Regional Tourism Team Update - 01.09.06
Welcome to our fortnightly e-bulletin packed with information about what the North East England Regional Tourism Team have been up to.
UK Marketing Activity »
International Marketing Activity »
Travel Trade Activity »
Visitor Services Unit »
Business Development Unit »
Tourism North East online »
UK MARKETING ACTIVITY
NEW Holiday and Short Breaks Guide 2007
Booking forms to advertise in the 2007 Holiday and Short Breaks Guide have now been issued and we have already started to receive bookings. To advertise your property or attraction within the Guide please complete the booking form and return to the address provided. For more information please contact Katherine.Hodgson@onenortheast.co.uk .
Low Season Campaign
In partnership with the Area Tourism Partnerships the regional team will be contacting all inspected accommodation providers over the next few weeks to provide you with the opportunity to take part in the low season campaign, which will generate increased visitors to North East England during the quieter months. The campaign will be special offer driven and free to all accommodation providers to take part. Look out for the booking form. For further information please contact Caroline.Adams@onenortheast.co.uk.
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INTERNATIONAL MARKETING ACTIVITY
DFDS Survey
The international team are continuing to carry out passenger surveys on holidaymakers using international ferry routes from the Port of Tyne. With the cooperation of DFDS Seaways, the surveys will identify how, when and why overseas visitors come to North East England and the UK, and give an important insight into how we can best target our Nordic and Scandinavian markets to visit North East England in the future. For more information contact Helen.Moderate@onenortheast.co.uk.
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TRAVEL TRADE ACTIVITY
REMINDER - Group Travel Roadshows
If you’re interested in generating 'Groups' business for your venue don’t miss out on the North East England Group Travel Roadshows 2006. These events are recognised as an effective way to generate group business and will be taking place at a range of top UK group attractions later this year:
20 October - Fountains Abbey & Studley Royal Water Garden, North Yorkshire
17 November - Tate Liverpool & The Beatles Story
30 November - Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire
For more information or to reserve your place email steve@stevereedtourism.co.uk.
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VISITOR SERVICES UNIT
Visitnortheastengland.com
The initial phase of the new visitnortheastengland.com website has been live for a month. During this period the site has been performing impressively on all major search engines. For example keywords such as 'things to do England' have produced first page results for www.visitnortheastengland.com on msn.com. The website is constantly being updated to ensure details are maintained and ready for the proposed full launch in autumn.
Free Website Images
The One NorthEast Tourism Team has awarded a photography contract to local professional photographers to put your business in the picture, by taking good quality photographs of your accommodation. This amazing FREE offer will enhance your image with professionally composed photography that can be used by visitnortheastengland.com, visitbritain.com and enjoyengland.com, as well as other websites using the Desti.ne system. You will also be able to use them in your own printed promotional literature and in the 2007 Holiday and Short Breaks Guide, when taking a paid display advert. For further information on this opportunity email Jason.Yip@onenortheast.co.uk or call 0191 229 6851.
It’s Your Desti.ne
Desti.ne continues to perform well. The region’s 2006/07 accommodation information has been updated and this in turn has enabled immediate update of the regional website www.visitnortheastengland.com.
Frontdesk Available NOW!
The business-testing phase of Desti.ne Frontdesk continues to exceed expectations in terms of booking and revenue generated. As at 31 August the total value of online accommodation bookings was £7,608 and the total value of online attraction ticket bookings was £9,171. This has been achieved without any direct marketing of the service. Work is now underway to open up the service opportunities, enabling all regional tourism businesses to take advantage of the benefits of Desti.ne Frontdesk. To sign up NOW contact Karen.O’Donnel@onenortheast.co.uk.
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BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT UNIT
On Course for Training
‘Welcome to Excellence’ is recognised as one of the UK’s most successful customer service training initiatives. It delivers wide ranging courses to individuals working in tourism, hospitality, leisure, travel and related industries and is aimed at enhancing the skills of the individual so that they derive greater job satisfaction and deliver greater business benefits to their employers and the North East Region.
To make sure your business stays ahead, take advantage of the subsidised one-day courses from the new Autumn/Winter Training Programme. The new programme includes courses such as Welcome Host, Welcome All, Welcome International and VAQAS as well as NEW courses on PR Matters, Smarter Marketing and Becoming Visible (deaf awareness training).
More details on the programme which runs from November 2006 to March 2007 can be found on the following link: Tourism Skills and Training: Welcome to Excellence 2006 Programme or by contacting Laura.Lowrey@onenortheast.co.uk.
Short-listed for Success
Short-listing for the 2006 North East England Tourism Awards is now complete. Judges have spent the last two weeks touring the region to visit all the short-listed entrants. The full short-list will be available on the www.tourismnortheast.co.uk website from Friday 8 September. Entrants have been short-listed for 16 separate awards and winners in 12 of the categories will automatically go on to represent North East England in the national ‘Enjoy England Awards for Excellence’ to be held in London in the spring of 2007. Winners of the regional awards will be revealed at a special evening dinner and award ceremony to be held at Newcastle Civic Centre on 10 October. You can book your place at the regional awards ceremony by emailing talk@whymangroup.com or calling 0845 094 1067.
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FIND OUT MORE
If you would like to find out more on tourism in the region, visit www.tourismnortheast.co.uk - a dedicated website for the tourism industry in North East England.
RECOMMEND A FRIEND
If you know of anyone who is not currently receiving the Regional Tourism Update but who might be interested in receiving a copy, then please send their email address to Vicky Paris who will add them to the distribution list.
