VisitEngland's £41m local marketing campaign aims to boost spend by £365m
Tourism board VisitEngland has launched a £41m local marketing campaign that it hopes will boost tourism spend in the country by £365m.
The three-year project, called Growing Tourism Locally, is aimed at inspiring Britons to take more holidays at home, in a move that it hopes will generate 9,100 jobs in the tourism sector over the period.
The scheme is funded by £19.8m from the Government's Regional Growth Fund (RGF), with contributions fron VisitEngland and the private sector.
The investment focuses on working directly with destinations and the private sector to create a number of dedicated marketing campaigns throughout the country that will focus on specific areas and themes.
Destination campaigns will start to roll out over the next six months while themed campaigns will begin running in early 2013 to stimulate Easter and summer holiday bookings for next year. Themes will focus on what England is most loved for including: heritage, coastal, countryside and culture including sport and literature.
Cumbria Tourism will begin the programme today with an advertising campaign called Go Share Great Moments and Go Take your Breath Away with adverts appearing in London's key rail and underground stations. The adverts will feature the countryside of the Lake District and other parts of Cumbria highlighting the quality of local food, adventure and family activities.
Business Tourism is also to receive support from the RGF and will build on VisitEngland's work with destinations to grow the value of international conferences, events and conventions.
James Berresford, VisitEngland's chief executive, said: "The RGF money is a huge boost for tourism in England. This project enables our public and private sector partners to work together to stimulate tourism and ultimately grow jobs throughout the country with particular emphasis on some local areas. This is a great time to launch and we hope that by riding on the crest of a wave of a successful London 2012 Olympic Games we will harness the swell of national pride and inspire Brits to take the home advantage and holiday at home this year and beyond."
Enterprise minister Mark Prisk said: "Whether it's creating jobs or boosting tourism, the RGF shows the difference that Government and the private sector can make when working together. It is projects like this which will unlock private sector investment in parts of the country that need it most and boost local economic growth."
The total cost of the campaign will be £41m including £20m from the RGF, £9m from VisitEngland, and £12m from the national and local tourism sector.
By Neil Gerrard
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