http://www.micbinks.co.ukEssential UK tourism and leisure news, travel information and current tourist related media programming.en-gbmicbinks 2008website@micbinks.co.uk (mike)website@micbinks.co.uk (mike)Mon, 20 Aug 2007 15:02:29 GMTUK TouristLeisure AttractionsHoliday ImagesMicbinks site logohttp://www.micbinks.co.uk/images/micbinkslogo.gifhttp://www.micbinks.co.ukFeedSpring - http://feedspring.com/Tue, 09 Mar 2010 10:20:09 GMThttp://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rsshttp://uk-tv-guide.comWell, if tourism programming was sparse in February, March looks even sparser - this in the month British Tourism Week takes place too! 'The Lakes' continues on ITV1 on Mondays (due to end 22nd) and on History 'How Britain Was Built' is worth a look (although more a historic series). On Fridays repeats of 'Coast' on BBC2 are worthwhile if you've previously missed episodes, on the same day on Five 'Highland Emergency' often shows some dramatic Scottish scenery and 'How London Was Built' on History... well, maybe we're scraping the bottom here a bit, but the capital's tourism hotspots are sometimes apparent. Now, the endless repeats of 'Countryfile' and 'Countrywise' are conspicuous by their absence; also the BBC started repeating the recent excellent 'Great British Railway Journeys' but seem to have pulled it after just a few episodes. Hmmm... Click this item for more TV listings...Tue, 09 Mar 2010 10:19:26 GMThttp://www.britishtourismweek.comOrganised by VisitBritain, British Tourism Week is being held for the fourth year running to raise awareness of the size, value and importance of Britain's £114 billion visitor economy. It takes place from 15 - 21 March 2010 with a series of inter-related events and is supported by many professional UK tourism related partners. Those associated with the industry are being encouraged to get involved and become part of it. The Wales version is running concurrently and Scottish one from 1 - 8 March. For event details, and please click this item...Mon, 22 Feb 2010 16:21:17 GMThttp://uk-tv-guide.comNot a lot looks to be happening with tourism programming during February. 'The Lakes' continues on Mondays, ITV1 featuring a summer season in the Lake District, and that never ending 'Countryfile' on Sundays, BBC1 (Julia Bradbury must be suffering from over-exposure by now!). Also over-exposed is 'Coast', BBC2 Wednesdays, but well worth watching if you've missed it so far as is 'Seaside Rescue' (various channels, days and times!) for more coastal views. And that's about your lot this time, except sometimes some seemingly unrelated programmes can feature tourism areas like 'The Gadget Show' (Mike's favourite programme, and not just for the gadgets!). Click this item for more TV listings...Tue, 09 Feb 2010 13:41:27 GMThttp://uk-tv-guide.comA new year – and new tourism programming in the TV schedules? Well, let's see... First off is 'Coast' on BBC2 on Saturdays, now repeated countless times; and on Sundays (and Fridays) on BBC1 we see 'Countryfile' is still being flogged to death as is 'Countrywise' (Fridays, ITV1)! So not a good start then! But looking at weekdays we find a new 20 part series of 'Great British Railway Journeys' on BBC2 every weekday – looks good for visiting different parts of the UK (and for Mike getting an early year steam train fix!). Another new series is 'The Lakes' on Mondays, ITV1, following the summer tourist season in the Lake District which should be interesting. Also check out National Geographic on Tues (& Fri) for 'Loch Ness Investigated'. Then we're back to the coast (and repeats) with 'Seaside Rescue' on Thursdays, BBC1, with plenty of West Country coastal views, worth a look if this one's passed you by. Click this item for more TV listings, and... happy new year to you all!Tue, 05 Jan 2010 15:18:46 GMThttp://uk-tv-guide.comNot a lot looks to be scheduled for UK tourism programming this month. Keep an eye on History for 'Buildings That Shaped Britain', 'Disappearing Britain' and 'How Britain Was Built' (all various days). Yawn, 'Countryfile' drags on on BBC1 on Sundays and Fridays (early hours) but a better bet is 'A History Of Scotland' on BBC2 on Tuesdays – this could just feature some tourist hotspots. And that's about it, unless you wish to view again 'Countrywise' which pops up again on Mondays, ITV1 later in the month. Let's hope the new year brings in some fresh programming as January is regarded as a key month for tourism planning and booking! Happy Christmas! Click this item for more TV listings...Thu, 10 Dec 2009 17:58:38 GMThttp://uk-tv-guide.comWe've two new programs for you to check out this month; BBC1 on Sundays has 'Alexander Armstrong's Very British Holiday' visiting tourist hotspots while on Tuesdays on ITV1 there's 'John Sergeant on the Tourist Trail' looking at Britain from the viewpoint of overseas visitors. Also on Tuesdays, 'Talking Landscapes' on BBC4 features the changing face of Britain's countryside. 