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Group Travel Grapevine July ’19

Ideas and opportunities for group travel buyers from the team behind GTO magazine. Published since 1988 and the authoritative source of group travel knowledge.

Hello again...

Welcome to our July edition of the Group Travel Grapevine!

In this issue, we bring to your attention a great addition to the Historic Houses organisation, making it even easier for groups to visit some wonderful privately-owned mansions and manor houses.

There are also some unmissable events coming up for groups who are interested in science or vintage vehicles, and a pleasingly substantial discount bookable through the Grapevine for the awesome Body Worlds exhibition in London. Get your tickets now!

Elsewhere, you can read our interview with Springwatch presenter Michaela Strachan, courtesy of our sister website Discover Animals; find out about an unusual industrial attraction which I visited in Cheshire; investigate towns with clock towers with Discover Town's Tom Daldry; and read about new directions in the tourism industry in Editorial Director Peter Stonham's thought-provoking article for the Group Travel Business Forum .

See you next month, when our thoughts will turn to Christmas ideas for groups!

Val Baynton, Editor

This month’s menu

More Historic Houses to visit

Since January, it's become easier for groups to visit 300 privately owned historic homes and gardens, many of which are not regularly open to the public.

The Invitation to View scheme has joined Historic Houses (formerly the Historic Houses Association), allowing GTOs to book a visit on a scheduled ‘open day’, or a bespoke tour on alternative dates (groups of between 10 to 30 people).

Examples of houses to visit are Halswell Park near Bridgwater, Somerset, where a major restoration project of the Tudor Manor is underway, and Columbine Hall (pictured) near Stowmarket, Suffolk, a timber-framed house dating from 1390, whose owners, Hew Stevenson and Leslie Geddes-Browne, have transformed the interiors and have an eclectic collection of objects on show.

Learn more

Mind-expanding fun at this year’s British Science Festival

The British Science Association (BSA) has unveiled the full programme and opened bookings for the British Science Festival 2019.

Held in partnership with the University of Warwick, the Festival will transform Coventry and Warwickshire into a celebration of science and culture from Tuesday 10th to Friday 13th September. All tickets are completely free, although space for some events is limited, so booking is recommended.

This year’s line-up will include interactive experiences such as Holotronica, a live 3D show with a retro-futuristic synesthetic trip that merges sound and colour frequencies, a chance to hop into the automatically-driven Festival carpool, don a blindfold and take A dark tour of the Universe, or create your own perfect tea blend with real and “virtual” flavours in Time for tea. Enjoy talks, comedy - and even an escape room - plus Question Time with the Sky at Night team.

Time to discover clock towers with Discover Britain's Towns

Some of Britain’s hundreds of unique and distinctive towns are world famous – Stratford-upon-Avon, Brighton and Windsor, to name but three. Many more are almost unknown within the country – let alone outside the UK! And that’s a huge shame! Discover Britain's Delightful Towns aims to shine a light on these lesser known gems by focusing on towns with historic clock towers.

The Group Travel Awards Review is out!

Our annual Group Travel Awards Review is now available online. You can see photos of the glitzy event held last month in London, and find out more about the winners in each category - as voted for by readers of GTO magazine and the Group Travel Grapevine - in this 52-page souvenir brochure. And, if you were there, see if you can spot yourself!

Delivering distinctive & different tourism

This summer has brought more examples of refreshing and imaginative approaches offered by attractions and places to visit - expanding on traditional ideas and suggesting new experiences for visitors to enjoy. Nottingham, for instance, has recently hosted its first ever Lightest Night on Friday 21st June, making the most of an expected 17 hours of daylight and celebrating the summer solstice with free family entertainment, and extended opening times at some of the City’s favourite venues.

This kind of innovation is commended by Peter Stonham in a recent article for the Group Travel Business Forum. Read more about several other innovative ideas placing the spotlight on more local, specialist and sometimes transitory visitor experiences.

An interview with Michaela Strachan

BAFTA award-winning Michaela Strachan has been a regular on our TV screens for many years presenting popular wildlife programmes including The Really Wild Show, Countryfile, Orangutan Diaries and, most recently, Springwatch.

In an exclusive interview for Discover Animals, Michaela talked to Abbe Bates and Simone Brookes about some memorable wildlife encounters, living in South Africa, conservation projects close to her heart, and amazing stories from her extraordinary career.

All aboard for the Classic and Modern Bus Festival!

The nostalgic Buses Festival will return to the British Motor Museum in Warwickshire for a sixth year on Sunday 18 August. Visitors can step back in time and see an impressive display of around 100 restored, vintage and modern buses and coaches from various decades and fleets, as well as enjoy free bus rides on modern and vintage buses around local scenic routes.

Val has a salty experience

In Roman times salt was thought to be so important that it was often given to soldiers as part of their pay – and this is where the word salary comes from! This is just one of the facts GTO Magazine Editor Val Baynton discovered at the fascinating Lion Salt Works just outside of Northwich in Cheshire. Read more in our travel blog!

Groups can now save 20% on tickets to Bodyworlds London!

GTOs can now embark on a journey with their group to explore what makes us human by visiting BODY WORLDS London, with Grapevine readers qualifying for a special 20% discount!

The museum experience brings together 200 exhibits of plasticised real human bodies revealing what's going on to muscles and other human functions during a wide range of activities, amounting to a journey through the human body and how we're effected by disease, pain and injury.

Claim your discount