News South West Shines with top holiday destinations Cornwall and Devon have been crowned the top two counties to visit at the British Travel Awards in the category ‘Best UK Holiday County or Region’. Cornwall came out top for the second year running, and for the third time in five years, confirming the county as the favourite of tourists travelling in the UK. Its next door neighbour Devon took second spot proving that the South West remains by far the most popular area of the UK to visit on holiday. The top spot is the latest in a long line of accolades for Cornwall, which also picked up Coast magazine’s award for the country’s most scenic county in 2010 and ‘Favourite UK Country Escape’ in the Sunday Times Travel magazine’s Reader Awards 2010. Cornwall also boasts the British Travel Award’s Best Seaside Town in St. Ives, which was also Best Family Holiday Destination at the Coast Awards 2010.
3 Days Leave = 11 days off work Following the announcement of an additional Bank Holiday on Friday 29 April 2011 to celebrate the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton, holiday-makers only need to take three days of annual leave taken on Tuesday 26, Wednesday 27 and Thursday 28 April to get 11 days out of the office. As Easter weekend falls late next year (Good Friday is 22 April and Easter Monday is 25 April) and the first May Bank Holiday is on Monday 2 May, this week is sure to be in high demand – both for bookings and for annual leave requests, so be sure to get yours in early!
Holiday Memories Writing Competition Winner This year our writing competition has seen dozens of entries flood in each month telling tales of intriguing and arresting moments from holidays, capturing the essence of amazing days out, unmissable events and hidden locations that our guests have discovered on holiday with us. After much debate we are pleased to announce that the overall winner of this year’s competition is Georgina
Snook, who discovered that a day out in Brixham kept her entire family well and truly hooked. You can find her article on page xx. For details of next year’s competition visit www.bluechipholidays.com/ writingcompetition for entry details and guidelines. Happy writing.
Turning Green into Gold Blue Chip Holidays are delighted to announce we have been awarded the coveted Gold Award by the Green Tourism Business Scheme (GTBS), becoming one of only 530 businesses nationally to have achieved this prestigious sustainable certification. Every element of the business was judged ranging from our management and marketing through to social involvement, water and energy use, as well as our team’s use of public transport.
Commenting on the award Alan Taylor, Managing Director of Blue Chip Holidays, said: “We’re exceptionally proud of this significant achievement. However this is not the end but the beginning of our journey to create greener holidays here in the UK. Over the next twelve months we will build on our green credentials, expanding our highly commended green blog and increasing the amount of information available to our customers about sustainable holidaying.”
Jon Pressling and Alan Taylor
| 3 www.bluechipholidays.com Spring 2011