Tourism Marketing Update - 28.10.05
28th October 2005
North East England Tourism Awards
The region’s tourism industry was honoured on Wednesday 19 October at the first North East England Tourism Awards, which took place at the Stadium of Light in Sunderland.
53 tourism businesses from right across the region, large and small, including accommodation providers and visitor attractions were short-listed. The awards rewarded the leading individuals, businesses and attractions that are contributing to the region’s thriving tourism industry. Those honoured at the awards include:
Small Hotel Of The Year
Seaham Hall Hotel & Serenity Spa - Seaham, County Durham
Large Hotel Of The Year
Matfen Hall Hotel - Matfen, Northumberland
Bed And Breakfast Of The Year
The King’s Head Hotel & Restaurant - Newton-Under-Roseberry
Self-Catering Holiday Of The Year
The Northumberland House - Longhoughton, Northumberland
Caravan Holiday Park Of The Year
Seafield Caravan Park - Seahouses, Northumberland
Large Visitor Attraction Of The Year
Laing Art Gallery - Newcastle upon Tyne
Small Visitor Attraction Of The Year
The National Trust Gibside - Burnopfield, Tyne & Wear
Tourism Web Site Of The Year
Visit Teesdale - www.teesdaleholidays.co.uk
Outstanding Customer Service Award
Neville Hails, Discovery Museum - Newcastle upon Tyne
Business Tourism Award Of The Year
Matfen Hall Hotel - Matfen, Northumberland
Taste Of North East England
Doddington Dairy Ltd - Doddington, Northumberland
The Region’s Best Tourist Information Centre
North Shields Tourist Information Centre
Best Family Experience
Life Science Centre - Newcastle upon Tyne
Most Welcoming Experience
Killhope Lead Mining Museum - Upper Weardale, County Durham
Best Innovation In Tourism
Tyne & Wear Museums Service - Newcastle upon Tyne
Best Visitor Pub
The Keelman’s - Newburn, Tyne & Wear
Tourism Ambassador Of The Year
Jan Williams, Blue Badge Guide
Tourism Marketing Plan for North East England 2005 - 2008
Work on the region’s Tourism Marketing Plan is now complete. The plan has been developed in consultation with regional and national industry partners and provides direction on the delivery of North East England tourism marketing activity between 2005 - 08. All businesses that receive the monthly Experience newsletter will get a summary of the plan with this month’s edition of Experience. The full plan and the summary will be available to view on our website www.tourismnortheast.co.uk
Autumn / Winter Campaign
This campaign launched on October 21st with over 20,000 emails being sent to individuals from the region’s tourism visitor database. 20,000 individuals will receive a direct mail piece this week and inserts in key national and regional publications started last weekend. All promotional activity highlights the special accommodation offers available in the region between October ’05 and March ’06.
There are over 100 accommodation providers involved in the campaign from all around the region.
Walking Campaign - Phase 2
Since its launch in August this year, we have had over 12,100 requests for the guide and over 80,000 unique visitors to the walking section of our website www.visitnortheastengland.co.uk/walking. There are presently over 45,000 copies of the guide in circulation, and with the media campaign still going strong we aim to distribute 80,000 copies in total.
Themed Marketing Activity
The regional Tourism Marketing team are working with regional partners to develop the themed marketing activity programme for delivery during 2006. Activity will include a new phase of the walking campaign and cycling and gardens campaigns. Work is presently underway to identify the regional assets that will be incorporated into these campaigns, creating the strongest offer to potential visitors and maximising the return on investment for the region.
2006 Short Break and Holiday Guide
There has been an excellent take up for the advertising opportunities in next year’s Short Break and Holiday Guide. The guide will feature a new range of stunning regional photography. Development of the guide is on track and will launch in December 2005. We will print 180,000 copies.
British Travel Trade Fayre
This event will be held in Birmingham on the 1st and 2nd March 2006. We are currently developing plans for the North East England stand and we will be contacting industry partners during November with details of how to get involved in this event.
Group Travel Roadshows
The roadshow events held so far this year at Newby Hall & Gardens on 27th September and the City of Manchester Stadium on 28th October have been an outstanding success. Over 70 group and travel operators and professionals attended both events. The last of this years roadshow programme will be held at the Tower Thistle in London on 5th December. We still have a small number of exhibitor places available - please contact Denise Wigham on 0191 229 6845.
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