This week's other travel news in brief
Spread a little sunshine
Guests of the Ritz-Carlton Powerscourt, in Co Wicklow, are being invited to spend part of their stay volunteering at the Children’s Sunshine Home in Leopardstown, Co Dublin. As part of the Give Back Getaways scheme, they will help hotel staff pot plants, paint furniture and do other jobs in the home’s multisensory garden. Volunteers can take part for a half day on Friday, July 17th, or Friday, September 18th. See www.ritzcarlton. com/powerscourt or call 01-2748888.
UK’s soccer cities score
Britain’s footballing cities have replaced traditional cultural destinations such as Stratford in the top 20 most popular UK cities for tourists. London remains the UK’s strongest destination, with 47 per cent of visits in 2007 according to research by Jurys Inns in the UK. Liverpool saw its number of foreign visitors jump by 186 per cent, from 190,000 in 2000 to 544,000 in 2007; Glasgow was up 76 per cent, Manchester 73 and Newcastle 54.
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Percentage increase in hostel bookings in Kiev, Ukraine, in teh past year, according to Hostelworld.com. Other popular destinations were Zadar, in Croatia, up 160 per cent, and Hiroshima, in Japan, up 89 per cent.