VISITBRITAIN QUICK OFF THE BLOCKS WITH GLOBAL MARKETING PUSH

Long before the lighting of the Olympic flame, VisitBritain launched a four-year £125m marketing campaign which aimed to influence an extra 4.6 million people to choose Britain for their next holiday. Such an influx would help inject an additional £2.3 billion to the UK economy by the end of 2015.

To capitalise on the increased global interest in Britain, a major marketing push (£13.5m) has gone live with airlines, hotel companies and tour operators offering fantastic deals to ensure that, having watched the best of Britain on their screens, overseas travellers decide to experience the real thing for themselves.

New research released by the national tourism agency has shown that in cities with GREAT activity, 75% of recent travellers would now consider a holiday in Britain⁽¹⁾.The image campaign – which has targeted 14 major cities in nine countries that include Brazil, USA, Germany, India and Australia – has reached more than 90 million people so far.

The latest phase of the marketing campaign includes a seven month run of print advertising in National Geographic, advertorials in Time Out and on Yahoo!. A key component will involve the release of a new TV ad, ‘Memories are GREAT’, which includes stunning imagery from the Olympic Opening Ceremony, positioned on leading consumer websites across the world.

In partnership with British Airways, £5m will be invested in the US, India, China, Japan and the Middle East, encouraging people to come to Britain for their Christmas shopping and the January sales – tied to a special British Airways ticket price.

To help capture the youth market VisitBritain has partnered with STA Travel and is working within their retail outlets and University Campuses to promote Britain for music, culture and shopping. A digital campaign will also be rolled out with Expedia in the key markets of France, Germany and Italy. A shopping campaign with Virgin Australia is also underway, with a mixture of digital, radio, print and trade advertising.

Laurence Bresh, Director of Marketing at VisitBritain said: “The main event may be over, but the hard work begins now.

“Britain’s image and reputation around the world is riding high, this next stage of our GREAT campaign aims to convert worldwide interest into increased bookings. We’ve captured the world’s imagination on TV screens over the last few weeks, and now is the time to inspire them to come to Britain.”

 

Notes to Editors:

 

1. Research was undertaken in the nine markets where the GREAT image campaign has been running, namely: Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Japan and the USA.

2. As part of the global study almost 5,000 potential visitors were asked a range of questions to gauge their interest, consideration and likelihood to visit the UK in the next year and longer term. When asked to recall any travel advertising they had seen for other countries Britain came out higher than its main competitors with a 22% rise in recall of advertising, along with a 15% increase in those saying they had seen one of the GREAT ads.

3. Research also showed that around one in three respondents had subsequently gone to VisitBritain.com or discussed Britain with family members because of the GREAT ads

4. The “GREAT Britain, You’re Invited” campaign is VisitBritain’s biggest ever marketing programme, worth £100m over a four-year period. In an 18 month period from September 2011 to March 2013 around £35m will have been invested in 21 priority markets around the world.

5. Immediately following the Olympic Closing Ceremony, VisitBritain was allocated an additional £3 million to strengthen its GREAT campaign in China. The aim is to treble the number of Chinese visitors coming here to half a million by 2013.

6. Inbound tourism figures for the first six months of 2012 show a record 5.6 million holiday visitors came to Britain (up 2% on 2011), with spend also at a record level for the six month period. In 2011 31 million visitors came to Britain and spent £18 billion.

7. International tourism already delivers £18 billion each year to the economy – twice the cost of staging the London 2012 Games. By 2020, VisitBritain expects the UK to attract 40 million visits a year. This would deliver an extra £21 billion a year to the economy and support 530,000 additional jobs across the country.

For more information contact:

• David Leslie.
• e: david.leslie@visitbritain.org

• Mark Di-Toro
• Press Officer, VisitBritain
• t:+44 (0)20 7578 1098
• m:+44 (0)7919 392137
• e: mark.di-toro@visitbritain.org

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