New campaign to promote British tourism

A new £6.5 million campaign has been launched to encourage British holidaymakers to make the most of their local tourist attractions this year.

With the effects of the credit crunch combined with the falling value of the pound against the euro, many people in the UK are expected to forego their annual holidays overseas this year.

The downturn may also affect those planning stag weekends in the coming months, who may be more likely to make the most of the pubs and clubs in cities like Newcastle rather than travel abroad.

In a bid to capitalise on this, UK tourist chiefs are looking to boost the appeal of some of Britain's top destinations and highlight the value for money available across the country.

"Despite current economic woes, tourism is one of the few industries that could show growth with a real opportunity to grow to a £133 billion industry by 2018," said Visit Britain executive chairman Christopher Rodrigues.

This comes after the Daily Telegraph revealed that a number of UK travel operators have still seen strong demand from consumers, with the bleak economic outlook not enough to deter Brits from booking their annual holidays.