Suffolk Scenes
Suffolk
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowestoft, Bury St Edmunds and Felixstowe, one of the largest container ports in Europe.
The county is low-lying with few hills, and is largely wetland habitat and arable land with the wetlands of The Broads in the North. The Suffolk Coast and Heaths are an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Tourism
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes.The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people who "travel to and stay in places outside their usual environment for more than twenty-four (24) hours and not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes not related to the exercise of an activity remunerated from within the place visited". Tourism has become a popular global leisure activity. In 2008, there were over 922 million international tourist arrivals, with a growth of 1.9% as compared to 2007. International tourism receipts grew to US$944 billion (euro 642 billion) in 2008, corresponding to an increase in real terms of 1.8%.
As a result of the late-2000s recession, international travel demand suffered a strong slowdown beginning in June 2008, with growth in international tourism arrivals worldwide falling to 2% during the boreal summer months. This negative trend intensified during 2009, exacerbated in some countries due to the outbreak of the H1N1 influenza virus, resulting in a worldwide decline of 4% in 2009 to 880 million international tourists arrivals, and an estimated 6% decline in international tourism receipts.
Tourism is vital for many countries, such as Egypt, Greece, Lebanon, Spain and Thailand, and many island nations, such as The Bahamas, Fiji, Maldives and the Seychelles, due to the large intake of money for businesses with their goods and services and the opportunity for employment in the service industries associated with tourism. These service industries include transportation services, such as airlines, cruise ships and taxis, hospitality services, such as accommodations, including hotels and resorts, and entertainment venues, such as amusement parks, casinos, shopping malls, various music venues and the theatre.
Notable Suffolk People
In the arts, Suffolk is noted for having been the home to two of England's best regarded painters, Thomas Gainsborough and John Constable - the Stour Valley area is branded as "Constable Country" - and one of its most noted composers, Benjamin Britten. Other artists of note from Suffolk include the cartoonist Carl Giles (a bronze statue of his character "Grandma" to commemorate this is located in Ipswich town centre), poets George Crabbe and Robert Bloomfield, writer and editor Ronald Blythe, actors Ralph Fiennes and Bob Hoskins, musician and record producer Brian Eno and Dani Filth, singer of the Suffolk-based extreme metal group, Cradle of Filth. Hip-hop DJ Tim Westwood is originally from Suffolk and the influential DJ and radio presenter John Peel made the county his home. One of Britain's leading contemporary painters, Maggi Hambling, was born, and resides, in Suffolk.
Suffolk's contributions to sport include Formula One magnate Bernie Ecclestone and England footballers Terry Butcher, Kieron Dyer and Matthew Upson. Due to Newmarket being the centre of British horseracing many jockeys have settled in the county, including Lester Piggott and Frankie Dettori.