Theses latest stats come from research by the new domestic tourism body VisitEngland and were released at the recent Best of Britain and Ireland trade show in London.

photo credit: Dean Sas

More than half of people involved in the research (63%) expect to take a break or holiday in England in the next year and 90% will be cutting back on their overall spend.

However, the study also highlighted that the importance of holidays means that they are “more protected” than other areas of expenditure backing recent claims by Kayak.co.uk that we are a nation obsessed with holidays, even when times are tough.

These rosy prediction for UK tourism are also shared by national tourism agency VisitBritain, whose deputy chief executive Sandie Dawe was recently quoted as saying; “As well as generating more business for the industry to help tide them through the challenging economic climate, Best of Britain and Ireland will be a key opportunity for us to capture the imagination of the five million extra Britons considering taking a holiday here instead of abroad. It could be a real tipping point for British tourism.”

VisitBritain is to launch a £3 million promotional campaign highlighting the value of taking breaks in England. TV and national press advertising are planned from next month.

Technorati Tags: Breaks, Britain, British, british tourism, Cheap, England, holidays, Ireland, london, national tourism agency, Newquay, tourism, Travel, uk tourism

According to figures released this week by Hotels.com, UK hotel room prices fell 12% to £93 per night in the last three months of 2008, compared with the same period in 2007

In contrast British tourists are having to pay more for accommodation at many popular overseas destinations, supporting suggestions that Brits will turn their backs on destinations such as Spain and are instead planning to spend this years holidays in the UK.

But it’s not just Spain where prices are soaring, one night in a Swiss hotel rose, on average, to £120 – an increase of 22% – and France, Holland and Greece saw rises of 11%, 14% and 15% respectively.

Figures for individual cities showed average London hotel room rates dipping 12%, Edinburgh prices falling from £99 to £95 and Belfast room rates down 17% to £83.  Bucking the trend was Cardiff, where average prices rose slightly from £87 at the end of 2007 to £93 at the end of last year.

The most expensive city at the end of 2008 was Moscow with rooms costing an average of £207 a night, although the biggest percentage increase was in Rio de Janeiro, where room rates rose 63% to £164 at the end of last year.

Other destinations with rising prices included, Geneva up 34% to £136, Zurich up 20% to £119, Washington DC up 18% to £115 per night, Paris rising 13% to £112 and Munich up 10% to £93.

The least expensive major city at the end of last year was the Latvian capital Riga where average rooms cost just £50 a night.

Hotels.com worldwide president David Roche said: “Our report shows that hoteliers around the world are being forced to cut rates to fill their rooms.

“Due to weak sterling, UK travellers will have to work a bit harder to find the bargains but there are still plenty to be had.

“For travellers from any part of the world, this is a great time to explore: travel has not been this cheap since January 2004.”

“The indications are that 2009 will continue to be a good year for travellers. If sterling strengthens, UK travellers will start enjoying the great savings our European and US counterparts are currently experiencing.”

Overall, the average price for a night in a UK hotel fell to £93 in the last three months of 2008.

Technorati Tags: belfast, British, british tourists, Brits, cardiff, Cheap, City, David Roche, Edinburgh, explore, France, Greece, holidays, holidays in the uk, hotel room prices, hotel room rates, london, london hotel room, Moscow, Munich, overseas destinations, Paris, prices, Riga, rio de janeiro, Shows, spain, swiss hotel, Travel, uk hotel, uk travellers, Washington, zurich

Glenn from Brilliant Trips told me about the ideas behind their website:
“We at Brilliant Trips believe that free time is precious and we hate wasting it on the sofa watching rubbish telly. So we’ve put together some of our favourite days out, weekend breaks and short break ideas to inspire you and your friends to join in and have some fun.”

The site seems to be aimed at younger people rather than couples and offers the opportunity to join or form “brilliant groups” then choose an available date and book online for just yourself or with friends. Destinations for weekend breaks, day trips and short breaks are mostly in the UK and Europe, similar to the concepts behind London Theatre Weekend Breaks and Paris Breaks

Technorati Tags: break, Breaks, Brilliant, day trips, europe, london, london theatre, Paris, short break, short breaks, Theatre, Trips, UK, weekend breaks

Theatre Breaks in London just got a lot more affordable with offers that include a Free Hotel for a long list of top west end musicals.

These are for for Monday to Friday performances of
Billy Elliot, Blood Brothers, Buddy, Chicago, Sound of Music, and We Will Rock You throughout January, February and March 2009 and also for Monday to Thursday performances of Carousel, Grease Hairspray Joseph Wicked and Zorro

Theatre Breaks in London

Theatre Breaks include top seats in the stalls or dress circle of one of London’s famous old theatres and a free night in a three star central London hotel. You can even upgrade to a four star hotel for only £10 extra per person. To take advantage of this fantastic offer and have something really special to look forward to, all you have to do is book a theatre break with free hotel now over the internet for two people seeing a show before 26 March 2009.

