LONDON -- The London Tourist Board launched London Pass, a visitor
card providing entry to some 40 attractions as well as unlimited
use of buses, subways and trains within the city. Unveiled at World
Travel Market here on Nov. 16, the pass is being sold in one-,
three- and six-day versions. A one-day pass is priced at about $30
per adult; $18 per child under age 16.
It is the first visitor card to combine transportation and
sightseeing in London. Passes can be booked through a Web site,
www.londonpass.com, starting on Dec. 1, or at the Britain Visitor
Center on Regent Street in London, where it is available now.
Sample attractions include the London Aquarium, the HMS Belfast,
Tate Gallery, the Cutty Sark and Westminster Abbey's Chapter House.
Additionally, it is valid for Thames cruises, day excursions by
certain London ground operators and London Pride Sightseeing
Tours.
The London Pass attractions do not overlap with those offered by
the GoSee London card, another London Tourist Board initiative that
offers admission to a range of museums, galleries and historical
buildings.
The GoSee card can be purchased at any of its participating
venues, an option not offered by London Pass.
In other news from WTM:
The Northern Ireland Tourist Board restructured its regional
marketing organizations, scaling down the operation from 15 areas
to five. The five regional units will focus on Belfast, Derry, the
Antrim Coast, the southeast and the southwest.The South Pacific Tourism Organization changed its name to the
Tourism Council of the South Pacific. Officials said the "old name
was bureaucratic, while the new name reflects the marketing and
promotional background that we want to emphasize."Representatives of the African nation of Malawi said that a
luxury tourist lodge will open next April in the Nyika National
Park, which was privatized by the government last year. The lodge,
called Chelinda Lodge, will be run by U.K.-based operator Nyika
Safaris. Tourism officials noted that air service from the Malawi
capital of Lilongwe to Nyika was launched in 1998. Prior to the
launch of that twice-weekly service, the overland trip to the
national park took nearly 10 hours.