NewcastleGateshead
“I know how great an arena St James’ Park is. I can think of no better venue
to hold World Cup fixtures” – Sir Bobby Robson
About NewcastleGateshead
Newcastle and Gateshead owe their existence to the first bridge built by the Romans. From Hadrian’s Wall to Newcastle’s Norman castle, the town walls, and the grand sweep of Grey Street to the Tyne Bridge, every stage in our history is still present today.
Connected by seven bridges, NewcastleGateshead is now one of the most iconic cityscapes in Europe. It has a combined population of circa 450,000 and sits within a city region of over 1million and a broader region of 2.5million.
NewcastleGateshead has become a growing destination for tourism and has invested over £300 Million in new and improved cultural facilities in the last 10 years. The region enjoys stunning coastline and two World Heritage Sites.
NewcastleGateshead is passionate about sport, from St James Park and Gateshead FC’s football history, to basketball at the Arena, rugby at the Falcons, athletics in Gateshead and the Great North Run, the world’s largest half marathon.
Thriving Universities and Colleges bring thousands of international students from 140 countries to the city. The city has strong Chinese, South East Asian and Jewish communities with an excellent track record in multi racial partnerships.
Our transport infrastructure includes Newcastle International Airport handling 5.6million passengers a year, mainline rail (every 30 minutes to London), a ferry terminal with daily sailings from mainland Europe and an underground and Metro system which is one of only two in Europe to connect city to coast. The Metro also links North to the airport (25 minutes) and South to Sunderland (35 Minutes) from Newcastle Central Station.
Facilities and Attractions
The last 20 years has seen an unprecedented investment in cultural facilities and attractions including:
Culture
• BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art
• The Sage Gateshead
• Angel of the North
• International Centre for Life
• Great North Museum
• Northern Stage, Live Theatre and the Theatre Royal
Sports
• Newcastle United have invested £42million in St. James’ Park
• Benfield Centre for Sporting Excellence
• Newcastle’s Metro Radio Arena opened in 1997 bringing ice hockey, basketball and some of world’s biggest names in pop music to the region.
• Northumbria University City Campus Sports Centre
• Gateshead College Academy of Sport at Gateshead International Stadium
Conferencing
• International Centre for Life
• The Sage Gateshead
• Metro Radio Arena
• Newcastle Racecourse
• St James’ Park
• Feasibility work is currently underway on building a new International Conference facility
The Port of Tyne is now a major cruise destination and inbound tourism from Holland and Germany is built around day visits and city break packages and direct air routes have opened up new inbound markets and the strong air links to Heathrow and Amsterdam are a gateway to every continent.
You can pledge your support to England 2018 and NewcastleGateshead by backing the bid at:
http://www.england2018bid.com/support/register.aspx