In this hard financial climate, it seems that getting together and letting off a bit of steam with friends is still the mainstay for survival against a hostile world. It has been interesting to see how or even whether the current recession has hit the entertainment industry, and an analysis at specialist stag-do organiser DesignaVenture has certainly thrown up some remarkable stats to the contrary.

If  planning a girlie or guy trip away, here is what 2011 indicated in the popularity stakes:

It might be all the celebs that raised its profile this year, but Rob Brydon, Katherine Jenkins, Rhod Gilbert and Batchelor Gavin Henson have certainly wooed to the green, green grass of Wales, which was up 32% as a destination in 2011.

Ever popular stag-dos to Bristol are still climbing, with a rise of 23%. Who would have thought that a West Country accent would become so trendy? Did the Royal wedding pull London up a notch, or was it all just Made in Chelsea? Maybe, as visits rose by 17%, though Nottingham’s rockin’ party culture also kept it nudging forward and up 16%.

Even with such a dismal summer, Britain’s coastal resorts still remained on the party radar, and benders to Bournemouth leapt up by 9%. And what are revellers doing on their mad weekends away? Most popular daytime activities are the motor sports, specifically, karting (indoor and outdoor), rage and dirt buggies, quads, rallying and the like.

For those keen to get kicks after the daily grind, other outdoor pursuits on the rise are clay-pigeon shooting, deep-sea fishing (thank you Robson Green) and the outer limits of gorge scrambling. Goodness, the nation is an adventurous lot. Clearly, there are still some traditionalists though, as steadfastly holding their firm favourite position are the dog and horseracing venues.

Plus, proving that gambling is now disconcertingly one of the country’s top occupations, casino nights are hugely popular as part of a party package. Curiously, people have not all lost their heads completely by going on totally liquid nights out, as a spokesperson from DesignaVenture also advised, “Night-time activities are on the up, with more meals with bars and clubs being pre-booked so our clients were not leaving anything to chance”.

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The city of London has been witnessing devastating scenes of violence and pain stretching from the northeast to south. For the first time is three decades the city of London was burning.

On 4 August Mark Duggan, 29 was shot dead by police in Tottenham, he was a passenger in a mini cab and was shot after an apparent exchange of fire. Duggan, a father of four, died of single gunshot wound to the chest.

Next day, late noon, around 300 people gathered outside the tottenham police station shouting “we want justice” for Mr. Duggan and his family. Later in the evening there was a mutation in the attitudes of the people of London that marked the eruption of most violent protest against police action in the UK, as bottles thrown at the two patrol cars close to the police station, both vehicles eventually torched.

Collin Sparrow deputy senior investigator for the independent police complaints commission said that the “organization’s complex investigation would for sure take four to six months to complete.” Sporadic spread of looting and destruction in the UK reached Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham and Midlands in the last two days, leading the situation to become increasingly difficult for the police to control.

An owner of information technology equipment seller in Broad Street, Wolverhampton, said that “he felt like he had a heart attack when he was looted”.

Although there were occurrence of widespread looting and smashing of shops, cash machines and burning of vehicles in Birmingham and Liverpool, the events in London were definitely much larger in scale than in other cities of the U.K.

With rising instability and amid burning fire in the UK, Prime Minister cut his vacation short and landed in London. He said that events of the last three days were ‘criminality’ pure and simple and that he will do everything to restore peace and stability in Britain’s streets.

According to police a total of 26 officers were injured, three patrol cars were torched and dozens of shops, buildings, banks and council offices were damaged and plundered so far in U.K

In Nottingham, a police station was firebombed, around 10 police cars were set alight and 90 people were arrested; and in Manchester a number of cloth shops were set alight, masked youth threw bricks at offices and a sports shop was looted.

These are not race riots or cultural riots; these came to surface as result of the expanding gloom in Britain, where economy is struggling to recover fully and drastic spending cuts, in a bid to reduce debt burden and deficit. One European study claims that about 17 percent of Britain’s Youth can be classified as NEET, Not in Employment, Education and Training, according to reports the areas of Tottenham in London is deprived area.

Image Courtesy of  http://www.flickr.com/photos/fwp-dawson/

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