VISITBRITAIN has launched the three-year ‘Countryside is GREAT’ campaign designed to grow international visits and spend across the country to an invited industry audience, showing how everyone can get involved. VisitBritain’s ambition is to have generated extra visitor spend of £70 million ($107.7 million), which would see the creation of 1,296 new jobs by 2018.
Britain’s ‘natural beauty’ has been overlooked compared to other international destinations. Britain is currently ranked an overall 20th out of 50 countries for being ‘rich in natural beauty’ in the 2014 Anholt-Gfk Nation Brand Index. In a separate bespoke wave of the study commissioned by VisitBritain, Britain’s natural beauty was consistently positioned behind the likes of America, Australia and Canada. However, in the last four years VisitBritain’s GREAT campaign has taken significant strides in boosting perceptions in some of the UK’s key tourism markets. Britain’s highest 2014 ranking for ‘natural beauty’ – fifth place – came from India, followed by ninth place from China and twelfth from Australia. The largest improvement was from Brazil, moving up ten places to 29th in a year. VisitBritain research shows that a wide range of visitors already enjoy its countryside offer. In 2013, a significant proportion of visitors from New Zealand (43 per cent), Australia (41 per cent), Canada (33 per cent), China (32 per cent), UAE (29 per cent) and Germany (27 per cent) all explored Britain’s countryside and villages. The Countryside is GREAT campaign aims to build on this interest and show potential visitors what is on offer, where to find great experiences and most importantly, how to get there. VisitBritain will feature bespoke, curated countryside itineraries, experiences, services and packages on ‘The Countryside Collection’ campaign website and across print media. VisitBritain brand ambassadors will also share their own chronicled countryside experiences, from zip-lining in Wales to champagne cruising on a Scottish loch, or sampling local produce in an award-winning gastro pub after a coastal walk. The regions featuring in the first year of the campaign are the Scottish Highlands, Peak District, Cotswolds, Cornwall, Pembrokeshire, North Wales, Warwickshire, Lake District and Yorkshire. VisitBritain research shows that the proportion of holidaying tourists likely to take part in countryside-related activities is currently highest amongst those visiting the South West, Wales and Scotland and Yorkshire.To deliver this campaign VisitBritain has joined forces with The National Parks, The Forestry Commission, The Canal and River Trust and Hertz Cars, as well as DCMS, DEFRA and the national tourist boards.