Tourism chiefs are hoping to reverse a sharp drop in visitor numbers with a series of television advertisements emphasising British eccentricity.
The television adverts - which portray a series of traditional British images with a surreal twist - mark a sharp contrast with previous attempts to market the UK as a centre of fashion and youth culture.
The adverts include scenes of knights in armour playing tennis, and a Wellington boot-throwing contest.
In the US, the UK tourism industry's most important overseas market, the adverts will also feature a brief appearance from Tony Blair.
"We wanted to capture the imagination of prospective visitors with a distinctive and humorous reminder of Britain's diversity and cultural heritage," said David Quarmby, chairman of the British Tourist Authority (BTA).
The television campaign is part of a wider promotional effort using the slogan "Only in Britain. Only in 2002".
It marks the biggest ever expenditure on television advertising by the tourist industry, hit hard by the 2001 foot and mouth crisis and the September 11 attacks.
The BTA hopes to attract an extra one million visitors this year, boosting the industry's sales by £500 million ($728 million).
TTN is the most established trade publication in the Middle East distributed on a controlled circulation basis to members of the travel and tourism industry.
Published monthly by Al Hilal Publishing and Marketing Group, the region’s foremost trade publisher, TTN is aimed at professionals in the industry, from travel agents to airline and hotel personnel.
TTN provides in-depth and extensive coverage of relevant issues in the Middle East and North Africa as well as in other parts of the world. Travel related news, analysis, and new appointments together with information on up-coming exhibitions, marketing and promotional campaigns are presented in an innovative and striking colour tabloid.
Every issue also contains a collation of international and regional news and topical features of interest to readers.
Bahrain: | +973 1729 3131 |
Dubai: | +971 4 3422 020 |
London: | +44 208 943 3630 |
Editorial: | [email protected] |
Advertising: | [email protected] |