Great Britain - You're Invited
In August 2010 the Prime Minister gave a speech in which he stated his Government’s view that tourism was one of the best and fastest ways of generating the jobs the country needed.
On 5 January 2011 he launched a partnership between VisitBritain and the travel and tourism sector at an event at Downing Street. We are leading this new partnership. It forms the basis of our new global marketing programme in which we are taking advantage of the unique opportunities afforded by the Royal Wedding, the Diamond Jubilee and hosting the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
On 20 June at The Mayfair Hotel in London, we unveiled an international TV campaign, featuring globally recognised British celebrities inviting the world to visit Britain.
On 1 September the first part of our consumer launch took place, with 3D art installations of some of Britain’s most iconic landmarks. These installations appeared in 10 cities around the world.
6 January 2012 marked the launch of the invitation from the British public element of our marketing programme, including the free industry marketing toolkit.
About the programme
Our marketing programme will enhance the UK’s position as one of the world’s leading destinations for international tourism. We are leading a partnership with private industry - with match funding of cash and marketing in kind we will make up a marketing fund of £100m, across the four years.
The programme will run over four years in three phases – the exciting twelve months in the run up to the Games; the Games themselves; and the period after, converting the interest generated by the media exposure in the run up to and during the Games into bookings.
On 7 November the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport, Jeremy Hunt, announced that the Government is investing up to £40 million in promoting Britain overseas for business, study and tourism. VisitBritain is to receive a significant proportion of this sum to mount an image campaign in selected priority markets. This will be in addition to the existing four-year, £100 million match-funded marketing campaign we are running to capitalise on the international attention Britain will receive during 2012. The GREAT image campaign launched in February 2012, examples of posters and images used in locations around the world can be viewed in the recent activity section.
Download the strategy.
Objectives
The campaign is designed to operate on two levels: to both build the aspiration to travel to Britain, and to increase the number of people visiting the UK. We will measure intent to visit, visitor numbers and visitor spend. We will also be able to calculate the additional tax revenues, job creation and Gross Value Added (GVA) benefits which accrue to the wider economy.
Across the 4 years it will deliver:
£100 million public-private marketing fund, which will be used to generate...
£1 billion in PR, which will attract...
4 million extra visitors, spending an additional...
£2 billion.
Progress so far
The TV advert is currently being shown globally through our partnership with BBC World on BBC websites, BBC World News Europe and BBC Americas as well as the recently launched international version of the BBC’s I-Player. Research undertaken in the Netherlands (and shortly to be undertaken in the US and India) has so far demonstrated that it is a highly effective advert in terms of enhancing positive perceptions of Britain and increasing the desire to visit.
September saw the launch of the tactical campaign in Europe and then later in the month globally, to coincide with key booking periods on territory. All VisitBritain and partner assets (social media, press and PR, B2B etc) will be leveraged and augmented with a heavy-weight digital and print campaign to drive bookings.
The launch kicked off with the unveiling of the second phase of the campaign, as ten unique 3D artworks left London for a worldwide tour that will promote Britain overseas. The iconic artworks build on the high profile celebrity launch of the organisation’s marketing programme in June.
In 2012, the eyes of the world will be firmly focused on Britain and what overseas visitors can experience when they are here. The 3D canvases provide an ideal snapshot of just some of the things on offer, highlighting Britain’s history and heritage, its countryside and natural beauty, culture, fashion, sports and a world-class welcome.
6 January 2012 marked the launch of the invitation from the British public element of our marketing programme. The campaign aims to encourage UK businesses and the UK public to invite their friends, family and past customers based overseas to visit them in Britain during 2012.
We have developed a marketing toolkit to help businesses leverage the campaign. The toolkit is a free resource and includes templates for print advertisements, e-newsletters, posters and digital postcards, as well as images and a Facebook app through which you can invite people to visit your region of the United Kingdom.
Our Partners
We have partnerships agreed with: