First car park campsite in London

To encourage the nation’s pursuit for value for money culture, Chevrolet Captiva pitched up London’s first ‘Car Park Campsite’. The open-air site, nine floors up offered breathtaking views of the whole city. Hundreds of tourists from across the UK applied for a pitch at the cost-effective urban campsite. Selected campers paid just a penny a pitch enjoying the city and all of its cultural sites without spending a fortune.

Les Turton from Chevrolet, comments: “It seems that children are missing out on a wealth of culture due to the cost of city breaks, which is a shame, especially when there is so much to see and do for free.”

“We had a huge number of enquiries about Captiva’s ‘Car Park Campsite’ which gave cash-strapped culture-vultures the chance to stay in the heart of the city. Campers were able to zip open their tents to one of London’s most spectacular views, all for just a penny.”

A spokeswoman from VisitBritain comments: “It is important that the next generation learns to appreciate Britain’s rich history of tradition, heritage and culture as well as its fantastic modern design. Free national museums and galleries are almost unique to Britain and it’s one of the big draws for international visitors to the UK. We have a range of enviable tourism assets and it is a missed opportunity if we don't show them what they are missing out on.”

New research reveals that only a third of primary school children (37 per cent) can correctly identify the world-famous Tower of London and one in ten (10 per cent) are either unsure of what Big Ben is or think it is a cartoon character.

The research by Chevrolet, a carmaker synonymous with value for money found that regardless of free entry, 52 per cent of children have never been taken to an art gallery, while nearly half a million children (15 per cent) have never visited a museum with their parents. Furthermore, over a third (36 per cent) have not been to the theatre, while nearly a quarter of children (24 per cent) have visited a theme park more than five times.

On questioning parents about popular family destinations, results showed that over two thirds (69 per cent) cited high accommodation costs as the main reason for not taking their children to more museums, galleries and landmarks located in UK cities. 61 per cent of parents agreed that alternative destinations such as campsites and holiday parks often offered better value when it came to family outings. Nevertheless, nearly two thirds (62 per cent) of UK parents feel guilty that their children have not seen many of Britain’s cultural highlights.

See chevrolet.co.uk for more details of the Captiva ‘Car Park Campsite’. Also visit the site to find out more about the ‘Captiva Camping Roadshow’.