Britain is agog for antlers at the moment, with statistics showing

that an increasing number of tour-ists are flocking to wildlife sanctuar-

ies to watch deer during September and October.

These two months mark the peak of the annual deer rutting season - when adult

male deer battle each other for supremacy and mating rights, often with ferocious fights.

The spectacle is particularly striking north of the border.

The red deer rut is one of the most dramatic

Visit Britain offices abroad are to be given a “Be-yond London” dossier of suggestions for destina-tions to promote. Among the “hidden gems” which will be highlighted are Alnwick Castle in North-umberland, which was used as Hogwarts in parts of the Harry Potter series of films, the more than

“Wild-life tourism

itself is worth something in the region of £270m to the Scottish

economy, so it is big business,” says Mike Cantlay, the chairman of Visit Scot-

land.“UK wildlife visits represent 5.2 per cent of all

trips to Scotland, but account for 7.4 per cent of total visitor spend, which means that wildlife visitors

spend more than the average visitor.”Red deer have always attracted visitors to the Scottish

hills, with stalking still an important source of income for many estates. But now more estates are getting in on the in-

terest in deer rutting.

2,000 miles of nav-igable canals and rivers,

and the country pubs of Suffolk, which Visit Britain

hopes will become a “food-ie” destination. Visit Britain

offices abroad are to be given a “Beyond

London” dos-

Sunday marks

the finale of AMC’s

‘Breaking Bad,’ but that doesn’t

mean Albuquerque residents are going into

mourning. Instead they are getting ready to celebrate with

watch parties and red carpet

casting events.

Local Jesuit volunteers

at Immaculate Conception Church

will hold a watch party in the basement

of the downtown church while other fans will gather at

Hotel Albuquerque for a special VIP showing serviced with special cocktails named after ‘Breaking Bad’ characters.

The town’s celebration of the hit show’s finale is perhaps not so surprising given the new business it has brought to the area.

The southwestern New Mexico city that’s played home to the

Sunday marks the

finale of AMC’s ‘Breaking Bad,’

but that doesn’t mean Albuquerque

residents are going into mourning. Instead they are

getting ready to celebrate with watch parties and red carpet

casting events.

Local Jesuit volunteers at Immaculate Conception Church will hold a watch party in the basement of the downtown church while other fans will gather at Hotel Albuquerque for a special VIP showing serviced with special cocktails named after ‘Breaking Bad’ characters.

The town’s celebration of the hit

show’s finale is perhaps not so surprising given the new business it has brought to the area.

The southwestern New Mexico city that’s played home to the Emmy-award winning series for the last five

“People enjoy coming to watch the deer while on a

tractor ride through the park, and then having a cream tea

afterwards.”Wildlife experts describe deer

rutting as a stunning natural phe-nomena, with some of the largest

mammals in the UK locking antlers in a head-to-head battle over female

deer.A doe is only in her fertile phase for a

day or less each year, so competition to mate is incredibly high.

A quarter said it was

“too expen-sive” to travel

across Britain, but nearly 30

per cent said they simply did

not what it was like elsewhere in

the UK or what was on offer. One more

traditional foreign view of Britain ap-

pears to have faded, however, as only one James McLetchie and Rory MacGillivray

launched Unwind In Nature last year. They offer tailored deer-rutting eco-tours in the Outer and Inner Hebrides, and describe the battles as “amazing, like the wilder-ness equivalent of a city-centre pub on a Friday night, but perhaps a bit more spiritual.”

From castles and cathedrals to country pubs and canals, there can be no doubting the charms of Britain beyond the borders of the capital. But it seems that too few foreigners are finding them.

The nation’s tourism author-ities are to launch a drive to get more overseas visitors to visit the rest of the country, amid fears that the industry has become unbalanced in favour of London.New research for Visit Britain has shown that of the 31 million who visited these shores last year – a record

Sand-ie Dawe, the chief executive of Visit Britain, said London’s place on the world stage had been a huge draw, but that the rest of the country had huge potential to benefit.“London is so popular and so dominant that when people think about Britain it’s such a strong draw. It’s a huge benefit, but also a challenge.“The Olympics increased the interest in Britain around the world. We just have to make sure that some of our other fantastic assets are not put into the shade by the brilliance of London’s light.”She added: “We have got some fantastic heritage, history and culture outside

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