Dubbed the Palin effect, this was previously seen three years ago after Palin's televised exploits in the Himalayas led to increased interest in the region, according to adventure holiday specialist Intrepid Travel.

In his new series, the former Monty Python star travels through the region, exploring how it has changed since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and visits countries that are generally thought to be near the edge of tourist radar's, such as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, Macedonia, Romania and Slovakia.

"The great thing about the way Michael Palin travels is that he really gets under the skin of a country; travelling on local transport, staying in traditional accommodation and generally doing what the locals do", commented Intrepid's UK and Europe sales and marketing manager Daniel Pawlyn.

A spokesman for Cox & Kings, which offers tours to several countries in the region, believes the new Palin series could lead to a doubling of the number of people taking tours to destinations such as Bosnia and Romania.

"Previous Michael Palin series including Himalaya and Sahara resulted in a surge of interest in countries such as Bangladesh that were previously not really on the tourist map," he said. "We were surprised by the effect it had. Although low-cost flights have already boosted visitor numbers to Poland, Romania and Croatia, many of our cultural tours to these regions are still in their infancy. We expect this to change when people realise how much these places have to offer."

Michael Palin's New Europe series starts on BBC One on September 16th and will run over a seven week period.