VisitEngland’s Growing Tourism Locally project generated £517.9 million additional tourism spend and created record number of 9,620 additional jobs in the tourism sector

LONDON, 2014-9-24 — /Travel PR News/ — Today (23 September 2014) at the ABTA Convention in Ljubljana, Slovenia, VisitEngland reveals the latest results of the three-year project, ‘Growing Tourism Locally’, which in its second year has to date generated a total of £517.9 million additional tourism spend and created a record number of 9,620 additional jobs for the sector.

The project, aimed at inspiring UK residents to take more holidays at home and to create jobs in the tourism sector, has now exceeded the overall target of 9,139 jobs six months ahead of the project deadline and with still one year to go when the programme ends in October 2015.

The Growing Tourism Locally project is funded by £19.8m from the Government’s Regional Growth Fund (RGF) and with a total investment of £41.6m including contributions from VisitEngland and the private sector.

These latest figures include the results of marketing campaigns that took place over Autumn 2013/Winter 2014 in partnership with a number of destinations across the country. These campaigns alone have generated £101.3 million in tourism spend and created 1,876 additional jobs for the sector.

The destination based campaigns featured across a selection of national and regional print, broadcast and digital media and included a campaign to attract people to enjoy the quirkiness of Bristol combining it’s more traditional Christmas offer with its independent boutique shopping, theatre, nightlife and music scene; a campaign to promote Manchester’s transformation into a large Christmas village over the festive season with its many Christmas markets, and a campaign highlighting major activities across Nottinghamshire in 2014 from cycling, to festivals and events.

Louise Stewart, Director of Strategy and Development for VisitEngland said:

“Ultimately these campaigns are aimed at driving growth in domestic tourism by encouraging Brits to book a short break at home in one of the many unique and wonderful destinations on offer across England. It is rewarding and encouraging to see the campaigns succeed in boosting the visitor economy, creating jobs and inspiring people to take a holiday in England.

“With the trend to holiday at home remaining strong in 2014 despite the severe weather earlier this year, we know British people continue to place enormous value in England as a world-class holiday destination.”

ENDS

For more information contact:

Angelah Sparg, Corporate Communications Manager
Tel: 020 7578 1482 Mob: 07917 183 668
Email: Angelah.sparg@visitengland.org

or

Sarah Long, Head of Corporate Communications
Tel: 020 7578 1452 Mob: 07500 555 651
Email: sarah.long@visitengland.org

Website:  www.visitengland.org

Notes to editors:

The list of local delivery partners:
• Bath Tourism Plus
• Marketing Birmingham
• Destination Bristol
• Visit Cornwall
• Cumbria Tourism
• Visit County Durham
• Marketing Manchester
• Marketing Liverpool
• NewcastleGateshead Initiative
• Northumberland Tourism
• Experience Nottinghamshire
• Visit Peak District and Derbyshire
• Visit York
• Leeds and Partners

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.
• England is a unique destination and a real powerhouse in global tourism. It represents 84 per cent of the total UK visitor economy, is worth £106 billion, and supports 2.6 million jobs.
• For corporate information see www.visitengland.org and for consumer information see www.visitengland.com.

About ‘Growing Tourism Locally’ – a Regional Growth Fund Tourism Investment Project
• In October 2011 VisitEngland’s application to the Government’s Regional Growth Fund was approved by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS).  £19.8 million was awarded to deliver a three year partner marketing project entitled ‘Growing Tourism Locally’.
• This project aims to stimulate the domestic visitor market to grow local economies through increased tourism activity by UK residents.  The project enables VisitEngland to work in partnership to facilitate growth at a local level, further amplifying the second Holidays at Home are GREAT campaign that was launched in March this year.
• The project ‘Growing Tourism Locally’ has the potential to create the equivalent of 9,139 full time jobs across England and is focussed on supporting areas that are currently dependent on the public sector for employment to transition to private sector-led growth and prosperity where tourism can be a key contributor.
• The RGF funding is matched with private sector funding at national and local levels to create a project of £41million over 3 years to March 2015.

About the Regional Growth Fund
• The Government’s Regional Growth Fund is a £3.2 billion fund designed to help companies in England to grow.  It supports projects and programmes committed to leveraging private investment and delivering sustainable jobs.  Round 6 is now open.

• For more information, including Round 6 regional roadshow dates, please go to www.bis.gov.uk/rgf .  The round closes 30 September.

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