Enjoy England experiences only a click away!

5 March 2008

Making the most of your Easter weekend has never been easier as VisitBritain today announced a further development to their online shop enjoyenglanddirect.com.

In partnership with Red Letter Days, the UK’s leading experience company, who offer remember-for-a-lifetime days out including adrenaline-packed adventures, heavenly pampering indulgences, romantic getaways, sporting fun and mind-expanding cultural events, the online shop will now offer online availability of experiences to encourage Brits to get out and about and enjoy their own country. 

This enables you to book for a certain date suitable to you, such as over the Easter weekend, to mark an occasion or incorporate into your holiday or day out.  Bookings can be made 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, therefore not limiting the booking to office hours or phone queues and ensuring safe secure transactions online.

Experiences available over the Easter weekend include:

GOING POTTY IN THE WEST MIDLANDS

Participants take part in a Wedgwood Experience and Lunch – including a tour of the fascinating Wedgwood visitor centre, throwing your own pot with help from a master potter, a two course lunch and your work of art fired and sent home to you.

WRANGLE A DAY IN THE SOUTH EAST

Discover your inner cowboy or cowgirl on this great cowboy experience in the New Forest, England’s answer to the Wild West (more trees, not so many cacti).  The stresses of everyday life will drift away as you head off on a two- hour trail through beautiful countryside, led by experienced wranglers. Back at the ranch, participants enjoy a barbecue meal and plenty of hot coffee.  Rawhide!

SWING WHILE YOU’RE WINNING IN LONDON

Those choosing the Professional Golf Analysis experience attend an indoor golf academy in Holborn, London, where they will have their golfing style analysed using ground-breaking technology, receive a technical analysis session from PGA qualified instructors and receive a gift pack of leading brand golf balls selected to best suit your game and encourage your winning streak.

SURFING WAVES IN THE SOUTH WEST

This two for one surfing experience in Padstow Cornwall means participants can benefit from a whole day learning to surf, with expert tuition and all equipment and clothing provided – and take a friend along to share in the fun for free!

HAVE A (PAINT) BALL IN YORKSHIRE

Using a top of the range semi-automatic paintball gun with over 500 paintballs participants choosing to this leading paintball centre in Leeds can crash through the undergrowth, dodge exploding paintballs and spy on their enemies on high.  Between four and six games are included within the session, played within differently themed areas and zones, set up to test your skills of strategy, leadership, navigation and teamwork.

HAVE A MINI ADVENTURE IN THE NORTH WEST

The experience behind the wheel of a race-prepared Mini Cooper includes being driven around the circuit at high speed while qualified instructors demonstrate what the cars do, then putting yourself in the driving can seat! The session also includes and Q and A session and certificate presentation.

HAIR AROUND IN THE NORTH EAST

Days out in England don’t have to be all about travelling!  Chill out and get a great new look at a cutting-edge hair salon by a top notch English hairdressers. Your experience begins with an individual consultation with your expert stylist. You'll chat through ideas and talk about your personal style, and your stylist will assess your face shape and colour palette to make sure that your new 'do is just right. Then you'll have a relaxing 30 minute hair treatment including a 15 minute head and scalp massage and a deep conditioning treatment. Next, your stylist will cut and blow-dry your hair. You'll also take home a goody bag containing a shampoo and conditioner

EXPERIENCE THE X FACTOR IN THE EAST MIDLANDS

This very special experience enables wannabes to release their inner star with a day in the recording studio in Ripley, Derbyshire!  Come along to the session having rehearsed your song or piece, and have the studio to yourself so that you can make a great recording.  An experienced session engineer/producer will guide you through the process and give you expert advice on giving the best performance and you’ll even get a CD of your efforts to take away and impress your friends!

RE-ENERGISE IN THE EAST

Recharge and get your batteries back with this aromatherapy massage experience in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire.  Aromatherapy massage is all about focusing on your needs, so the experience begins with a consultation with your therapist to determine whether you want to relax or energise, then you will have your massage session. Feel your cares being massaged away and enjoy the delicious scent of the essential oils, extracted from flowers, plants and seeds. In a word, bliss.

VisitBritain’s partnership with Red Letter Days means that domestic tourists can buy hundreds of experiences from cocktail and cookery master-classes, llama trekking and falconry to spa days, sports and outdoor activities, driving adventures or seeing the destination from the air. With the impetus for travel being increasingly experience-led, VisitBritain and Red Letter Days aim to raise awareness of a variety of unforgettable experiences - all backed by first-class customer service. 

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For further information, please contact:
SianBrenchley, Corporate Senior Press Officer on 020 8563 3220; mob: 07971 497047

Notes to Editors

·        VisitBritain is responsible for promoting Britain as a world class tourist destination and for developing England's visitor economy through Enjoy England campaigns and initiatives.

·        UKresidents took 101 million trips, spending £16.2 billion in England in 2006.Since its launch in 2003, Enjoy England has been responsible for £450m of incremental spend on short breaks in England. In addition to national TV advertising campaigns to inspire British visitors to share their secrets of England, the current portfolio of campaigns focuses on city breaks, outdoor activities, food and drink and indulgent escapes. Enjoy England also markets England in France, Germany, Ireland and the Netherlands.

Visit the England press centre at www.enjoyengland.com/presscentre

·        Red Letter Days, created in 1989, pioneered the concept of giving experiences as unforgettable gifts. Owned by Dragons’ Den entrepreneurs, Peter Jones and Theo Paphitis, Red Letter Days offers an unrivalled choice of hundreds of experiences across the UK and abroad