2013-04-05 — /travelprnews.com/ — VisitEngland, the national tourist board has recruited Wallace & Gromit as Tourism Trailblazers to inspire Britons to take a holiday at home this year. The intrepid duo have pledged to make 2013 the year they take their well-earned holidays here in the UK, and to kick start the holiday season are starring in a much anticipated television advertisement due to air on 12 May.
The £4m integrated campaign, led by VisitEngland, and supported by the home nation tourist boards of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland; will see Wallace and Gromit take to the road exploring the country and discovering the best of the UK (including some top spots for elite cheese tasting). The Government funded campaign, ‘Great Adventure’, aims to inspire Britons to book a holiday through their local travel agent. VisitEngland is working with a number of high street travel agents and operators across the country who will be putting together exciting British holiday packages for Wallace and Gromit and the rest of their customers.
Nick Park, Creator and Director of Wallace and Gromit said:
“Leisure time has always been very important to Wallace & Gromit, so it’s great to see them making this holiday choice. A nice cup of tea and some tasty local cheese is always a favourite so they won’t be disappointed with their holiday in the UK.”
Minister for Tourism Hugh Robertson said:
“The first instalment of the Holidays at Home campaign was a great success generating growth of £300 million. The coup of landing Wallace & Gromit for the campaign’s second push is great news. Their ad will no doubt capture the imagination, encourage people to have a fresh look at what England as a holiday destination has to offer and boost domestic tourism further.”
James Berresford, VisitEngland’s Chief Executive said:
“Wallace & Gromit are bound to grab people’s attention and will be great ambassadors for holidays at home. They are a quintessentially English double-act with universal appeal at home and abroad, and I’m sure will have an adventurous time discovering all this country has to offer! We hope this ad, which I think breaks the mould of cliché tourism ads, will capture the imagination of Britons to inspire them to visit their local travel agent and book a break at home this year.”
This campaign form the second part of Holidays at Home are GREAT, a pan-UK government funded strategy which launched last year. Designed to boost domestic tourism, the campaign should aim to raise £80m in additional tourism spend and over a million overnight stays. The first campaign launched last year generated £300m in additional tourism spend.
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For more information contact:
Sarah Long, Head of Corporate Communications Tel: 020 7578 1452, Mob: 07500555651, Email:sarah.long@visitengland.org www.visitengland.org
Emma White, Corporate Communications Executive Tel 020 7578 1471, Mob: 0779303716, Email:emmalucy.white@visitengland.org
Notes to Editors
• The home nation tourist boards include: VisitScotland, VisitWales and Northern Ireland Tourist Board.
• The TV ad will start on 12 May and run for 2 months and will reflect the GREAT branding launched last year by the Prime Minister.
• The ad will run on TV, in cinemas, Video on Demand, Digital Online Display and Out of Home.
• The campaign is funded by £2million of additional funding from the Government and £2m in-kind support from operators and travel agents.
• Tour operators and travel agents involved in the campaign will be announced soon.
• Travel trade activity will continue until September.
• The first Holidays at Home are GREAT campaign launched in 2012 with a TV ad and accompanying website offering offers on thousands of holidays throughout the country. Over £60m in incremental spend was generated by thewww.great2012offers.com website and a further £240m was generated by the TV ad. Based on an average spending of £66 per night on English Holidays, this £300m equates to over 4.5million nights away.
About VisitEngland
• VisitEngland is the country’s national tourist board. We work in partnership with the industry to develop the visitor experience across England, plan national tourism strategy, grow the value of tourism in England and provide advocacy for the industry and our visitors
• Our work is underpinned by robust research and customer insights. You can access the latest in-depth market intelligence and statistics on www.visitengland.org/insight-statistics
• VisitEngland markets England under the Enjoy England consumer brand in the domestic market and markets England under the VisitEngland brand internationally
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Aardman, based in Bristol (UK) co-founded and run by Peter Lord and David Sproxton, is a world leader in animation. It produces feature films, television series, television commercials and digital entertainment for both the domestic and international market. Their multi-award winning productions are novel, entertaining, brilliantly characterised and full of charm that reflects the unique talent, energy and personal commitment of the very special people who make up the Aardman team. The studio’s work is often imitated and yet the company continues to lead the field producing a rare brand of visually stunning and amusing independent and commercials productions. www.aardman.com