Cultural tourism 'on the rise'

Cultural holidays are continuing to grow in popularity among travellers, new research has suggested.

Almost a third of holidaymakers surveyed by the Association for Tourism and Leisure Education (Atlas) said they had taken a culture-filled break last year, up from 17 per cent in 1997, TravelDailyNews reports.

Paris and Rome were found to be the most cited destinations among respondents, with 60 per cent ranking the French capital among their top five cultural cities.

Sibiu in Romania, meanwhile, enjoyed an increase in popularity among travellers thanks to its status as European Capital of Culture in 2007, Atlas said.

"Cultural tourism is growing in importance in the market mix of destinations worldwide," Atlas remarked in a statement.

Recent research by the Post Office discovered that Warsaw is the cheapest city for a cultural weekend getaway when compared with other destinations in Europe and North America.

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