UK Student Travel News (21/9/11)

Here you can find the latest UK student travel news headlines for the week ending the 21st September 2011:

Complaints About New Student Travel Rules

18th September 2011: University students from Scottish island Shetland have joined forces to fight new rules about student travelling expenses. The body that reimburses students for their travel costs, SAAS, has revealed that rather than pay expenses based on individual receipts they will start bundling the overall expenses in with annual loan repayments.

The new system means that the maximum amount on offer to students for travel each year will be just £350. The Shetland students are fighting this, claiming that it discriminates against them and other islanders who have to travel long distances to university. Whilst students in London have the luxury of London public transport available to them, islanders have to take UK trains, buses and coaches and even ferries just to get to university.

One student lives on Shetland and attends Edinburgh University- one of the top universities in the UK. She revealed that she has to pay a minimum of £450 just to come home three times a year during holidays.

Campaign to Attract Visitors to Britain

21st September 2011: A new campaign has been launched by Prime Minister David Cameron with the aim of promoting Britain as a place to visit and do business in. Through posters the campaign aims to show the country's great traditions in sport, art, innovation and music to encourage foreign tourists to visit.

In conjunction with VisitBritian, and student travel agency STA Travel, the government hopes to raise over £1 billion in trade and tourism revenue. With flights, airlines and airport transfers all increasing in price, and the negative publicity that the London riots created, it is more important than ever to attract foreign investment and tourism.

The strengths of British culture are being advertised, and will be greatly helped by the London Olympics 2012 and the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. Indeed, the British royal family are one of the things that most attracts foreign visitors to the UK.

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