The Case Study of Edinburgh The Festival City

Edinburgh plays hosts to a number of festivals the whole year round and in August alone, there are many art-related festivals, thus Edinburgh the Festival City:

·         Edinburgh Art Festival 28 July – 28 August 2016

·         Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo 5 – 27 August 2016

·         Edinburgh Fringe Festival 5 – 29 August 2016

·         Edinburgh International Festival 5 – 29 August 2016

·         Edinburgh International Book Festival 13 – 29 August 2016

·         Edinburgh Mela 27 – 28 August 2016

·         Scottish International Storytelling Festival 21 -  31 October 2016

·         Edinburgh Hogmanay 30 December 2016 – 1 January 2017

·         Edinburgh International Science Festival 1 – 16 April 2017

·         Imaginate Festival 27 May – 4 June 2017

·         Edinburgh International Film Festival 21 June – 2 July 2017

·         Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival 15 – 24 July 2017

A Case Study Of UNESCO Maritime Greenwich

The Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site comprises the historic town centre, Royal Park and related institutional buildings, and was inscribed by the World Heritage Convention in 1997.

Read the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site Management Plan 2014.

Visit Greenwich is the Royal Borough of Greenwich Destination Management Company, a partnership based, not for profit, Community Interest Company.  It is a public/private partnership, led by a board of tourism professionals, representing different sectors of the industry, with an independent chair. They work with partners e.g. visitor attractions, accommodation providers, transport operators, meetings and events venues, the hospitality and retail sectors and the travel trade and media.

There is also a Business Plan, Business Plan Launch, Annual Report, Destination Management Plan; read them here. 

The Greenwich London Food Tour by the Greenwich Royal Tours in the quaint little urban village:

The Eden Project – The Inspiration Behind Gardens By The Bay

A chat with Ms Wong Yoon Fong, Assistant Director Sales & Marketing from Gardens by the Bay at the STB Trade Engagement Session in London revealed that Gardens was inspired by the Eden Project in Cornwall, UK.

The Eden Project is an educational charity, connecting one another with the living world and exploring how we can work towards a better tomorrow.  A full price adult ticket costs £25 with a 10% discount for booking online, as well as a green travel 16% discount if you walk, cycle or take public transport to Eden.

There are resources, courses and learning opportunities, you can even take an Eden degree (in Horticulture, Event Management or Contemporary Storytelling and Performance) awarded by Plymouth University, or a MSc in Sustainability with Anglia Ruskin University.  You can also get involved by becoming a community champion.

Watch the Eden Story on ‘why we built this place’.

picture from Eden Project

Source: http://www.edenproject.com/

Special Interest Tourism/ New Tour Business Products

The 10 best special interest holidays for 2016 according to The Telegraph:

· Steam dreams – participate in the Festival of Steam in the Somme with trains, tractors, buses, steamrollers and steam-powered saw-mills.

· Ballroom and Latin American dancing in the Tenerife - daily dance tuition with experts who are on hand to teach the steps, hold, posture, footwork and professional techniques.

· Choral singing in Andalusia – with artistic director of the BBC National Chorus of Wales as the singing tutor.

· Cranes and Champagne – bird-watching with some extra fizz.

· Holland in bloom river cruise – a visit to Keukenhof Gardens and a gardening expert to talk about the best new varieties and the garden’s history in Hortus Bulborum.

· Kumbh Mela in India – the festival rotates around four different holy sites in Haridwar, Allahabad, Nashik and Ujjain.

· Painting in Croatia – painting tuition with excursions by boat to several islands.

· Morocco Sketchbook – takes in Marrakesh, mountains and the coastlines, and help you develop your drawing skills.

· Blossoms in Japan – a botanical journey from the capital Tokyo to the imperial city of Kyoto during either the Spring Peony Festival or the Autumn Chrysanthemum Festival, and also includes an Ikebana class to learn the Japanese art of flower-arranging.

· Fishing in Northern Argentina – a fishing and conservation tour, and opportunities for horse-riding and bird-watching with expert insights from scientists.

Shakespeare Aloud at Stratford-upon-Avon:

Walking The Streets Of London

Walk the streets of London with London Walks - £10 each, no need to book, just meet your guide outside the designated tube station, rain or shine, each tour lasts two hours, a hundred (or more!) different walks to choose from, in and around London (Bath, Cambridge, Cotswolds, Oxford, Stonehenge etc.), from themes on history, literary (Shakespeare, Dickens, Oscar Wilde, Sherlock Holmes), music (The Beatles), film (Harry Potter), street art, pubs, ghost (Jack the Ripper), the legal & illegal, the darkest, secret, hidden … 

• Old Westminster – 1000 years of history, where kings and queens are crowned, where they lived and were buried. ‘And to see it with a great guide is to have that past suddenly rise to the surface’.
• The Lure Of The Underground – 150 years of engineering and artistry from the inside.
• Along The Thames Pub Walk – London’s last remaining galleried coaching inn, its best riverside walkway, its oldest market, the most sensational art gallery in the world, lots of pub lore and its most stunning skyline panorama.
• The Street Art Walk – ‘People say graffiti is ugly, irresponsible and childish … but that’s only if it’s done properly’ – Banksy.  This outdoor gallery (Shoreditch and Spitafields) gets ‘rehung’ every few months. ‘Six months is the average life span of street art in east London, so the walk – true to the scene – changes all the time.’
• A Soho Saunter – Everything humming with life: ‘shutters going up, flower boxes being watered, freshly baked bread carried into restaurants, waiters in white aprons serving Turkish coffee at pavement cafes, Chinatown bestirring itself, the colour and clamour  of Berwick Street market’.
• Old Kensington – ‘Royal Kensington is London at its best – picturesque, stimulating, and full of character.’
• Old Hampstead Village – London’s most picturesque neighbourhood with its perfectly preserved Georgian village crowning the top of a handsome hill.
• Foodies London Walks – Epicurean, Gourmet’s, Foodies’ London; Pie Crust to Upper Crust Culinary Destinations; Foodies’ London The West End; Biscuits & Banquets. 

old westminster

lure of the underground

old kensington

street art

thames pub walk

A Case Study Of Cotswold

Walk the 100 miles of the Cotswold Way.  The small villages (Stow-on-the-Wold, Bourton-on-the-Water, Lower & Upper Slaughter, Stanway, Stanton, Broadway, Snowshill, Chipping Campden etc.) have recently become very popular as tourists look for novel authentic experiences and these villages have a long history in the way their stone houses are built and maintained. 

Magic Of Markets

Markets are the best way to explore a city. They create a buzz, liven the street scene, engage visitors with the local community. When the markets develop their own unique character, they will start to have their own fans. 

• Borough Market
• Brick Lane Market
• Camden Lock Market
• Columbia Road Flower Market
• Covent Garden Market
• Greenwich Market
• Old Spitalfields Market
• Portobello Road Market

borough market

portobello market

camden market

petticoat lane market

spitalfields market

columbia road flower market