Millennium projects have helped boost British tourism by attracting a new generation of twentysomething weekenders who are taking short breaks in cities such as Newcastle, Leeds and Manchester.

Both the Baltic Centre in Gateshead and the Lowry Museum in Manchester are popular with young professionals seeking "adrenalin rush" weekends combining designer label shopping, dining and clubbing.

"They know how to spend their money," Margaret Simpson, managing director of Highlife Breaks, the UK's second largest tour operator, said, "They might take a no-frills flight to Seville one weekend but book a break in Manchester for the next."

Ms Simpson told a Tourism Society seminar that such time-pressured travellers demanded domestic packages at stylish hotels offering add-ons: brunch instead of breakfast, a nightclub instead of an early night, and vouchers for the theatre or an attraction.

Computer errorr

New low-cost airline MyTravelLite operates its first flights next Tuesday from Birmingham with flights from £19. But its parent company MyTravel is refusing to honour an even cheaper fare inadvertently offered on its computer booking system.

MyTravel's system for travel agents logged flights from Manchester to Corfu in August 2003 for £7 - the real price is nearer £200. More than 300 bookings were taken before the blunder was spotted.

MyTravel says agencies should have spotted that this was an obvious error - £7 is the standard security fee.