With international travel made difficult by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, Visit Britain, the government’s tourism agency, is set to spend £5 million on a new campaign which will encourage Brits to holiday at home in cities like Portsmouth, Birmingham and Manchester instead of abroad.
Titled Escape the Everyday, the campaign will encourage staycations and will aim to of course boost the revenue spent in the UK.
Speaking to The Times, Tourism Minister Nigel Huddleston said, Towns and cities across the UK are packed full of arts, culture and heritage offerings, beautiful parks, architectural gems and world-class visitor attractions.’
A £5,000 fine was recently introduced for those who holiday abroad without a “reasonable excuse”.
This campaign comes after scientists warned the public that holidays outside of England will be unlikely this summer due to rising cases of Covid-19 variants.
Professor Mike Tidesley, one of the scientists who consults SAGE, said that holidays were “extremely unlikely” for the average person and added that the UK faces a “real risk” if people are allowed to travel abroad this summer.
Professor Tidesley added: “I think we are running a real risk if we do start to have lots of people going overseas in July, for instance, and August because of the potential for bringing more of these new variants back into the country.”
“What is really dangerous is if we jeopardise our vaccination campaign by having these variants, where the vaccines don’t work as effectively, spreading more rapidly.”
Tourist spots in Manchester and Birmingham include Cadbury’s World, nightlife and more.
Portsmouth also boasts a popular beach.
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