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David Jeffries, pioneer of the UK weekend break, dies

Destinations
Rob Gill
24 February 2022

David Jeffries OBE, who pioneered the concept of weekend breaks in the UK, has died at the age of 90.

 

David Jeffries spent 12 years working for English Tourist Board during his long career in the industry

Jeffries enjoyed a long career in the British tourism and travel industry, including 12 years at the English Tourist Board in the 1970s and 1980s where he developed the Let’s Go marketing campaign promoting weekend hotel breaks.

TTG praised his marketing strategy in 1983 for creating “a revolution in British holiday habits”, which helped to improve the economic performance of the country’s hotel industry.

“His part in creating the domestic short break was revolutionary,” said tourism consultant David Curtis-Brignell.