Here’s the list of shows again:

Monday to Friday offer:

• Billy Elliot theatre breaks
• Blood Brothers theatre breaks
• Buddy theatre breaks (before Feb 7th)
  
• Chicago theatre breaks
• Sound of Music theatre breaks
• We Will Rock You theatre breaks

Monday to Thursday offer:

• Carousel theatre breaks with Lesley Garret
• Grease theatre breaks
• Hairspray theatre breaks with Michael Ball
• Joseph theatre breaks
• Wicked theatre breaks
• Zorro theatre breaks

** Check Availability for these shows with Free Hotel Offer **

Free Hotel Offer with London Theatre Breaks

For more information and news about any of these shows and a lot more visit London Theatre breaks

Technorati Tags: Breaks, free hotel, london, midweek, Theatre, theatre breaks, weekday

3* Cambridge, Purple Hotel, from £34.00pp Available: until 30th April 2009 Ideally located for visiting Cambridge, the hotel offers superb comfortable, state of the art bedrooms with air conditioning, luxury walk-in shower, and tea/coffee making facilities.

3* Birmingham, Purple Hotel, from £36.00pp Available: Monday to Thursday until 30th April 2009 Located just 2 miles from the city centre of Birmingham, in an ideal location for discovering all the attractions this vibrant city has to offer.

2* Hull, Stop Inn Hull, from £30.00pp Available: until 30th April 2009 Situated just a short walk from the city centre, the hotel is well placed for exploring the shops and restaurants of the Marina, or visiting The Deep.

3* Peterborough, Purple Hotel, from £33.00pp Available: Monday to Thursday until 31st December Conveniently located within easy reach of Peterborough, Stamford, Oundle and Huntingdon.

We Will Rock You, ticket & 3* hotel from £74.50pp Available: until 30th April 2009 Written by Ben Elton, and directed by Christopher Renshaw, We Will Rock You, was the musical sensation of 2002, and looks set to run and run.

Wicked, ticket & 3* hotel from £99.50pp Available: until 4th April 2009 Experience this unforgettable, award-winning musical and discover that you’ve not been told the whole story about the Land of Oz!

Billy Elliot, ticket & 3* hotel from £94.50pp Available: until 11th April 2009 A funny, heart-warming and feel-good celebration of one young boy’s dream in a gripping tale of triumph over adversity.

Grease, ticket & 4* hotel from £70.50pp Available: until 10th January 2009 The smash-hit musical Grease has a brand new cast featuring special guest star Ray Quinn from ITV’s The X-Factor.

The Mighty Boosh, Live at the 02 Arena. Ticket & 3* hotel from £119.00pp Available 17th December The Mighty Boosh, return to the live stage with their glorious mix of music and comedy. The Mighty Boosh stars, Noel Fielding and Julian Barratt will headline the London O2 Arena.

WWE Survivor Series UK Tour 2008 – Ticket & 3* hotel from £122.50pp Available: 10th November The ever popular World Wrestling Entertainment franchise will tour the UK this winter with their Survivor Series Tour. SmackDown Superstars include: Batista, Undertaker, Edge, Big Show, The Great Khali, plus many more.

More Events Live at the O2 New Kids on the Block, James Blunt, WWE, Steve Coogan and David Haye – all bookable with Superbreak

Technorati Tags: Cheap, Comedy, hotels, london, london theatre, Musical, Theatre, ticket

The whole area is nothing BUT hotels, so you should have no trouble finding one ! ! !

Technorati Tags: break, hotel, hotels, london, Palace, Theatre, Victoria, victoria palace theatre, victoria palace theatre london

Duration : 0:9:0

Technorati Tags: alfonso, aloueche, london, ricardo, rock, sabrina, we, will, wwry, you

Duration : 0:3:57

Technorati Tags: bboy, break, control, dance, gravity, hip, hop, london, palladium, SDI, street

According to the London Theatre Guide link (below) the running time is 3 hours. It doesn’t state whether that is including the interval or excluding it, so I suggest you should check with the Box Office:

Queen’s Theatre
51 Shaftesbury Ave, W1V 8BA
Tube Piccadilly Circus
Telephone 020 7087 7599

Technorati Tags: box office, break, interval, Les Miserables, london, london theatre, london theatre guide, piccadilly circus, queens theatre london, running time, shaftesbury ave

it would be for 2 adults and 1 child, and Im thinking of maybe Regents Palace/Cavendish…certainly a central hotel location.

I found one company which offers a guaranteed lowest price, so you could try a few others and check them against that one. The show and hotel packages are great if it’s one of the popular musicals that you want to see, but if it’s something less touristy then you could always buy lastminute tickets on the day when you get there, and see two shows altogether. The Planetarium is closed now, I think.

Technorati Tags: best deals, hotel packages, london, london eye, london weekend, Musical, musicals, Shows, Theatre, website