VisitEngland announces a host of domestic and UK wide marketing activity taking place this spring to boost tourism, encourage more people to explore the fantastic destinations on offer in England and enjoy a holiday at home in 2014.
The activity kicks off with a series of multi-channel themed campaigns in partnership with 50 destinations around England which will see a raft of advertising in national newspaper and magazine outlets on romantic getaways, city breaks, outdoor activities, English seaside, coastal escapes and English countryside. This new marketing activity, live from February and throughout March, forms part of the second year of VisitEngland’s three year Growing Tourism Locally initiative, funded in part by the government’s Regional Growth Fund.
The aim is to boost domestic tourism and promote short breaks in some of England’s most iconic destinations, building on the success of the first year of themed campaigns launched in early 2013 which VisitEngland today reveals generated an additional £132.5million in tourism spend and 2, 455 jobs for the sector.
In addition to this, VisitEngland is teaming up with Wallace & Gromit once again to launch the third pan-UK ‘Holidays at Home are GREAT’ campaign. Led by VisitEngland, and supported by the home nation tourist boards of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, the campaign aims to inspire Britons to take a holiday at home in 2014 and will see Wallace and Gromit take to the road again exploring the country and discovering the best of the UK.
The £2million Government funded ‘Great Adventure’ campaign aims to inspire Britons to book a holiday through their local travel agent and will run from mid-March until 22 April across cinema, TV, Video on Demand, and Digital, with a clear call to action to book a holiday at home through your travel agent. VisitEngland will partner again with a number of high street travel agents across the country and operators including Bourne Leisure, Shearings, Superbreak, Hoseasons and more, who will be putting together exciting British holiday packages for Wallace and Gromit and the rest of their customers.
James Berresford, VisitEngland’s Chief Executive said: “There is some really exciting activity planned this spring to inspire people to make the most of the wonderful destinations, right on their doorstep. The first year themed campaigns have delivered fantastic results, providing a welcome boost to the domestic tourism economy and creating jobs for the sector, and the next raft of themed campaigns will continue to generate growth by promoting the wonderful holiday experiences on offer in England. Following the success of their ‘Great Adventure’ last year, we are also thrilled to welcome back our animated friends Wallace & Gromit as ambassadors for the industry, who will once again embark on a journey to explore the best the UK has to offer and promote all the benefits of holidaying at home.”
This range of marketing activity is in addition to an announcement by Government last week of £2million support for flood affected tourism businesses and attractions which will include advice sessions for tourism businesses in flood affected areas, hosted by VisitEngland and run throughout March. It will also include a dedicated VisitEngland led marketing campaign to be launched in March to help promote affected areas to domestic tourists in the run-up to Easter and beyond.
Source:- Visit England
