Joint venture sees £250 million Chinese investment in UK tourism

AN ANGLO-CHINESE partnership designed to bring British and Chinese people together during their leisure time will see £250 million invested in the UK’s tourism infrastructure. 

The enterprise will be named SinoBritish Waterside Villages and will give British, Chinese, and other overseas visitors the opportunity to experience each other’s cultures in outstanding locations, and to develop friendships with individuals and families from other nations.

The London Group – in partnership with the SinoFortone Group – has made the first acquisition for this concept by purchasing the Lakeview Country Club, a 30-year-old Cornish holiday village near Bodmin for £12.5 million, and has been given planning permission to extend the 120-acre site into what it says will be ‘the largest and most desirable private waterside village in Britain’.

Similar projects are planned for London, Scotland, and The Lake District.

The Cornish village will be designed by architects Evans and Shalev, designers of the Tate Modern in St Ives.

Malcolm Bell, chief executive of Visit #Cornwall, said the resort would help to propel Cornwall into the ranks of one of the world's leading tourist destinations.

‘To stay competitive, any sector has to constantly invest and we welcome this significant investment in the future of Cornish tourism. Cornwall is already the country's leading leisure tourism destination, evidenced by Cornwall winning the UK’s most popular tourist region for six years in succession at the British Travel Awards. It is right that Cornwall now starts to take its place as an international tourism destination. We have a world-class coastline, landscape, heritage, attractions, and culture and this exciting investment will help us to meet our ambitions.’

Go Holiday news : www.govillasandcottages.co.uk

All your holiday needs: IN PRINT - ON-LINE - DiGiMAG - SMARTPHONE -TABLET - BLOG - TWITTER - G+ - FACEBOOK

Picture Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/33542052@N07/5729473162">P1140891.jpg</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/">(license)

Monster alert at the Eden Project

CORNWALL’S #EdenProject will be taken over by rampaging beasts this summer (July 24-September 2) for the #Dinosaur Uproar season.

The prehistoric programme will feature five times as many dinosaurs as last year's Dinosaurs Unleashed.

The stars of the show at Eden include:

• The Tyrannosaurus Rex – Otherwise known as the Tyrant Lizard, the T. Rex lived 65 million years ago and had teeth up to nine inches long. These vicious dinosaurs could weigh more than seven tonnes but were still fearsome predators.

• The Australovenator – The carnivorous Australovenator – meaning Southern Hunter – is Australia's answer to the T. Rex. With long legs, arms, and tail, it was built for speed and hunting.

• The Titanosaur – These were some of the heaviest creatures ever to walk the earth, some of which might have weighed up to 90 tonnes. Titanosaurs were well-armoured and had spikes on their backs.

• The Meganeura – A species of giant insect related to modern dragonflies but with a wingspan of approximately 30”. 

Chris Pritchard, Eden's production manager, said: ‘Last year we unleashed dinosaurs at the Eden Project and it was a roaring success. This year they're taking over! Everything about Dinosaurs Uproar will be bigger and better. We'll have five times more dinosaurs running amok around Eden and fascinating activities and exhibits for palaeontologists of all ages.’ 

www.edenproject.com

Go Holiday news : www.govillasandcottages.co.uk

All your holiday needs: IN PRINT - ON-LINE - DiGiMAG - SMARTPHONE -TABLET - BLOG - TWITTER - G+ - FACEBOOK

Picture Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/49503029311@N01/70075048">Bio-domes</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/">(license), "Meganeuramodell" by GermanOle - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons 

Telly and movie boost for Cornwall and Dorset tourism

AS the first series of #Poldark (BBC1) wraps up, Cornwall is likely to benefit from a boost in tourism thanks to what is being coined the Poldark effect.

More than five million viewers watched the story unfold on the box, but images of blue waters, lush countryside and craggy cliffs have proved to be the greatest seduction, sparking a huge surge in the number of people interest in a Cornish get-away. During and after each episode, Visit Cornwall’s website had a 50% increase in, er, visits.

An uplift in visitor numbers has already begun with some businesses reporting near double year-on-year figures. St Aubyn Estates Holidays manages the car park and café at Porthgwarra Cove, as well as holiday cottages in the area. Based on takings, it estimates that visitor numbers at Easter were almost double those at the same holiday weekend last year.

‘Many of our customers during the Easter period told me they had been inspired to #VisitCornwall as a direct result of watching Poldark,’ says Kerry Baillie, cottage manager for St Aubyn Estates Holidays. ‘They are visiting Porthgwarra Cove to see where Ross famously swims while watched from the clifftops by Demelza, or the location of the pilchard fishing scene where the water is so brilliantly turquoise. We envisage that once the summer arrives we will receive many new visitors to the cove.’

It's a similar story for the National Trust's Levant Mine which plays the role of the fictional Tressiders Rolling Mill in Poldark. Part of the Cornwall and West Devon Mining World Heritage Site, Levant offers fans of the show a taste of Cornwall's mining heritage. Visitor numbers so far this year are by 91%.

A number of businesses are capitalizing on the Poldark effect by creating themed packages and experiences. At the luxury resort of Gwel an Mor in the coastal village Portreath, guests can sign up for a Poldark break and get a guided tour of the film locations, while Hallagenna Riding, which provided stabling and accommodation for the stunt riders and horses while filming on Bodmin Moor, has created a Poldark horse-riding Trail. Glasgow-based Caledonian Travel is offering a five-day tour of 

mines and film locations.

‘Film and TV is proven to have a significant influence on holiday decision-making, so Poldark has been incredible gift to Cornwall,’ said Malcolm Bell, CEO of Visit Cornwall. ‘We couldn't ask for a more powerful showcase and with the second series confirmed, it can only get better.’ 

Still in the West Country, statistics from holidaycottages.co.uk show a substantial surge in interest in Dorset following the release in November last year of The Imitation Game, part of which was filmed in Sherborne.

Go Holiday news : www.govillasandcottages.co.uk

All your holiday needs: IN PRINT - ON-LINE - DiGiMAG - SMARTPHONE -TABLET - BLOG - TWITTER - G+ - FACEBOOK

Picture Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/13071852@N00/9466630012">Porthgwarra</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/">(license), http://www.flickr.com/photos/64766003@N00/268087507">Engine house at the Levant tin mine</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/">(license), Mousehole02 by waterborough - photo shooting. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons