Newcastle Gateshead Initiative has announced the next phase of its marketing campaign for the area. Hotbed 2004 will focus on the themes of garden, fashion and design, and forms part of the £140m culture10 programme announced last year for creating a decade of world-class culture in the North East. The themes coincide with international tourism body VisitBritain's plans to mark the 200th anniversary of the Royal Horticultural Society with a programme of events celebrating a Year of Gardening. In addition it is the 50th anniversary of the fashion school at Northumbria University. Hotbed 2004 banners, posters and media campaigns have already started appearing throughout the region kicking off a summer of spectacular regional events for local people and visitors alike. There will also be a Hotbed 2004 bus and taxi campaign. A national campaign will roll out in early summer targeting more than five million potential visitors to the region via a number of national broadsheets. High-quality inserts highlighting the best the region has to offer in 2004 will be placed with upmarket broadsheet newspapers such as The Times, Telegraph and The Observer raising awareness of the culture10 programme on a national scale. Tania Robinson, Newcastle Gateshead Initiative marketing manager, said: "The Buzzin' campaign we created a couple of years ago successfully met our objective of putting NewcastleGateshead on the map. Tania said: "With the area's profile now so much more heightened it's now time to move onto the next phase of development and we need a new campaign to reflect this evolvement. The idea of Hotbed 2004 was chosen in conjunction with our design agency Different to reflect that NewcastleGateshead is now a hotbed of talent, creativity, energy and ideas. "By building upon the momentum created by Buzzin' we aim to communicate this new message to our established target market of potential visitors within a three-hour travel time of the city, with emphasis on Scotland, the North West and South East." "Within the next few weeks, NGI plans to roll out the Hotbed 2004 campaign nationally via an insert campaign placed in the national press. "In addition to this national activity, it's also essential that we engage local people, bring them up to speed with new developments and encourage them to participate." Neil Rami, chief executive of Newcastle Gateshead Initiative, the city's destination marketing agency said: "This campaign together with the events programme planned for the summer will re-enforce NewcastleGateshead's position as a world-class city break destination." Newcastle Gateshead Initiative will also be promoting Hotbed 2004 to audiences further afield in some of its key international markets such as Ireland, Spain, Germany, Norway and Denmark, at exhibitions and directly with European journalists. The target for the 2004 campaign is to attract over 200,000 international visitors to the area generating over £60m for the local economy. The Hotbed 2004 programme offers a wide range of unique, unusual and visually stunning events and activities. Paul Collard, creative director of culture10, said: "It is great to be announcing the first phase of the cultural programme we promised we would deliver when we announced our plans last autumn. "culture10 is not about building a new infrastructure, that is already in place. What culture10 is about is animating our cultural venues through a world-class programme of events, festivals and commissions. "culture10 is a truly aspirational programme which will bring local communities together, create a vibrancy and make every year different with something new to look forward to." Plans for a new marketing theme for 2005 are already under way and looks likely to be based around music and maritime to coincide with major events such the arrival of the Tall Ships' Race in NewcastleGateshead in July 2005 and the official opening of The Sage Gateshead in the summer. culture10 has already attracted £53m funding from Newcastle City Council, Gateshead Council, One NorthEast, Arts Council England, North East and Northern Rock Foundation for events up to 2010. Additional funds also are currently being sought from the Millennium Commission and Arts Council England. Stacy Hall, director of communications at One NorthEast, said: "By creating new events and attractions like this we're creating many new reasons for more people to visit the region time and time again. "And by marketing what we have to offer on such a widescale we are ensuring we target many more potential visitors both in this country and overseas. The North-East has a long tradition of ground-breaking design and expertise in horticulture - the Hotbed theme gives us an opportunity to link the region, directing visitors to exciting projects from the North to the South and encouraging tourists to stay longer in the." Roger Kelly, chief executive of Gateshead Council, said: "These new events are just the first of many which together will create a dynamic decade of world-class culture in NewcastleGateshead and capture the imagination of local people and visitors. "We are delighted that during this garden themed year we will be completing the restoration of Saltwell Park, one of the first municipal parks in Britain. It was always known as the People's Park and it will once again be involved in a whole summer of special opening events. At the same time Gateshead Summer Flower Show, - the biggest event of its kind in the North, is getting ever more popular and continues our horticultural legacy started by the National Garden Festival back in 1990." Andrew Dixon, executive director of Arts Council England, North East, said: "This new programme of events is further evidence that truly exceptional things are being created in NewcastleGateshead and across the North-East, positioning the area as a world leader in the arts." Fiona Ellis, director of the Northern Rock Foundation, said: "Northern Rock Foundation is delighted to be playing a key role in developing the region's cultural aspirations, both through our direct support to projects in the 2004 programme, and through our partnership with culture10." | 
