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Tourist-friendly zones, UK

image by Ivan Sache, 7 February 2010

About the flag

About the flag

Quoting "JetSetCD", "Jaunted - The Pop Culture Travel Guide", 5 February 2010:

"[...] finding the areas that remain as safe to tourists in the day and at night has become much easier with the introduction of a new purple flag system to highlight neighborhoods that stay tourist-friendly at night.
[...] it seems to be an extremely new initiative; indeed London's popular Leicester Square and Covent Garden were the first locations in the city to receive their purple flags, and they only got them at the end of January.
[...]
And the flags won't just be awarded to small areas like Leicester Square, but whole town can earn them by keeping crime rates extremely low, having a healthy and safe nightlife with a mix of offers (not just pubs or clubs), and installing nice additions like info-boards with maps and helpful information. In fact, the town of Kingston-upon-Thames is up to receive the next purple flag, and Birmingham, Manchester, Oxford and Bath are hoping they'll be next. Sounds like a pretty novel idea, but who's going to go looking for a purple flag at night?!"

The article has a colour photo showing the purple flag hoisted on a street lamp, location unspecified:
http://www.jaunted.com
http://www.jaunted.com/files/6193/PurpleFlag.jpg

In the "Daily Mail", 22 January 2010, Jo Tweedy reports the awarding of the Purple Flag to Leicester Square and Covent Garden, adding that: "The Purple Flag scheme, backed by the Home Office, wants to encourage more travelers to visit cities between the hours of 5pm and 6am."
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-1245231/Leicester-Square-Covent-Garden-win-Purple-Flags-tourist-appeal.html

David Barrett aired the project in "The Telegraph", 20 December 2008:
"[...]
The most crucial factor in qualifying for a purple flag will be whether there is a mix of pubs, restaurants, cafés and entertainment venues such as theatres, cinemas and galleries rather than a concentration on venues which attract young binge-drinkers.
[...]
Six areas, Westminster, Birmingham, Manchester, Oxford, Bath and Kingston upon Thames, have applied to become the first purple flag areas. The flag could be awarded to the whole of a local council area or to specific areas within a town centre.
[...]
The purple flag scheme will bear similarities with the green flag scheme for parks and gardens, which is also operated by the Civic Trust.
[...]"
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/lawandorder/3867108/Purple-flags-for-binge-drinking-free-towns.html

Ivan Sache, 7 February 2010