OUR love affair with the British seaside has been heading for the rocks for years. But now the tide could be about to turn, following the launch of a new campaign.

It follows research which shows one in 10 children have never played on a beach in Britain - preferring to take their bucket and spades overseas instead.

And although it has been working hard to shed its dowdy image as a retirement town, 27 per cent of young people had never heard of Bournemouth!

But Mark Smith, director of Bournemouth Tourism, believes the credit crunch and strong euro may work in the town's favour.

"Bournemouth is a family resort with lots of good hotels offering really good value for money. There are not many places in Europe which offer as many free events and festivals as we do here.

"If the weather stays on our side, we are expecting to see even more families coming to visit over the next few weeks so that means even more children will come to know Bournemouth and hopefully want to come back again."

Paul Anstey, of the Travelodge hotel group which commissioned the survey, says budget airlines and cheap packages have made foreign travel more appealing.

"The real cost of these trips has resulted in youngsters not appreciating their heritage and not knowing what makes Britain so good."

Researchers found that although 78 per cent of five- to 12 year-olds had been abroad, only ten per cent had visited the British coast.

It was a different story for their parents, though. A poll of adults found 81 per cent went to British beaches as children and 88 per cent want to preserve their seaside heritage.

The findings have prompted Travelodge to launch its Save Our Seaside Campaign and it has pledged to open 55 new hotels in coastal towns across the country.

"Our research shows that 30 per cent of holidaymakers are switching from foreign to British holidays this summer due to the credit crunch soaring air fares and the strong euro.

"There is no better time than now to show our children how much fun a British seaside holiday can be."

So what are you waiting for?

  • For more information about the Save Our Seaside Campaign, visit website travelodge.co.uk