Locals Turn to History to Beat the Credit Crunch

With the credit crunch really affecting the pound in everyone's pocket, and predictions of a full-blown recession only months away, people throughout the region are turning to the past as a solution to low-cost days out - or more specifically, to English Heritage!


The British Lifestyles Study has shown that 20% of people cut holidays as one of the first ways of reducing their household expenditure - particularly in the face of a strong Euro and extra fuel duties hitting long-haul travellers. One consequence of this is an increase in people looking for holidays and days out closer to home. And this, according to English Heritage's marketing manager for the West, Lucy Dhiman, is leading to more and more people buying memberships of organisations like English Heritage to take advantage of cheap days out closer to home.

"When we look at our sites like Stokesay Castle, we've found this year that the majority of memberships we are selling are to those living within an hour's drive of the site, which suggests that people are looking at places on their own doorstep before heading further afield," says Lucy. "People are starting to take an interest in their carbon footprint, and this, combined with high fuel costs, is actually encouraging people to stay closer to home when planning days out - and not even the appalling British summer weather will stop them!"

Indeed, many people seem to be preparing for a rough year ahead. Over the last month, membership sales at Stokesay Castle are up thanks to a 15-month for the price of 12 offer, which means that people can effectively prepay for their days out right through to Summer 2009, whilst they still have a few leisure pounds to spend.

"The 'Martin-Lewis effect' means that people are now more savvy at planning their expenditure, right down to their leisure spend and looking at longer-term value when organising days out" adds Lucy. "When they are shopping around, they see that it costs £55 for a family to get into Warwick Castle, or £118 for a family day out at Alton Towers, but only £73 for a couple's annual membership of English Heritage, which currently provides 15 months of free entry for two adults and up to six accompanied children over 200 sites, and the largest events programme in the country to provide thrills and spills all year round!"

The '15 month for the price of 12' offer is currently available at all of English Heritage's sites in the West Midlands when visitors sign up with direct debit. Prices start from £30 for a 15-month membership for a senior citizen, or £42 for an adult. Children go free to all English Heritage sites when accompanied by an English Heritage member.

For more details of English Heritage's sites in the West Midlands, please visit http://www.blogger.com/www.english-heritage.org.uk/westmidlands or call 0870 333 1181 for a leaflet.

Source: Shropshire Tourism

Two British resorts 'join Euro to attract more visitors'

Two south coast resorts are joining the eurozone to cash in on the boom of more British and foreign visitors this summer.

Tourism bosses believe that the stay-at-home Brits who normally travel abroad will have spare euros tucked away from previous holidays that they won't be using this year.

And rather than it going to waste, they can spend it in hotels, restaurants and tourist attractions in Bournemouth and Poole in Dorset.

The move will also benefit foreign visitors who will be attracted to Britain due to the poor state of the pound against the euro.

The two resorts will become only the second location in Britain to accept the euro on a par with the pound.

Earlier this year Dunster in Somerset became the first community in the country to generally take the euro.

A number of hotels and restaurants in the neighbouring Dorset resorts have signed up to the scheme to give guests the opportunity of part-paying in euros.

Tourism chiefs believe that if 500,000 Brits change their holiday habits this year and each has just one 20 euro note then that is 10 million pounds lying idle.

Mark Cribb's Urban Beach restaurant in Bournemouth is now accepting the euro.

He said: "With so many UK holidaymakers likely to shun eurozone countries this summer, there will be an awful lot of unwanted euros sitting around in people's pockets and sock drawers.

"If accepting continental currency adds to our unbeatable holiday value we are all for it."

Cherrie Bythell, who runs the Mount Lodge guest house in Bournemouth, said: "We are hoping that with it being better value for the euro against the pound then more people will come here from abroad.

"The fact they will not need to change their currency is an added bonus."

Graham Richardson, of Poole council's tourism department, said: "It is a small start and we are confident we can sign up lots more hotels and restaurants."

Antony Brunt, who runs the Market Hotel in Dunster, said the move has proved a hit there.

He said: "When we have overseas guests they are certainly pleased that we are doing this."

source: telegraph.co.uk

Welcome to Britain's Best Breaks

Welcome to Britain's Best Breaks, we're here to help you to take the hassle out of planning your next holiday or short break here in the UK.

Not sure where to go? Then why not watch one of our 30 minute programmes right now, here online by choosing one of our 48 exciting destinations from the list above. We also provide you with a helpful handy online travel guide offering a wide selection of accommodation options across Britain.

For each of our featured destinations, we show you the best places to stay, best places to eat, shop, and visit during your stay.

Britain's Best Breaks has the answer to all your travel needs - all you have to do is to select your destination from the list on the left-hand screen and we'll do all the hard work for you.