A new advertising campaign has been introduced to attract overseas visitors to England’s capital. Simply known as Only in London; the campaign revolves around a list of 100 attractions and things that visitors can do in the city.
The focus of the campaign is to increase the number of overseas visitors and judging by the amount of diverse activities listed, it is hoping to attract people from many different countries and backgrounds. For example, the first item on the list is a suggested visit to Eastbury Manor House in Barking where, according to the compilers of this list, the Gunpowder Plot was first contrived.
Plenty more historical references appear on the list including trips to St. Paul’s Cathedral, The Tower of London and a more obscure reference to stroll the gardens of Down House in Bromley, which was home to Charles Darwin and where he wrote ‘On The Origin of Species’.
Sports fans will be interested to see a number of items quoted on the list. The first at number five is the opportunity to see the NFL in action at Wembley. This has now become an annual event featuring a regular season game – the only one to be played outside of continental USA – between two of the League’s top American football teams. In October 2009 the game will be contested by the New England Patriots and The Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The 15th suggestion on the list is a tour of Wembley Stadium itself, but there is no mention of any of the capital’s top football teams; Chelsea, Arsenal, West Ham, Fulham or Tottenham.
However, the option to experience the capital’s transport systems does feature. Take a ride on the tube appears low down on the list at 79, but higher up at 39 there is the invitation to connect to the world at Heathrow airport where many of the flights to London arrive.
Music lovers are also catered for on the list with the first suggestion just scraping into the top 10; namely recreate the famous Beatles album cover at the Abbey Road zebra crossing. At 45, a suggestion is to view Pete Townshend of The Who’s smashed guitar at the Victoria and Albert’s new Theatre and Performance Galleries. Also included at 27 in the list is to buy a ticket to see Michael Jackson at the O2, or alternatively any other O2 show at 24th place!
As you would expect, The London Eye – which was recently voted the UK’s number one tourist attraction – appears in the list, as do many other ‘must-see’ London attractions such as the British Museum, Tower Bridge and Hyde Park. But, however exhaustive the compilers of the list themselves say, this is only a tiny snapshot of the thousands of things visitors can do in London.