WHERE can you find beautiful river walks, skilful footballers cheered on by passionate supporters, truely outstanding cuisines and dramatic architecture?

Naturally the most likely answers will be great European cities such as Barcelona, Paris or Venice, but according to a new survey travellers are abondoning these in favour of a much smaller destination.

The London borough of Hounslow; famous for the Thames and Grand Union Canal, Brentford FC, and an ecletic mix of dining choices and interesting buildings.

This week the area's top business guru announced plans to cash in after learning humble Hounslow was named one of Europe's 10 'fastest growing destinations'.

Stephen Fry, chief executive of Hounslow Chamber of Commerce, said the borough had been a 'well-kept secret' for too long and needed to do a better job of promoting its many attractions.

He was speaking after a survey by travel site TripAdvisor named Hounslow as Europe's 10th fastest growing destination, ahead of the likes of Barcelona, Paris and Venice.

Ilford, in east London, topped the less-than-glamorous list, which was dominated by UK locations, including Salford and Warrington.

The list was based on increased traffic from people searching for different destinations on TripAdvisor during the past year.

Emma Shaw, a spokeswoman for the website, put Hounslow's success down to a combination of interest in next year's Olympics and its proximity to Heathrow.

Commenting on the survey, Mr Fry told the Chronicle he was already working with leisure chiefs and hoteliers across Hounslow to highlight the borough's many attractions.

"Hounslow is a well-kept secret and we want to change that," he said.

"It has a great tradition of being used for filming and as a resource for school projects, and I don't think people realise just how many green spaces it has.

"It's a real family-orientated area, with so much to offer, like Hogarth House, Boston Manor House and Chiswick House, but we need to do a better job of letting people know about it."

The chamber is already working on a leaflet highlighting Hounslow's top attractions.

Mr Fry said he hoped it would encourage people staying in the borough's many hotels to spend more of their cash locally both during the Olympics and in future.