The international GREAT Britain marketing campaign invites visitors to ‘See Things Differently’, showcasing Britain as a dynamic, diverse and exciting destination
Keen to promote growth in tourist traffic from key markets, VisitBritain, the national tourism promotion agency of Great Britain has launched its latest advertising campaign which will continue for next few weeks.
According to a press communique, the international Great Britain marketing campaign invites visitors to ‘See Things Differently’, showcasing Britain as a dynamic, diverse and exciting destination, packed full of activities to come and enjoy now, with a warm British welcome at its heart.
The statement adds that the first phase of the 2023 campaign will run until early spring focused on markets where VisitBritain is seeing strong recovery including the USA, its largest and most valuable market, Canada, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and European markets including France, Germany and Spain.
The statement adds that in Europe and the GCC, the ‘See Things Differently’ advertising campaign, ‘Spilling the Tea on Great Britain’, uses a play on Britain’s love of tea, through destination images and short films to tell a fresh and exciting story about the experiences on offer, showing visitors that ‘whatever your cup of tea, we’ve got it.’
The statement adds that from a ‘Festival’ tea theme that gives a taste of Britain’s live music scene to a ‘Graffi-tea’ that celebrates its vibrant cities and cultural attractions. A ‘Surf’ theme shows the adventurous side of Britain and ‘#nofilter’ its natural beauty. A ‘Monster Hunting’ tea draws inspiration from myths and legends including world-famous Nessie the Loch Ness Monster. A limited release of the themed teas, blended by British tea company Tregothnan, will also be available for tastings at VisitBritain promotional and trade events.
The statement adds that in Canada and the USA the campaign, called ‘Fake (Br)it Till You Make It,’ highlights the richness of Britain’s regional diversity. The phased advertising campaign gets underway with a variety of local phrases used alongside destination images from across Britain. Later in March, a series of short films sees Brits sharing a warm welcome in local accents and dialects promoting their destinations, encouraging visitors to come and explore for themselves. Also from late March, a new online game on VisitBritain’s consumer website, using machine learning, goes live where players can have a fun go at mastering the accents, with links to destination information to drive bookings.
“We know there is pent-up demand for travel and that tourism is also a fiercely competitive global industry. Our priority is to build on the recovery we have seen, competing hard in markets where we are seeing strong growth, tapping in to motivations for travel now to drive bookings. All eyes are on Britain this year and by telling the story of our dynamic destinations and diverse culture, along with a warm British welcome, we’re inspiring visitors to discover more, stay longer and explore year-round, supporting local businesses and economies,” says Patricia Yates, CEO, VisitBritain.
The statement adds that the campaigns also plan to capture major events in 2023 including the Coronation of King Charles III in May and Liverpool hosting the Eurovision Song Contest, on behalf of Ukraine, also in May, valuable opportunities to show Britain’s welcome, creativity and ability to host events of the highest calibre.
The campaigns have been developed based on VisitBritain’s research into motivations for travel now, with discovering new and surprising experiences high on the wish list for its target audiences and markets.
Both multi-media marketing campaigns are using a mix of on-and-offline channels including short films and branded content across social media, digital display advertising, for example digital billboards in the Paris Metro, and print media. Content also drives online traffic to VisitBritain’s consumer website with ideas and links to activities, attractions and experiences themed around ‘See Things Differently’ using #lovegreatbritain.
VisitBritain is working with partners including Lastminute.com in Europe and online travel market place Wego in the GCC as well as paid content partnerships to extend the campaigns’ reach and drive bookings.
The statement adds that VisitBritain’s latest inbound tourism forecast shows continued strong recovery in overseas visitor spending this year. Its latest forecast for 2023 is for overseas visitor spending in the UK of GBP 29.5 billion, up 4 pc on the all-time spending high of GBP 28.4 billion in 2019. It estimates 35.1 million inbound visits to the UK, 86 pc of 2019 levels.
