Eastbourne Joins in National Celebration of English Tourism Week!

When tourist destinations across England celebrate all that this wonderful little country has to offer during English Tourism Week, here at Visit Eastbourne we'll be celebrating one of the sunniest places in the UK and some of the many reasons why Eastbourne is absolutely perfect for a seaside break!

English Tourism Week will be nationally recognised this month between 14 and 22 of March, and Visit Eastbourne will be giving free tours and tickets to some key heritage attractions, highlighting the wealth of culture that Eastbourne has to offer our tourists!

For a little bit of interactive fun, we've created an English Tourism Week quiz all about Eastbourne, which can be downloaded from VisitEastbourne.com or picked up from the Tourist Information Centre on Cornfield Road. See how much you know about Eastbourne and the fabulous tourist attractions on offer, learning more along the way. Once you've completed the quiz, take it back to the Tourist Information Centre, where you'll receive a prize in the form of chocolate for your efforts!

The Redoubt Fortress is a hub of fascinating history and culture, which tourists flock to every year to learn about the past life of Eastbourne and it opens it's gates for the 2015 season on March 16. On the 21 and 22 March, to recognise English Tourism Week, the Redoubt will be FREE for all to enter! There is loads to get excited about at the Redoubt this year, from a new 'Treasure' exhibition, to an interactive exhibit involving a 'Battle of Britain dogfight'.

Another central part of Eastbourne's Heritage Service, the Pavilion is opening its brand new exhibition all about Summerdown Convalescent Camp. As part of English Tourism Week, on Saturday 21 March at 11am and again at 2pm, you can go on a FREE guided curator tour, discovering all the fascinating facts about the first and largest World War One convalescent camp, which opened in Eastbourne 100 years ago!

Towner, the wonderful contemporary art gallery which is the heart of fine art in Eastbourne, is offering Art Store Tours for a reduced rate on Sunday 22 March for English Tourism Week. Instead of £6.00, book by telephone or in person to sign up for the tour for just £4.50 instead. The Art Store Tours at Towner are a more in-depth chance to discover the extensive art collections which grace the walls of the gallery!

Make the most of these great offers and take part in the exciting Eastbourne quiz, getting into the spirit of English Tourism Week, and helping us to celebrate what a fantastic town Eastbourne is!

To read more about English Tourism Week, got to VisitEastbourne.com

Eastbourne joins in with English Tourism Week!

The UK’s sunniest place will be joining in the fun of English Tourism Week from 16 - 24 March, with some great offers and daily prizes to be won. 

Residents and visitors will be able to test their knowledge of tourism in Eastbourne by entering the competition each day on Facebook and Twitter for the chance to win a range of great prizes from concert tickets to fish and chips!

English tourism week was set up by VisitEngland and is a week long celebration of events from 16-24 March. The week will highlight all the fantastic things to do and see in England and Eastbourne.

Eastbourne and Tourism go hand in hand as 4.9 million visitors come to Eastbourne each year and spend an average of £261 million annually. Further more, £102 million is spent just by day visitors alone! Eastbourne thrives on tourism as it brings over 7000 jobs to Eastbourne and a whopping £346 million to the local economy.

Eastbourne was the first town to hire out quadricycles. To celebrate this and English tourism week, Ride and Joy are offering half price hiring on both weekends of English tourism week - 16/17 and 23/24 March. They can be found next to the open air tennis courts on Eastbourne seafront and are a fantastic way to see the delights of Eastbourne.

Also celebrating the week is The Grand Hotel. The hotel, named ‘Downton-by-Sea’, is a white palatial landmark on Eastbourne seafront and are offering a complimentary upgrade for anyone who books a bedroom and a complimentary glass of bucks fizz for anyone who books full afternoon tea from 16-24 March.

Visiteastbourne.com will also be getting involved in English tourism week, showing offers on their website and holding a week long quiz on social media sites, giving daily prizes! Prizes could include anything from fish and chips to Bandstand tickets.

For more information visit www.visiteastbourne.com, Facebook.com/visiteastbourne or Twitter.com/visiteastbourne.

English Tourism Week

We're in full on English Tourism Week mode here in Eastbourne, taking part in the country's first ever week that's all about celebrating wonderful English destinations and recognising what an important year of tourism we have coming up in 2012.

English Tourism Week started on Saturday and runs until Sunday 18 March and we have lots of different celebrations and activities going on in Eastbourne!

Tomorrow is our second VisitEastbourne Tweetup, organised this time to coincide with English Tourism Week and we'd love for businesses and individuals to come along between 4pm and 7.30pm tomorrow for a free networking opportunity and the chance to share feedback on the town too. We'll be asking what you'd like to see in the town as well as asking you to tell us what you love most about Eastbourne in our English Tourism Week competition, but more about that later... We'll also be using it to speak to those of you who expressed interest in becoming a virtual greeter. So, if you would like the chance to meet other Eastbourne tweeters in a relaxing setting, come along tomorrow! 

What do you love most about Eastbourne? Tell us this week for your chance to win £20 to spend in Le Loup, a lovely boutique style store in the Grand Hotel Buildings Shopping Parade. To enter either call into the Tourist Information Centre (25% off Olympic and Diamond Jubilee souvenirs this week too!) and drop your entry in, complete our online form telling us what you love most, or come along and share your favourite aspect of the town at our tweetup tomorrow.

English Tourism Week is a great excuse to indulge in sweet treats and classic English recipes too! We've teamed up with The Really Scrumptious Cake Company in Eastbourne to offer a special edition box of cupcakes to celebrate English Tourism Week. Enjoy strawberries and cream, Victoria sponge, apple crumble and bakewell tart! Personally, I'd recommend the apple crumble - yum!

TV viewers can't have missed the fantastic new VisitEngland ads promoting the GREAT 2012 Offers! We're excited to be taking part in this awesome campaign and have already got plenty of brilliant 20.12% off or better offers on the campaign website.

If you enjoy taking photos on the go then check out the new Smartphone Photography Competition launched this week by Viewpoint Art Gallery. We're pleased to be supporting the competition, particularly the Eastbourne category, and can't wait to see the entries! Good luck and happy snapping!

Emma