‘GREAT’ ADS LAUNCHED TO ENCOURAGE WORLD TO CHOOSE BRITAIN

Thursday 09 February 2012

The £25 million image campaign will add to the £100 million match-funded tactical campaign(4) already being run by VisitBritain with commercial partners such as British Airways, easyJet, Hilton Worldwide, Radisson Edwardian and STA Travel to deliver the agency’s biggest marketing push, with an aim to drive an extra 4.6 million visitors to the UK over the next four years, stimulating an additional £2.3 billion in international spend.

Looking to enhance overseas perceptions of the UK as a major tourist destination and help drive economic growth, the highly impactful image blitz will run until March next year, with activity being undertaken in major cities in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Japan and the US. The campaign will show the world what makes the UK such a GREAT place to visit at a time when high profile events such as the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, Cultural Olympiad, Torch Relay and the London 2012 Games are taking place.

New York commuters will see subway trains wrapped in the Union Jack and Grand Central Station filled with GREAT images. Subway routes in the city – the largest source of US visitors to the UK - will also be lined with Britain branding and copies of the New York Metro newspaper will be covered with an invitation to come to choose Britain for their next holiday.

In Delhi, GREAT billboards will line the main routes in the city and 200 GREAT branded taxis will be on the streets. Residents in Rio and Sao Paulo will see GREAT images across the sides of buildings, line key city streets and will have our invitation to visit Britain wrapped around their Metro newspaper.

Unsurprisingly France, the UK’s largest source market for inbound arrivals, is also being targeted as part of the campaign. Franklin D. Roosevelt Métro station on the Champs-Élysées will be dressed as an art gallery of GREAT images for all to enjoy. Ads will be also seen by millions of French cinemagoers on movie screens, as well as in cinemas in India, Brazil and Germany.

Launching the campaign in central London, Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt said: “With the eyes of the world focused on the UK this year, we want to ensure that they see what it is that is so special about this GREAT country of ours. 2012 will see a year of festivities taking place, with global reach possible on a level never seen before for British tourism. As we come together to witness an extraordinary celebration of culture, heritage and sporting achievement, there is no better time for us to showcase all the wonderful attractions that we have on offer and entice as many people as possible around the world to come and share it with us.”
Sandie Dawe, VisitBritain CEO said: “This campaign will allow us to promote Britain in 14 of the key global economic powerhouse cities where our adverts will be seen by over two-thirds of our target audience. That means nearly 90 million people will be focusing on all that is GREAT about coming here for their next holiday. The eye-catching images reflect Britain’s tourism appeal, featuring our rich history and culture, our spectacular countryside and coastline, our thriving music scene and our wonderful shopping, which our research tells us are the main draws for overseas visitors.

“We have long recognised that 2012 will present us with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to build a solid tourism legacy, one that will help us to grow a sector which already contributes over £17 billion in foreign exchange to the UK economy each year and has potential to grow. The more overseas visitors we can entice to visit Britain as a result of this campaign the more jobs the industry can sustain right across the country.

The international reach of the campaign will be strengthened by the announcement of a global partnership with Yahoo!, one of the world’s most visited homepage. That will guarantee over 5 million views of VisitBritain content on the Yahoo! network and help drive 3.5 million click-throughs to VisitBritain’s own online platforms.

Rich Riley, Senior Vice President & Managing Director, Yahoo! EMEA said: “We are really excited to have been chosen as VisitBritain’s digital display partner. This will be their largest ever online campaign and Yahoo! has a strong track record of delivering original global media campaigns with seamless digital content and advertising. Our campaign for VisitBritain will be as individual as those consumers who interact with it – helping demonstrate why we all think Britain is so great. VisitBritain has partnered with us so that they can potentially engage with our 400 million Yahoo! users across Germany, France, India, China, Australia, Japan, Brazil, USA and Canada. 2012 is the year to visit Britain and we’re about to show people why.”

Along with the GREAT image effort telling people overseas about the fantastic place that Britain is to visit, passengers arriving at airports across the UK - including Heathrow, Gatwick, London City and Manchester - will see GREAT posters on display when they get off the plane and as they travel onwards through the airport. Altogether these airports account for 75% of all UK air passengers and will help reinforce the sense of a warm welcome and help improve perceptions of the UK’s overall friendliness.

For more information contact:

VisitBritain Media Team

pressandpr@visitbritain.com

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