Tourist boards
 

Honest question....with all the money the British Tourist Authority is throwing around, how come on this forum I have never seen a referal to the BTA website or local tourist board site for advice?<BR><BR>

The British Tourist Authority spends money trying to persuade people to come to Britain. Once you have decided to come to the UK, you get information elsewhere. The fact that so many questions on this forum are about Britain perhaps suggests that the BTA is succeeding in attracting visitors.

I think &quot;never&quot; might be too strong a word, referrals to tourist boards have occurred from time to time and it's almost a given as a source of good travel info, tours, hours of admission, free maps, etc for any location, in the UK or elsewhere. What tourist boards don't do, understandably, is critically comment on hotels, attractions and restaurants, which is why this Fodor's forum and others are so helpful.<BR><BR>www.towd.com worldwide directory of tourism offices<BR><BR>www.atak.co.uk comprehensive list of links to cities and towns in the UK with links to accommodations and dining<BR><BR>www.townpages.co.uk find information on Britain’s smaller cities and towns<BR>

Actually I recommend their Book a Bed Ahead scheme all the time; but I think it's true that we don't use/recommend the boards as a source of information

I have been a strong believer in and frequent user of tourist boards as travel resources ever since, following a written request to a tiny Bavarian village, I received a hand written price list for a gasthaus along with listings of events being held by local school in the area. The local boards, and many European towns have one either as a website or with information available via phone, FAX or Email request, offer a wealth of information ranging from detailed maps, listings of accommodations ranging from starred hotels to accommodations in private homes, seasonal and regional events and a host of related information events, all invariably provided on a timely basis and at no or little cost. One distinct advantage of the local regional, town or village board is that information is invariably more current and more extensively detailed than that you find in guide books and national tourist board materials. I rarely find value in the national tourist board materials.