England

Center Parcs UK plans opening of first park in Ireland

02-Apr-2015 By Emma Eversham

Center Parcs UK has announced plans to open its first holiday village in Ireland after signing an option agreement with state forestry company Coillte. 

Government must act to secure the future of the UK tourism industry, says WTTC

24-Mar-2015 By Sophie Witts

The UK government must take action to ensure the future of the UK tourism industry, the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) has warned.

TripAdvisor: North beats South for UK's best rated hotels and restaurants

24-Mar-2015 By Sophie Witts

The North of England has dominated the list of top UK destinations in the annual Travellers’ Choice awards, announced by TripAdvisor.

Shortage of skilled chefs could limit ‘foodie’ tourism in the UK

20-Mar-2015 By Sophie Witts

A lack of skilled chefs could limit the growth of the UK tourism industry, with businesses struggling to fill nearly half of all chef vacancies, says VisitEngland.

VisitEngland to become standalone body for English tourism

12-Mar-2015 By Sophie Witts

VisitEngland is separating from VisitBritain to become an independent body focusing on the development of ‘competitive and engaging tourism experiences’.

Hospitality Openings: February 2015

04-Mar-2015 By Sophie Witts

Take a look at some of the best new sites that opened around the UK in February, including Manchester United's Hotel Football, glh's first every hotel and the new site from Brighton's Coal Shed owners, The Salt Room.

BHA calls for political change in 2015

22-Dec-2014 By Carina Perkins

The chief executive of the British Hospitality Association (BHA), Ufi Ibrahim, has called on the hospitality industry to continue to push for policy change next year.

Government pledges £10m to promote tourism in the north of England

06-Nov-2014 By Lauren Houghton

Hospitality bodies have welcomed Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg’s announcement that the government will give £10m through the Regional Growth Fund to boost tourism in the North of England.

Old Tom & English to open in Soho

21-Oct-2014 By Carina Perkins

Old Tom & English, a new British restaurant offering small plates, cocktails and wine, will open in the heart of Soho next month.

BBPA and VistEngland team up for English Tourism Week

10-Oct-2014 By Melodie Michel

VisitEngland and the British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA) have announced their partnership in advance of English Tourism Week 2015.

Tourism spend rise on track despite fewer August visits

09-Oct-2014 By Melodie Michel

VisitBritain is on track to deliver its 2015 target of £2bn extra visitor spend, despite a slight 1 per cent increase year to date.

Veeno plans roll-out through crowdfunding

30-Sep-2014 By Carina Perkins

Italian wine café Veeno has launched a crowdfunding campaign and aims to open four new sites by June 2015.

Rugby World Cup 2015 hailed as big opportunity for hospitality

19-Sep-2014 By Carina Perkins

VistEngland has described the Rugby World Cup 2015 as a 'tremendous opportunity' for tourism and hospitality, with hotels, restaurants, pubs and bars in host cities set to benefit from a big increase in international spend.

Tourism to enjoy £2.1bn boost over bank holiday

20-Aug-2014 By Carina Perkins

Domestic tourism is set to soar over the August bank holiday, with a quarter of the British population considering an overnight trip during the long weekend, according to the latest data from VisitEngland.

Domestic tourism back on track after strong Easter

08-Aug-2014 By Carina Perkins

Great Britain enjoyed strong growth in domestic tourism over Easter, helping offset some of the losses experienced during the floods and wet weather earlier this year.

Give Us A Break: New campaign to cut tourism VAT

30-Jun-2014 By Carina Perkins

The Sun newspaper has launched a campaign calling on Chancellor George Osborne to cut VAT on hotel accommodation and attractions to 5 per cent.

Summer trends: all about staycations

24-Jun-2014 By Lauren Houghton

TripAdvisor has just released its travel trends for British travellers this summer and results show that staycations are going to be popular, with UK cities taking 6 of the top 15 travel destination spots.

Stay-at-home holidaymakers to boost UK economy by £108bn by 2017

23-May-2014 By Lauren Houghton

A recent report from Barclays shows that Britons who holiday in the UK will contribute £108bn to the economy by 2017, which will help the hospitality and leisure sector to grow by more than a quarter in the next four years. 

VisitEngland Excellence Awards 2014: winners revealed

13-May-2014 By Carina Perkins

1884 Dock Street Kitchen in Hull, Burleigh Court in Leicestershire and The Old Rectory Hotel in Devon were among the winners of the Visit England Excellence Awards 2014.

TV chef Alan Coxon becomes British ambassador for food and tourism

13-May-2014 By Lauren Houghton

Award-winning chef Alan Coxon has been invited to be part of the Government’s international GREAT Britain campaign as an representative for British food and tourism.

Yorkshire restaurants are best performing in England and Wales

11-Apr-2014 By Carina Perkins

Yorkshire’s hospitality sector has enjoyed a significant boost over recent months, with the regions’ restaurants now outperforming the rest of the country, according to data from insolvency trade body R3.

VisitEngland reveals Awards for Excellence finalists 2014

02-Apr-2014 By Lauren Houghton

Burleigh Court, Hell Bay Hotel and Brockencote Hall Hotel are among the finalists in VisitEngland’s Awards for Excellence 2014 which celebrates the finest in the tourism industry.

Profitable Christmas on the cards as 10.1 million Brits plan overnight break

20-Dec-2013 By Luke Nicholls

Planned overnight trips this Christmas and New year are likely to generate some £1.9bn spend for the UK economy - around £1.6bn of which will be spent in England - according to VisitEngland’s latest Trip Tracker survey. 

Another GREAT year for tourism in 2014 as Government makes £90m pledge

19-Dec-2013 By Luke Nicholls

Less than a month after a VisitBritain report revealed that tourism has become a ‘bedrock’ of the UK economy, the national tourism agency is now confidently forecasting another record-breaking year after receiving another major funding boost from the...

UK grows in appeal to US travellers and staycationers

07-Nov-2013 By Emma Eversham

The number of people coming to the UK from America has risen by 23 per cent in the last year with travellers from Canada, Singapore and China also showing a greater interest in the nation as a tourist destination.

Warm weather offers August Bank Holiday trade boost for industry

23-Aug-2013 By Emma Eversham

Predictions of warm weather for the August Bank Holiday, coupled with an already strong summer, have led to an increase in the number of Brits planning to take a trip in the UK over the weekend which could result in an industry trade boost of £1bn, says...

David Cameron dismisses more calls for hospitality and tourism VAT cut

19-Aug-2013

Prime Minister David Cameron has once again shunned the argument to reduce VAT for the hospitality and tourism sectors, claiming that bringing the taxes down to pre-recession levels ‘would be expensive’ for the UK economy.

South Lakes MP supports Cut Tourism VAT campaign

25-Jun-2013 By Emma Eversham

South Lakes MP Tim Farron has pledged his support of the Cut Tourism VAT campaign and is putting pressure on the Treasury to bring tax rates for hotels, restaurants and other hospitality and leisure businesses into line with those in other European countries. 

Hospitality businesses prepare to take advantage of £2.1bn Christmas domestic tourism spend

21-Dec-2012 By Peter Ruddick

New figures released by VisitEngland show 12 million Brits, nearly a quarter of the adult population, are preparing to take a Christmas or New Year break in the UK - a trend which is likely to generate £2.1bn in tourism spend for hospitality and other...

WTTC: Marketing campaigns not enough to grow UK tourism industry

22-Aug-2012 By Peter Ruddick

The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) has warned the Government increased budgets for marketing campaigns promoting the UK tourism industry will not have the desired effect without changes to policies on visas, aviation and taxation.

VisitEngland launches RGF-funded local marketing campaign worth £365m to UK economy

21-Aug-2012 By Luke Nicholls

The national tourist board VisitEngland has today announced the start of a partnership project to deliver local destination marketing and thematic campaigns throughout the country, creating 9,100 jobs in the UK tourism sector over the next three years.

Hospitality businesses set for bumper month as over 10 million Brits plan holiday at home

26-Jul-2012 By Luke Nicholls

More than 10 million Brits – 21 per cent of the adult population – plan to make the most of the summer by taking at least one holiday or short break in the UK, with 8.9 million of those planning to take the trip in England.

TripAdvisor boosts UK tourism and raises industry standards, finds study

19-Jul-2012 By Luke Nicholls

User-generated review websites such as TripAdvisor are encouraging higher spending and longer stays in the UK, with users more likely to increase their time and spending in hotels, a new study has found.

