Downton and Harry Potter stars take to our screens to encourage us to holiday at home
Various stars and celebrities have been used in adverts encouraging Britons to holiday at home. This is a much-anticipated – and controversial – advertising campaign to encourage Britons to holiday at home which has now been launched. (8th March). The star-studded adverts, which feature Downton Abbey’s Michelle Dockery, Harry Potter’s Rupert Grint, as well as British icons Stephen Fry and Julie Walters, are part of a £5million campaign. The initiative hopes to harness the power of the Olympics and Diamond Jubilee and inspire Britons with the tagline: ‘Holidays at Home are Great’. It is the country’s biggest ever domestic tourism drive and VisitEngland predicts the new campaign should generate an additional £80m in domestic spend and create 12,500 jobs.
By TRAVELMAIL REPORTER
8 March 2012
Encouragement: Some of Birtain’s top stars, including Michelle Dockery of Downton Abbey fame, are to star in adverts encouraging Britons to holiday at home
The much-anticipated – and controversial – advertising campaign to encourage Britons to holiday at home, is due to appear on our screens tomorrow.
The star-studded adverts, which feature Downton Abbey’s Michelle Dockery, Harry Potter’s Rupert Grint, as well as British icons Stephen Fry and Julie Walters, are part of a £5miilion campaign.
The initiative hopes to harness the power of the Olympics and Diamond Jubilee and inspire Britons with the tagline: ‘Holidays at Home are Great’.
It is the country’s biggest ever domestic tourism drive and promotes a number of locations across the UK ahead of the Queen’s Jubilee and the Olympic torch relay.
The adverts feature the four celebrities encouraging Britons to explore UK destinations and ends with the line, ‘No passports. No jabs. No visas. No Euros. No wonder holidays at home are so great.’
The Government hopes the initiative – led by VisitEngland with the support of the tourist boards of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland – will discourage British holidaymakers from travelling abroad during an Olympic year, as host nations commonly experience a ‘sag’ in domestic tourism.
Jeremy Hunt, secretary of state for culture, media, sport and the Olympics, said ahead of the launch which took place at the London Eye: ‘This is the first time we’ve had a national domestic tourism marketing campaign.
‘It is completely measurable – we will know how many nights are booked as a result of this campaign.
‘As an industry and as a Government, we will know whether this type of campaign works and what the return on investment is.
‘That in itself will provide an important template going forward in terms of upping our game in marketing.’
Consumers will be able to save 20.12% on bookings for accommodation, restaurants, attractions, events and transport via a dedicated website, www.great2012offers.com .
While James Beresford, chief executive of VisitEngland, predicts the new campaign should generate an additional £80m in domestic spend and create 12,500 jobs.
While additional 10-second executions are set to showcase a number of other destinations including Blackpool, Skegness, Yorkshire and Liverpool.
Mark Tanzer, CEO of ABTA said: ‘We are very concerned that the Government is sponsoring a marketing campaign that appears to actively discourage UK holidaymakers from taking a foreign break: I’m sure the public want to make up their own mind about where to go on holiday.
‘The outbound tourism industry employs hundreds of thousands of people throughout the UK and generates £27 billion annually in direct spend, making a fundamental and significant contribution to the economic health of the country.’
… with pictures etc at