'How London Was Built' is on (yet) again on History at weekends and Yesterday are showing re-runs of 'Fred Dibnah's Building of Britain' on weekends and 'Fred Dibnah's Made in Britain' on weekdays. Both are well worth seeing as numerous tourist locations are visited from an industrial heritage point of view. Now here's a surprise, we often see tourist hotspots as a backdrop to some of the features on 'The Gadget Show' (Five, Mondays) - just the other week we saw The Peak District's Monsal Dale (BTW it's Mike's favourite show, supposedly for the gadgets, but his secret agenda is to ogle Suzi Perry!).Finally, we're sure you haven't had enough of 'Countryfile' so you'll be pleased to know it continues on BBC1 on Sundays. Arrggh! Click this item for more TV listings...Tue, 10 Nov 2009 18:37:13 GMThttp://uk-tv-guide.comWell, a dearth of fresh programming this month! Both 'Countryfile' (BBC1, Sundays) and 'Countrywise' (ITV1, Thurs) continue their seemingly never-ending run while they've wheeled out that Julia Bradbury TWICE for repeats of 'Wainwright Walks' on Tuesdays and 'Railway Walks' on Weds, both BBC2. Mind you, they're worth seeing again for the scenery. 'How London Was Built' on Mondays (and Fridays) on History and 'The Twenties in Colour' on BBC4, also Mondays shows parts of the country from a historic perspective. And that's all we could come up with following our trawl through the schedules this time! Now, if only they'd repeat 'Britain's Favourite View' from a few years back, that would be a worthwhile repeat! (You can catch it on the web though, see itv.com). Click this item for more TV listings...Tue, 13 Oct 2009 14:04:10 GMThttp://uk-tv-guide.comIn store for September we see both 'Coast' on BBC2 and 'Countryfile' continuing on BBC1 on Sundays. Possibly worth checking out is 'Disappearing Britain' on History (various times) on weekdays while 'Coast' pops up again on Tues on BBC2. Also on Tues 'A History Of Scotland' on BBC4 looks at the country's past and 'Great British Journeys' on Yesterday on weekdays has the mildly irritating Nicholas Crane, complete with his ominous umbrella, travelling around the country. On Wednesdays on Five 'Rory and Paddy's Great British Adventure' may just show some country between the weird stuff, and finally 'Countrywise' on ITV1 on Thurs continues its seemingly never-ending run! Click this item for more TV listings...Mon, 07 Sep 2009 13:49:56 GMThttp://uk-tv-guide.comWe dig deep among the TV schedules each month for UK tourism related programming so you don't have to! For August we find 'Countryfile' continues on BBC1 on Sundays, as does the confusingly similarly named 'Countrywise' on ITV1, Thurs. Also continuing is 'Seaside Rescue', BBC1, Weds with many shots of the southern coastline. There's two instances (oh no, a double dose of Julia Bradbury!) of 'Wainwright Walks' – BBC4 on Sundays and another on BBC2 on Tuesdays (which is the repeated Coast to Coast series). Tuning to Yesterday, 'A History of Britain' is featuring the Battle of Hastings, various times on Thurs and Fridays. On the History channel we have 'Britain's Finest Natural Wonders' and 'How We Built Britain' on Thurs and Fridays. Finally, 'Mud, Sweat and Tractors: The Story of Agriculture' might be good for some scenic old times countryside views on BBC2 on Fridays. That's all we've found this month, maybe they'll be more on in September as the schedules gear up for the autumn season. Click this item for more TV listings...Tue, 11 Aug 2009 15:02:24 GMThttp://uk-tv-guide.comErm, a late posting this month as we've been away on holiday to the Cotswolds, which means a new image gallery to check-out on the site soon! Back to the TV listings then, and the series 'How London Was Built' on the History channel on Saturdays looks promising for looking at the capital's landmarks while 'Countryfile' on BBC1 on Sundays visits selected areas of the British countryside (yes, it's that Julia Bradbury yet again!). Check out 'Britain's Best' (Yesterday, weekdays) for historical sites around the country and on the same channel 'How We Built Britain' on Fridays explores history through extraordinary architecture. There's a new series of 'Coast' starting mid-month on BBC2, Tuesdays, while a new series of 'Seaside Rescue' on BBC1, Weds, is likely to feature scenes of the country's coastline. 'Countrywise' (ITV1, Thurs) continues and 'Hidden Histories' on BBC4, also on Thurs, looks to be a good bet at showing locations, again through a historical connection. Click this item for more TV listings...Tue, 14 Jul 2009 16:55:20 GMThttp://www.tvguideuk.co.uk'Countrywise' on ITV1 on Thursdays has Paul Heiney visiting various areas around the UK and a new series on BBC4 on Fridays called 'In Search Of England's Green and Pleasant Land' finds out how the countryside has changed over the years. Nicholas Crane pops up once again travelling around the entire coastline in the much repeated 'Coast' on Weds (or Thurs), BBC2 and continuing its repeat run is 'Britain's Best Drives' on BBC2 Fridays. Others include 'British Walks With Fred Talbot' on Discovery Real Time on Saturdays and 'Fred Dibnah's Building Of Britain' on Yesterday on Tues, Weds and Thurs. Click this item for more TV listings...Sat, 06 Jun 2009 15:02:32 