Eric Zwiebel: England now one of the best places in the world to be a sommelier

06-Jul-2012 By Peter Ruddick

Eric Zwiebel from the Summer Lodge hotel in Dorset has been chosen to represent the UK at the ASI World Sommelier contest and has said this country is now one of the best places in the world to work as a sommelier.

English wine's marketing board gets new look

14-May-2012 By Emma Eversham

English Wine Producers (EWP), the marketing board for English wine, has redesigned its logo as part of a move to better promote what it feels is a modern, growing industry to the trade. 

Day Tripper: Restaurants and bars drive 250 million UK day visits

13-Mar-2012 By Peter Ruddick

Going out for meals and drinks has been revealed by VisitEngland to be the second most popular reason for day trips in the UK with 250 million trips in 2011 helping to boost the worth of the day visit economy to £54bn.

The UK’s top 25 hotels: TripAdvisor’s 2012 Travellers’ Choice Awards

23-Jan-2012 By Luke Nicholls

Charterhouse Hotel in Devon has been named as the best hotel in the UK in TripAdvisor in its 10th annual Travellers’ Choice Awards.

Pub prices plummet with north of England worst hit

07-Dec-2011 By Luke Nicholls

The price of bottom end freehold pubs has fallen by 3.2 per cent nationally and 11.6 per cent in the north of England, according to Fleurets’ latest annual survey of pub prices.

UK holidays reach record-breaking high for September

11-Nov-2011 By Luke Nicholls

The number of international visitors to the UK has risen to record-breaking levels for September, with 2.53 million arrivals and 970,000 holiday visits.

Liverpool hospitality industry expects £15m Labour conference boost

23-Sep-2011 By Luke Nicholls

Hotels, restaurants and bars across Liverpool are expecting huge revenue over the coming days with the Labour Party Annual Conference about to take place in the city for the first time.

Hotels and B&B's have best April in five years

01-Aug-2011 By Emma Eversham

Hotels, B&Bs and other accommodation providers in the UK reportedly had their best April in five years with the number of overnight trips taken by domestic tourists rising 5 per cent that month.

D&D to convert Bishopsgate warehouse into restaurants

12-Jul-2011 By Lorraine Heller

Restaurant group D&D has announced plans to redevelop an old spice warehouse in the City, which it will convert into two restaurants, bars and a wine shop.

MPs support campaign to amend smoking ban in pubs

29-Jun-2011 By Emma Eversham

MPs from the three main parties are hosting a reception at The House of Commons later today to gain support for a campaign to amend the smoking ban.

Tourists spent £114bn in UK in 2008, says ONS

26-May-2011 By Lorraine Heller

Domestic and foreign tourists spent a total of £114bn in the UK in 2008, with more money forked out on food than on hotels, according to a new set of experimental data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

US tourists are highest spenders, but visitors declining

24-May-2011 By Lorraine Heller

US tourists are the highest spenders out of all holidaymakers to the UK, but their numbers continue to decline, according to new data released today by VisitBritain.

Extended opening hours for Royal Wedding

14-Feb-2011 By Lorraine Heller

The government intends to grant extended opening hours to restaurants and pubs during the Royal Wedding, allowing venues in England and Wales to serve food and alcohol until 1am on the festive weekend.

England lose bid to host 2018 World Cup to Russia

02-Dec-2010 By Becky Paskin

England’s 2018 World Cup bid has been lost to Russia, an opportunity that would have boosted the UK economy by £3.2bn.

The Star Inn is Britain's top gastropub

16-Nov-2010 By Jo Bruce

The Star Inn at Harome, North Yorkshire, has been named as the number one gastropub in the UK at the “Old Speckled Hen” Top 50 Gastropubs 2010 awards, organised by BigHospitality's sister title, The Morning Advertiser

VisitBritain and BA campaign set to boost tourism

06-Oct-2010 By Lorraine Heller

VisitBritian and British Airways today launch a new campaign designed to attract more tourists to the country, which includes special discount deals with hotels.

Night-time industry worth £66bn a year, say economists

13-Sep-2010 By Rachel Johnson

The British night-time industry is worth £66bn a year to the UK economy, according to a report published on Friday