FIT FOR A KING: Britain’s Royal Collection Trust announces 2025 group visits
- Britian’s Royal Collection Trust has announced its program of group visits and private tours at the official residences of King Charles III – Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle, and Holyroodhouse (Scotland) – for 2025.
FIRST LUXURY SLEEPER TRAIN SET FOR ENGLAND, WALES
- The Britannic Explorer, newly unveiled by Belmond, is the first luxury sleeper train in England and Wales. Set to debut in July 2025. The Britannic Explorer will depart from London, offering three-night journeys with a choice of three routes through the spectacular natural landscapes of Cornwall, The Lake District, and Wales.
TURNING OVER A NEW LEAF: U.K. TreeDwellers takes guests back to nature
- Set in the ancient Wychwood forest in the Cotswolds (about 30 minutes from Oxford), TreeDwellers takes modern accommodation to new heights with seven eccentric “treehouses” that seamlessly blend both luxury and nature.
THE OTHER SIDE OF OXFORD: Beyond Britain’s iconic university town
- Renowned as a “City of Spires” and for its historic university, Oxford has never suffered for profile, notably as a daytrip delight for visitors from London. And in recent years, the city has attracted a new cohort of Harry Potter fans intent on seeing sites used in the smash film series – namely Christ Church college and the Bodleian Library.
SEEING STARS: Britain taps film and TV interest for new campaign
- From Paddington Bear to Harry Potter and James Bond to Mr. Bean, Great Britain has a long history of marketing the destination through TV and film. Indeed, Britain is never far from viewers around the world through an endless list of cinematic mainstays that are uniquely British, such as Downton Abbey, Bridgerton, Dr. Who, Mary Poppins, and Sherlock Holmes – not to mention productions that simply borrow Britain as a backdrop, like Jurassic Park and Game of Thrones/House of Dragons.
STARRING GREAT BRITAIN: VisitBritain raises curtain on screen tourism at annual showcase
- VisitBritain is set to host more than 120 international travel trade on educational visits across the UK as part of its flagship ‘Showcase Britain’ event. Starting today (Jan. 23) at Hampton Court Palace outside London, the showcase event will include a delegation of a dozen Canadian retail tourism representatives and VisitBritain staff, along with Travel Industry Today.
NOTHING TO SEE HERE: Londoners celebrate No Trousers Tube ride
- Mind the pants. Hundreds of Londoners headed down to the Underground on Sunday afternoon, stripped down to their underwear and travelled around a bit, trying to look as though nothing unusual was going on. As if.
CHANGING THE RULES: What you need to know about the UK’s new ETA
- Starting Nov. 27, Canadians can apply in advance for the United Kingdom’s new Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) form, which will be required by all Canadians entering the UK effective Jan. 8, 2025. Here is everything you need to know.
THE ‘ROB AND RYAN EFFECT’: Stars help Wrexham hit the tourism jackpot
- In Wrexham, the ‘Rob and Ryan effect’ goes beyond the soccer club the Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney bought and revived, as tourism and investments grow in the small Welsh city, which has rapidly become one of Britain’s most unlikely tourist hot spots.
VISITBRITAIN RELAUNCHES SPECIALIST PROGRAM
- VisitBritain has relaunched its travel advisor training program, BritAgent PRO Sales Companion, now with enhanced mobile sales enablement through TravPRO Mobile. The revamped program provides travel advisors with resources to effectively promote destinations across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
GAME ON: Britain’s West Midlands builds on Commonwealth legacy in Canada
- With the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games firmly in the rearview mirror, Britain’s West Midlands region is still building on the legacy of the Games with new tourism product and itineraries, not least when it comes to leisure tourism, which has typically lagged behind business tourism in the region.
LONDON SHEEP DRIVE CELEBRATES ECCENTRIC HISTORIC TRADITION
- More than 1,000 freemen, many wearing black hats and red cloaks, and including actor Damian Lewis, drove a flock of sheep across the River Thames this week in the annual London Sheep Drive – an homage to a centuries-old tradition.
THE IN AND OUT CLUB: Posh Piccadilly hotel to revive historic London site
- Cambridge House, the former In and Out Military Club, in Mayfair, London, will be managed by Auberge Resorts Collection, an award-winning portfolio of one-of-a-kind luxury hotels, resorts and residences when the historic property at 94 Piccadilly opens next year in the British capital.
HEATHROW EXPRESS OFFERS B2B BOOKINGS
- London’s Heathrow Express has launched an online booking platform, designed specifically for B2B partners. The platform offers tour operators, travel advisors and DMCs a streamlined method to book Heathrow Express tickets at a corporate rate. They now have the opportunity to offer Heathrow Express tickets as an additional option for their customers, enhancing their travel packages with the added benefit of incentives.
STONEHENGE TUNNEL KICKED DOWN THE ROAD, AGAIN
- Britain’s new Labour government has axed a construction project on a controversial traffic tunnel bypass near Stonehenge as part of austerity measures resulting from what it called an unexpected 22-billion-pound shortfall in the public finances.
WALES, JUST FOR KICKS: Wrexham FC shines spotlight in Canada
- Wales is in the spotlight this week in Canada as Wrexham FC arrives to play the Vancouver Whitecaps on Saturday (July 27). The team, co-owned by Vancouver-born actor Ryan Reynolds, and featured in the documentary series ‘Welcome to Wrexham,’ has become a global phenomenon as the team channels its Hollywood ownership with success on the field, rising from non-league football/soccer to Britain’s League One in just a couple of years.
ROLLING OUT ON A MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR
- “Liverpool is the place that changed the face of music forever,” declared tour guide Jay as we rolled out on The Beatles-inspired Magical Mystery Tour to discover where the world’s most famous rock band first found fame. Boarding the technicolour tour bus at the city’s Albert Dock, a drumbeat signified the start of the two-hour tour and instantly put everyone into a Fab Four frame of mind.
PALACE INTRIGUE: Summer opening features a first at Buckingham
- Buckingham Palace’s summer opening of its state rooms has now begun, this year featuring the East Wing opens for the first time. The East Wing encompasses the famous façade of the London Palace and features the iconic central balcony, where the Monarch and members of the Royal Family have gathered for public appearances since 1851, most recently for Trooping the Colour in June.
A ‘TURNING POINT’ FOR SCOTTISH TOURISM
- New figures show that Scotland experienced a record-breaking influx of international visitors in 2023, welcoming 3.9 million tourists, marking a 15% increase from 2019. The 2023 International Passenger Survey by the Office of National Statistics showed a significant 23% increase from 2022, which saw 3.2 million visitors, and the previous record was set in 2018 with 3.7 million visitors.
FULL STEAM AHEAD: Train tour a great day trip from London
- Britain’s Steam Dreams Rail Co., which provides unique English countryside tours from London Victoria on a classic steam train, has launched its summer season and will continue with a limited series of weekly departures departing twice daily every Tuesday through Aug. 20.