Regional Tourism Team Update - 21.07.06
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 »
Trade Activity »
International Marketing Activity »
Tourism PR »
Tourism Development Unit »
Business Development Unit »
Visitor Services Unit »
Tourism North East online »
UK MARKETING ACTIVITY
Regional Media Campaign
Launched on 17 July 2006, the Regional Media Campaign aims to build awareness of attractions and events across North East England - and encourage local people to make day visits or to book overnight stays elsewhere in the region. The campaign includes regular features and promotions across local radio stations and regional press, as well as branding and advertorial in Living North magazine. For more information please contact Katherine.Hodgson@onenortheast.co.uk.
Holiday Guide Research
To help shape the content of all future North East England Holiday & Short Break Guides, One NorthEast Tourism Development team has published three pieces of independent market research based upon the 2005 guide. Research questioned who ordered the guide, how the guide was used, its effectiveness in persuading people to visit the region and why some people chose not to visit after requesting the guide. The detailed research involved surveys of tourism businesses and consumers, from those who advertised in the guide to guide enquirers; consumer focus groups; a web survey; and a postal survey of 2,200 people who requested the guide. The results will be used to coordinate the approach to the development of the 2007 Guide. An Evaluation Summary is now available or for further information please contact Catherine.Flynn@onenortheast.co.uk.
TRADE ACTIVITY
Group Travel Roadshows 2006
Plans are now underway for securing venues for this year Group Travel Roadshows. Three workshops, aimed at attracting more group visits to the region, will take place during October, November and December at venues in Yorkshire, Liverpool and London. Details of dates, venues and exhibiting options will be available at the end of July. For more information contact Denise.Wigham@onenortheast.co.uk.
New agency appointed
Design agency In2 Design have recently been appointed to develop all trade activity for North East England, including publications and exhibition space. The first project the agency will work on will be the Group Travel Guide. Advertising opportunities within the guide will be available from 31 July with booking forms to follow shortly. For more information contact Denise.Wigham@onenortheast.co.uk.
INTERNATIONAL MARKETING ACTIVITY
International e-newsletter
The second edition of the international e-newsletter is now underway and will go out in mid August. It will feature a special gardens section to coincide with the new North East England Garden campaign, as news from around the region. All stories are welcome. If you have anything to submit for consideration please send a press release of no more than 150 words to Philip.Marshall@onenortheast.co.uk by 28 July.
VisitBritain Italy
Ornella Gamacchio, Marketing Manager for VisitBritain Italy, visited North East England on a whistle-stop tour of England's North Country. During her stay Ornella visited a host of the region's attractions including The Alnwick Garden, Alnwick Castle and NewcastleGateshead Quayside - and now plan's to return on holiday with her family next year. VisitBritain and the international marketing team are working together to encourage Italian holidaymakers to visit North East England. The region will attend TTG Rimini exhibition in October to meet with key trade and press. For more information please contact Helen.Moderate@onenortheast.co.uk.
TOURISM PR
European journalists experience region's passion
Over the forthcoming week the team will welcome journalists from Germany and Norway, each coming to experience the passionate people and passionate places of North East England. Jorg Berghoff from Germany will be touring the region's gardens and coast with visits to Belsay Hall, Castle & Gardens and The Alnwick Garden as well as Bamburgh and Holy Island included. Meanwhile Kaia Means of Norway will be cycling around North East England's scenic routes including a taste of the C2C cycle route and Hadrian's Cycleway. For more information please contact Val.Lowther@onenortheast.co.uk.
TOURISM DEVELOPMENT UNIT
Parks and Gardens Boost Visitor Numbers
Visitor numbers have been given a boost as the region's parks and gardens increase in popularity.
The North East's attractions welcomed more than 10 million visitors in 2005 with 8 of the region's parks and gardens featured in either the north east's top ten paid or top ten free admission attractions.
Parks and gardens proving popular include Alnwick Garden, Cragside House and Gardens, Wallington Hall Walled Garden, Stewart Park, Sunderland Winter Gardens, Hardwick Hall Country Park, Hulne Park and Carlisle Park & Castle Woods.
For more information on the most popular attractions contact Ian.Thomas@onenortheast.co.uk
For general research and statistics click on the following link: Research Overview
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT UNIT
On Course for Training
If you want to offer a "Welcome to Excellence" then the new Autumn/Winter Tourism Training Programme is for you.
The new programme includes the full range of Welcome to Excellence courses such as Welcome Host, Welcome All and Welcome International. Also included are courses on PR Matters, Smarter Marketing, VAQAS 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
All are Welcome
Being accessible is high on the agenda at an 'All Are Welcome' Roadshow taking place in October.
There are over 10 million people in the UK with a disability. With spending power estimated to be £50 billion, it makes good business sense to ensure your services are accessible. But it is not just about disability; providing access to your services also helps the elderly, parents with buggies, visitors with wheeled luggage and foreign visitors.
The roadshow at The Sage Gateshead on 4 October 2006 will provide you with an opportunity to get first hand advice and guidance from the experts in the field.
For more information contact Tricia.Woods@onenortheast.co.uk or visit the homepage at http://www.tourismnortheast.co.uk
VISITOR SERVICES UNIT
Desti.ne Adds Value
Desti.ne, the region's new destination management system has now been operational for a number of weeks and is showing positive results.
The new system will not only store and maintain the region's tourism data it will also power the soon to be launched www.visitnortheastengland.co.uk website.
Desti.ne Frontdesk, has been piloted with 17 tourism businesses, is nearing the end of its testing phase. The system has provided better than expected results in terms of number and value of bookings made. Without any direct marketing of the service, at the time of going to press Desti.ne has delivered:
Accommodation bookings
No of bookings 15
No of people booked 31
No of nights 29
No of bednights 63
Total value £2277
Ticket bookings
No of transactions 39
No of tickets 107
Total value £1573
For more information go to www.tourismnortheast.co.uk
Visit North East England
With the introduction of Desti.ne, the www.visitnortheastengland.co.uk website will now be updated and significantly enhanced. The new website will promote the region and businesses far more effectively than the previous site, incorporating more visitor features such as the Itinerary Planner, and offering better search engine optimised and accessible web pages. Businesses details will be changed to reflect the website's new design and functionality provided by Desti.ne.
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
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