in partnership with local beer, gin and cheese producers, and seasonal events like dark sky evenings and a Christmas craft fair.

“It has been an exciting start, but we know that there are ways to keep on improving. We want the centre to be the best it can be and see it evolve.”