Member Article

New survey highlights ignorance of home heritage

The UK populace is still unsure on Britain’s geography, according to recent tourism research.

According to the study by destination marketing agency NewcastleGateshead Initiative, when confronted with an image of Hadrian’s Wall over half were unaware it was even in Britain. 27% assumed it was in Canada, 16% plumped for Finland and 10% placed the photo in Alaska. The vast majority also had no idea how long the World Heritage Site of Hadrian’s Wall is (it. 150 miles in case you were wondering…). Similarly, only 58% could correctly identify an image of Minach in Cornwall, with incorrect answers spanning Italy, Corsica and Greece. Over a third mislabelled Dorset’s Jurassic Coast as being somewhere abroad and over a quarter thought a photo of Norfolk couldn’t possibly be taken in the UK.

Over a third of the poll respondents admitted to putting more into research of foreign tourist destinations than UK hotspots and 29% admitted they are more likely to visit historic landmarks when they go abroad.

Carol Bell, head of programme development for the North East’s cultural programme, culture10, said: “This research just confirms how little many of us know about the rich and diverse places of interest to visit right here in the UK.

“Here in North East England we have created a whole programme of events which delve back through the centuries to celebrate and animate the region’s dramatic landscape and rich heritage in exciting new ways.

“Building on the growing cultural reputation of NewcastleGateshead and North East England each year, 2009 promises to put us firmly in the spotlight as a creative and vibrant place to be.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .