Blackpool Tower Wins Poll Position
The London Eye, Cumbria’s Lake District and Blackpool Tower have topped a poll of the destinations and attractions that Brits would choose to promote in a survey conducted by Best of Britain & Ireland 2009. Over 1,000 people surveyed ranked these attractions as the places they would promote to the thousands of overseas visitors expected to arrive this summer to take advantage of the weak pound.
The top ten list is as follows:
· The London Eye
· The Lake District and Cumbria
· Blackpool Tower
· Sherwood Forest and Robin Hood Country
· Giant’s Causeway, County Antrim
· Liverpool Docks and City
· Brighton
· Alton Towers Theme Park
· The Yorkshire Dales
· Norfolk Broads and surrounds
The results have been unveiled after thousands of visitors descended on ExCeL at the Best of Britain and Ireland 2009 over the weekend to gather inspiration and ideas for holidays in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
Julie Holland, Travel Trade Officer, Visit Blackpool:
“Blackpool Tower has such a broad, family appeal and is held with such great affection by people of all ages. It’s become a really iconic symbol of the North West, and as you see it on the horizon approaching Blackpool, it really heralds the start of your holiday.”
The event started with a two day Travel Trade Forum, which was opened by Barbara Follett, Minister for Culture, Creative Industries and Tourism, who said:
"Thank you to all of you who work in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales’s tourism industry for making our product so good. We’ve become famous for our food, our service and the quality of our heritage, landscapes and our whole cultural offer.
"Whilst the industry faces some challenges there are lots of opportunities. Our currency won’t always be soft, our VAT won’t always be this low, so let’s use it to attract people and keep them coming back. Tourism is a vital industry to our economy."
The event formed the grand finale to VisitBritain’s British Tourism Week, which aims to raise national and international awareness of the size, value and importance of Britain’s tourism industry, which is Britain’s fifth largest industry – worth £114 billion – and represents 8.2% of the nation’s economy.