Author: News Team

Britain’s warm dry bank holiday weather has been bringing out the crowds all weekend, with today the hottest day of the year so far. The British could be excused for viewing the clear skies and sunshine with caution, so unaccustomed are they to having a bank holiday free from the traditionally chilly and wet fare that usually accompanies the national holidays, but with temperatures in some parts of the country likely to reach 23 Celsius today, outdoing several Mediterranean countries, even the most sceptical Brits are heading out to find the best places to enjoy the welcome bonus. The good…

British tourists are to be the prime target of a tourism promotion by the city of New York in the USA. A major campaign, involving digital and social media advertising, is to be launched by a US consortium that includes NYC & Company, the city’s official marketing, tourism and partnership organisation, its sponsoring partner, American Express, and Brand USA, the body responsible for promoting travel to the United States. The promotion, which starts today and runs until June 2 this year is titled, New York Summer, and has a budget of USD1.1 million. The main thrust of the promotion will…

VisitEngland, the English tourist board, is planning to capitalise on the country’s hosting of the 2015 Rugby World Cup. The organisers of the tournament, England Rugby 2015, have announced the twelve venues across the country that will host the matches, and VisitEngland intends to provide its support to the organisers and the individual venues in order to maximise tourism potential and visitor experience. It is hoped that promotional input for the event will encourage visiting rugby fans to further explore the country during their visit, which will involve longer stays and increased expenditure. VisitEngland’s chief executive, James Berresford, said, ‘Sport…

A new report has put forward figures suggesting that not only does the UK’s love affair with no-frills air travel show no signs of cooling, but that the demand is actually continuing to grow. The figures have been announced by OAG, a company that compiles aviation data, and they show that no-frills airlines have grown their monthly capacity in the UK from around four million international seats in 2003, to the 8.8 million seats that will be available this month. This puts the UK firmly at the top of the low-cost capacity league table, a full 1.4 million seats ahead…

Qatar Airways, a United Arab Emirates-based airline company, has announced that it will be resuming services to London Heathrow airport with its Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft. The airline’s service on the London to Doha route is scheduled to recommence from the 15th of this month, after being halted since mid January as part of the worldwide grounding of the 787 Dreamliner, following incidents of the airplane’s on-board battery pack overheating. A solution for the problem has now been accepted by aviation authorities around the world, and with the lifting of the ban on flying, a number of airlines have already…

Vivienne Westwood, the fashion designer whose imaginative and sometimes controversial creations have been raising eyebrows for the last four decades, is teaming up with UK-based Virgin Atlantic airline to redesign the company’s air stewardess uniform. Even at 71 years of age, the fashion designer’s creative flair continues to attract the rich and famous to her studio, and now Virgin Atlantic boss Sir Richard Branson has entrusted her with the image that his cabin crew will portray for the next few years. The airline’s stewardesses will still be adorned in the distinctive shade of red that has become part of the…

UK-based no-frills airline, easyjet, has launched its trial of mobile boarding passes. The new system, which is available at six airports, including Manchester, Southend, Stansted and Edinburgh in the UK, allows passengers to download a boarding pass to their iPhone or Android device via the existing easyjet app. Passengers transiting through easyjet’s bag drop desks, security checkpoints and departure gates can then use their devices to progress through scanners. During the trial, passengers will also be able to use the app to check in for their flight. Two easyjet locations outside the UK are also offering the service during the…

Britain’s biggest visitor attraction, the British Museum, is involved in a £135 million expansion. The museum’s attractions, which are already laid out on a grand scale, are set to become even larger with the extension that is being added to London’s iconic institution. An additional 18,000 square metres of exhibition space will be available at the Museum’s northwest corner with the opening of the World Conservation and Exhibition Centre. The development will see the creation of nine new floors, some above and some below street level. The ground floor area alone will cover 1,100 square metres, substantially improving the museum’s…

The ‘Just You’ tour operator brand aimed at single travellers is to be re-launched by All Leisure Group, a holiday company based in West Sussex, UK. All Leisure Group, which has also been the owner of Page and Moy Travel Group since May last year, is re-launching ‘Just You’ in order to capitalise on the growing market for single travellers. Promoting the company will be part of the remit of three recently appointed sales executives who will also be on the road promoting All Leisure’s cruises and escorted tours. Colin Wilson, All Leisure’s group sales director, says, ‘Singles travellers are…

VisitBritain, the operational name of the British Tourism Authority, has launched a new tourism partnership strategy, which has been heralded by Maria Miller, the government’s culture secretary. The new initiative is intended to pool the resources of the travel industry, the government and major organisations in the public and private sectors, with the intention of achieving long-term growth in tourism. The project is targeting the arrival of 40 million overseas visitors by 2020, with the expectation that they will spend in the region of £31.5 billion and, as a consequence, create 200,000 new jobs. These new jobs will build on…