VisitEngland will promote short breaks in some of the nation’s ‘most beautiful’ rural locations. The campaign is the fourth of six launching from January to March, covering the four themes of countryside, coast, heritage and culture – all funded, in part, by the Government’s Regional Growth Fund (RGF).
“This exciting campaign is one of several launching this year with the aim of growing tourism in England,” said VisitEngland’s chief executive James Berresford.
“The campaign aims to inspire UK residents explore our green and pleasant land, and take a short break in one of England’s most beautiful rural destinations. This is a great example of the industry working in partnership to stimulate tourism and grow jobs throughout the country.”
The destinations partnering with VisitEngland for this campaign are:
- Bronte Country
- Cheshire
- Cumbria
- Dorset
- Essex
- Hadrian’s Wall
- Hampshire
- Lancashire
- Liverpool – surrounding rural areas
- New Forest
- North Somerset
- Nottinghamshire
- Oxfordshire
- Oxfordshire Cotswolds
- Peak District & Derbyshire
- Staffordshire
- Warwickshire
- West Norfolk
- Wiltshire
- Yorkshire Wolds
The new marketing activity is part of VisitEngland’s three-year investment project, ‘Growing Tourism Locally’. Funded by £19.8m from the RGF, the project aims to generate £420m in additional tourism spend over the 2012-15 period and inspire more UK residents to take more holidays and short breaks at home.
The project also seeks to stimulate local employment to create jobs in the tourism sector by 9,100 over a three-year period to March 2015.
Lastminute marketing campaign
Meanwhile, VisitEngland has also just announced that it has launched a joint marketing campaign with hotel and travel specialist, Lastminute.com.
The campaign is designed to encourage consumers to embrace the spontaneity of a last-minute getaway by visiting www.lastminute.com/visitengland, and booking a short break in England.
VisitEngland’s head of marketing Tim Holt said: “Whether it’s a shopping trip, a weekend of culture, or a relaxing break on the coast, this country really does have something for everyone! We want to inspire people to discover just how much England’s fantastic cities have to offer by booking a short break, and lastminute.com is the ideal partner for this campaign.”
Mark Maddock, lastminute.com’s UK managing director, added: “We specialise in providing unique getaways at the last minute, and with more people wanting to celebrate the best that England has to offer, we have teamed up with VisitEngland to offer great last minute deals for our customers to make the most of their free time”
A 24-hour ‘England sale’ on 7 March will highlight special hotel deals of up to 50 per cent off around the country, supported by press, radio, digital escalator panels and digital display advertising.