A new survey conducted by a UK based holiday company has revealed that going to visit landmarks is the number one holiday activity. Our landmarks proved more popular than visits to the zoo, museums, galleries and historic houses with Big Ben being voted Britain’s best landmark.
New research conducted by a holiday company which specialises in 4 and 5-star cottages, apartments and lodges in the UK, has revealed that visiting landmarks has now become the most popular way to spend time when on holiday. They questioned holidaymakers to find out more, revealing that the Houses of Parliament’s iconic clock tower, Big Ben, is the most popular British landmark.
The team at www.bluechipholidays.co.uk were keen to discover how holidaymakers enjoy spending their time when on holiday in the UK and were surprised to learn that visiting a local landmark was the most popular choice. This beat visiting museums and art gallery trips, days out to a zoo or local wildlife park and visits to historic houses and gardens.
Following this discovery, Blue Chip Holidays then set about uncovering Britain’s favourite landmark. Surveying over 1,000 British adults, the team simply asked the respondents “What is your favourite landmark?” The responses varied, with the Tyne Bridge, the London Eye and York Minster all appearing in the top 20 but Big Ben was the clear winner with 3 times the number of votes received by Stonehenge, which came in at second place.
The top ten landmarks were:
1. Big Ben – 24%
2. Stonehenge – 8%
3. London Eye – 5%
4. Angel of the North – 4%
5. Edinburgh Castle – 4%
6. Tower Bridge – 3%
7. The Tower of London – 2%
8. Buckingham Palace – 1.9%
9. Blackpool Tower – 1.7%
10. Houses of Parliament – 1.6%
The results show a difference in opinion when compared to tourists from America, who Blue Chipsurveyed last year. When asked the same question, they identified Buckingham Palace as their “must see” landmark when visiting the United Kingdom. In fact, Big Ben didn’t even make it into the top ten destination landmarks.
Commenting on the findings, Tori Kirwan-Taylor, Brand & Communications Manager for Blue Chip Holidays, said:
“It was nice to see that visiting local landmarks has become such a popular pastime. It’s reassuring to know that people are taking the time to get explore the local area when they go away and taking time to visit places.”
She continued “It was interesting to note the difference between American and British tourists when it comes to Britain’s best landmarks. We were surprised that there was a difference but less surprised that both landmarks are based in London, which shows London still manages to draw tourists from near and far to marvel at the history and grandeur of this city.”
