Tourism Marketing Update - 20.01.2006
Update on 2006 Launch
Our tourism marketing activity continues to increase momentum. The Autumn Campaign is continuing to progress and the Spring Campaign is now underway. Attendance at overseas exhibitions has begun and the North East England brand was met with much enthusiasm by the Dutch Trade and press in Amsterdam. Oslo Reiseliv was also well attended. The British Travel Trade Fair is approaching in March, where we will be launching the Top Tour Itineraries pack and the Hidden Benefits booklet, a discount incentive for groups…and lot’s more!
UK Marketing Update
The Autumn Campaign
This campaign is continuing to progress well. This special offers driven campaign is aimed at encouraging visitors into the region during the traditional low season. To date there has been an increase of over 28,500 visitors to our website with 3,000 special offers leaflets requested as a direct result of the high profile campaign.
Holiday & Short Breaks Guide 2006
This new comprehensive guide to North East England has already received 12,000 individual requests. A fully integrated media campaign to promote the guide targets 18 million readers with brochure panels, inserts, adverts, direct mail and e-mailers as well on-line activity. The campaign runs until March 2006 and aims to promote the region as a holiday and short breaks destination of choice.
Cycling Guide
Research and development into the cycling guide product has been carried out alongside Sustrans, the sustainable transport charity and sub-regional partners. We will launch a new guide featuring routes throughout the region at the Outdoors Show, Birmingham NEC in March.
Overseas Exhibition Update
Vakantiebeurs Holiday Exhibition in Amsterdam kicked off the overseas tourism exhibitions last week and the North East England brand was met with much enthusiasm by the Dutch Trade and Press.
Partners attending the exhibition with the Team included Durham County Council, Hadrian’s Wall and Northumberland National Park. The stand was incredibly busy over the 6 days of the show and we met many people who were planning a trip for the first time and many who had previously visited the region and were planning a return trip this year!
Representatives from Jet2 were on the stand to tell visitors more about the new route from Amsterdam Schipol to Newcastle (launching in April) and this created a great deal of interest. Fares start from as little as 2 Euro making the region highly accessible to people from Amsterdam and the surrounding area.
Oslo Reiseliv was also well attended and again we experienced a great deal of interest from visitors to the show. Partners attending this show included, Newcastle Gateshead Initiative, Eldon Square and South Tyneside Council. Again the show aimed to raise the profile of North East England as a touring destination overseas and show visitors how accessible North East England is from Norway via both FjordLine and the new RyanAir Oslo route.
The North East England tasters which included Doddington’s Brown Ale Fudge, Beamish Cinder Toffee and locally produced soaps and lip balms from Chainbridge Honey Farm were extremely popular and the competition also went down very well (there were some pretty close guesses on the number of sweets in the jar!) We’ll be announcing the winners of the competitions over the course of the next few weeks and will include a full round up of all shows in the March edition.
EnjoyEngland Campaigns
The EnjoyEngland Dutch website went live this week and North East England is represented through our partnership in this campaign. We’ve focussed our copy on the walking, cycling and top attractions in the region to ensure we have a strong proposition to attract the visitor. The website contains a link to the www.visitnortheastengland.com where visitors can find further information in Dutch.
Thanks to Slaley Hall Hotel and Alnwick Castle who following the last e-bulletin have offered prizes to be included in the campaign. These will be used as a banner advert on the website giving North East England a prominent position on the site. If anyone would like to offer further prizes to be used in the campaign please contact helen.mcloughlin@onenortheast.co.uk or call 0191 229 6322.
Touring Brochures
The England’s North Country and EnjoyEngland Touring Brochures are both now published and have excellent sections on North East England including top tour itineraries across the region. To request a copy of either of these brochures please contact helen.moderate@onenortheast.co.uk or call 0191 229 6921.
Participation in VisitBritain campaigns in Germany and Netherlands
North East England has joined forces with VisitBritain to take part in the EnjoyEngland campaigns in Germany and the Netherlands. The activity will launch in February 2006 and consist of web-based marketing, viral campaigns, brochure fulfilment, print advertising, press and PR, and direct mail campaigns. We will be working closely with VisitBritain over the next few months to ensure extensive coverage throughout the campaigns.
If anyone would like to offer competition prizes for use in these campaigns or talk about other ways in which they can get involved, please call Helen McLoughlin on 0191 229 6322 or email: helen.mcloughlin@onenortheast.co.uk
Groups and Educational Update
British Travel Trade Fair
BTTF is the premier UK travel trade exhibition and takes place on the 1 & 2nd March at the NEC in Birmingham. The re-branded Tailored to Suit – Top Tour Itineraries pack and the Hidden Benefits Discount Incentive for Groups will be launched the show.
Great Days Out Fair
A number of regional partners will join North East England at the largest 1 day UK group travel show. The Great Days Out Fair is being held on the 4th March at the Reebok Stadium in Bolton and attracts over 3,500 UK group travel organisers, coach and tour operators and teachers. If you would like to promote your venue to this lucrative market through our literature distribution service please contact Denise Wigham on 0191 229 6845 or email denise.wigham@onenortheast.co.uk for more details.
Points North & Look and Learn Newsletters
Production of the Spring editions of both the Points North and Look & Learn newsletters is now underway. Points North is aimed primarily at group travel organisers, coach and tour operators whilst Look & Learn is aimed at teachers involved in the organisation of primary and secondary school learning visits. Both newsletters give you the opportunity of promoting your venue completely FREE of charge to either one or both of these markets. To have the opportunity of featuring in the newsletters simply supply a newsworthy article showing what you can offer as part of the North East England experience. Contact Bruce Simpson on 0141 445 2778 or email bruce@in2designandpublishing.com