GMThttp://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/apr/30/warm-summer-uk-forecastThe Met Office are optimistic that this year's summer in the UK will be warmer than average and that the previous two wet years are unlikely to be repeated. Which is good news for the UK tourism industry and the extra five million people holidaying in UK in 2009 (due to the recession and the pound's slide against other currencies). Apparently the reason for an expected good summer are warmer than average sea temperatures in the Pacific Ocean leading to high pressure developing over Europe. In the previous years this was lower than average and led to poor summers. Then again, we at micbinks remember the experts saying the 2008 summer was on track to be a good one, and we all know what happened then! Let's hope they're right this time. Click this item for more...Tue, 12 May 2009 14:11:28 GMThttp://www.tvguideuk.co.ukLooking through the schedules BBC2 is repeating 'Britain's Best Drives' (Fridays) which sees Richard Wilson touring scenic UK spots by vintage car. On BBC4, Thursdays, check-out Julia Bradbury and 'Wainwright Walks: Coast To Coast'; she's now crossing the UK west to east from the Lakes to Yorkshire (and crossing some areas we've visited ourselves, see site). Repeats of her 'Railway Walks' series are also worth looking out for. Another program worth a watch is 'Youth Hostelling: The First 100 Years' - it's all about the YHA's archive promotional film collection, this might turn up some wonderful scenery from a bygone time, it's on BBC4 Fri 8 May. Click this item for more TV listings...Mon, 04 May 2009 13:21:02 GMThttp://www.tvguideuk.co.ukListing specific programming each week entails a time overhead we have trouble maintaining. So we've decided to provide a few pointers at the beginning if each month instead and leave it up to you, the reader of this blog, to seek out the travel and tourism programming you're interested in - which gives us time to watch the programs too! Add this feed to your watch list to receive timely updates so you don't miss that unmissable episode...Thu, 16 Apr 2009 11:46:11 GMThttp://www.britishtourismweek.comBritish Tourism Week is taking place from 23 - 29 March 2009 at ExCeL London. The event, which will centrepiece the Best of Britain & Ireland consumer show, aims to raise awareness of the size, value and importance of Britain's £86 billion visitor economy. The event builds upon the success of the previous two years and will highlight the contribution made by businesses and the commitment of organisations and individuals to further develop the UK tourism industry. The event is organised by VisitBritain with the support of many associated relevant organisations. Click this item for more...Fri, 06 Feb 2009 15:32:12 GMThttp://www.tourismalliance.com/showarticle.pl?id=231When we posted our last blog item in July 2008 we reported serious concern about the state of tourism in the UK. Now, despite the deteriorating economy, things could be looking rosy for UK tourism during 2009. Firstly, the weak Pound is expected to increase the flow of tourists from the Eurozone and N. America as their money buys more. Secondly, UK citizens are more likely to shun holidays abroad as the Pound buys them less plus ongoing concerns with travel operator stability and, as many reign in their finances, take their holidays at home. Add to the mix much lower vehicle fuel costs and airline fuel surcharges since last summer, plus (expected) dropping energy bills and the tendency for people to cut back elsewhere rather than forgo their leisure enjoyment, things do indeed look promising for UK tourism this year. Now if 2009's summer looks like being a good one (can it be any worse than the last two?)... The UK tourism economy - worth some £86 billion a year - is on track for a bumper year in spite of the credit crunch! Better book up quickly then, as accommodation could be in short supply!Fri, 02 Jan 2009 17:27:40 GMThttp://www.tourismtrade.org.uk/MarketIntelligenceResearch/default.aspLast year it was the atrocious summer weather and devastating floods, this year UK tourism has been badly affected by the credit crunch coupled with rising mortgage and energy (especially vehicle fuel) costs. The latest indications are that British people are seriously cutting back on holidays and leisure activities, Americans are staying away due to the poor Dollar to Pound exchange rate and Europeans because of increasing airline fuel surcharges. As a result, this year many accommodation providers have once again been left with unlet rooms and tourist attractions have been operating at nowhere near capacity. The UK tourism industry is pining its hopes on last minute bookings during the forthcoming school summer holidays - with the upside for tourists being that large discounts are available on accommodation and attraction entry. There is concern that, with two consecutive years of losses plus losses in 2001 (due to foot-and-mouth) and 2005 (London bombings), many tourism providers will go to the wall or simply pull out of tourism altogether.Tue, 22 Jul 2008 13:41:43 GMT