British Tourism Week 2011 will kick off with 'Party on the Pier' on Saturday 12th March
Plans for a very special event to celebrate our nations' piers were announced by Gyles Brandreth, Patron of the National Piers Society at an industry and media briefing on Wednesday 20th October on board the RS Hispaniola, moored at Victoria Embankment on the River Thames.
'Party on the Pier' will kick off British Tourism Week 2011 on Saturday 12th March, it will be a national celebration of Britain's piers and their heritage, and the biggest nationwide event on Britain's piers since Year of the Pier in 1996. Piers have entered our collective psyche as an integral part of the authentic British seaside experience, and the recent outcry over the tragic fire at Hastings is a clear sign of the esteem in which these coastal icons are still held.
Working in partnership with the National Piers Society, and with the support of other organisations including the British Resorts and Destinations Association (BRADA), British Association of Leisure Parks, Piers and Attractions (BALPPA), and the Tourism Management Institute (TMI), the organisers of British Tourism Week have invited the owners and managers of seaside piers, harbours and jetties around the coast and on inland rivers, canals and lakes to host a party, encouraging residents and tourists to visit, and highlighting the importance of maintaining and restoring our piers.
The Minister for Tourism, John Penrose MP - in whose Weston-super-Mare constituency the Grand Pier re-opened on 23rd October 2010 to 100,000 strong crowd after it too was damaged by fire in 2008 - has already pledged his support:
"Party on the Pier is a great opportunity to showcase a unique part of British heritage. I, for one, will be encouraging my constituency to get involved - celebrating on the brilliant newly refurbished Grand Pier in Weston-super-Mare."
For details about each of the parties taking place on piers, harbours and jetties around the coast on on inland waterways please click on the links below. Others will be added once their plans are confirmed.
If you are a pier owner or manager, or 'Friends of the Pier' organisaton and would like to get involved please email mail@britishtourismweek.com.
National Historic Ships has been working closely with the organisers of British Tourism Week to ensure that historic vessels are involved in Party on the Pier. National Historic Ships is the official voice for historic vessels in the UK, championing their interests and working to advise government and funding bodies to ensure their long-term conservation wherever possible. They run the National Register of Historic Vessels, which lists over 1,000 vessels and they are pleased to be co-ordinating Party on the Pier events at the following locations: Southampton, Ullswater, Newlyn, Gillingham, Rochester, Portsmouth, Greenwich, Lowestoft, Clevedon and Lincolnshire. These will involve a wide range of vessels including steam powered passenger ship Shieldhall, Cornish lugger Ripple, motor tug Touchstone and Humber super sloop SpiderT.
To celebrate British Tourism Week, the National Trust has created five new downloadable coastal walks for the British public to enjoy. Each route offers clear directions, a map of the area and interesting facts to discover along the way which can be downloaded from www.nationaltrust.org.uk/britishtourismweek.
The organisers of British Tourism Week are also pleased to be working with Coast Magazine , whose Great Pier Promenade launches to coincide with Party on the Pier. Coast is calling on all lovers of the British seaside to walk as many piers as they can over the spring/summer, and to get themselves sponsored, in order to raise money for the restoration of Hastings Pier, which was devasted by fire last year. The campaign has the support of celebrities such as comedian Jo Brand and Coast presenter Nicholas Crane. For full details of how to take part, see allboutyou.com/greatpierpromenade.
