A £15,000 investment in tourism marketing is set to boost the work of a Lake District consortium which is targeting more overseas visitors from China.
The Lake District China Forum, of which English Lakes Hotels Resorts & Venues is a key member, has secured the funding from Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership, the county’s strategic economic body.
With support from Cumbria Tourism, the funding has enabled the forum to team up with Marketing Manchester and become a key destination partner in a new marketing campaign which aims to bring more Chinese visitors to the North West.
Work on the campaign will start ahead of the first direct flights between Beijing and Manchester in June, giving the forum and the hotel group the highly visible opportunity to be represented as a key visitor destination for those travelling between Beijing and Manchester.
The Lake District China Forum members all contribute to a promotional budget and work together to market themselves and the Lake District to Chinese visitors. Marketing activities will include digital and print advertising, content on a Chinese tourism website, engagement on WeChat which has 670 million daily users, editorial articles syndicated to up to 80 Chinese media outlets, a destination guidebook to help Chinese visitors to the North West, content for distribution at travel trade events and a tailored programme of travel trade engagement.
Colin Fox from English Lakes Hotels Resorts & Venues explains: “The forum works to a very tight budget, so we have to be very creative with our marketing strategy. It’s crucial that we continually seek out new ways of partnering, tapping into joint initiatives and maximising resources.
“Working alongside Marketing Manchester is an imaginative approach, and thanks to the investment from Cumbria LEP, we can be at the forefront of a promotional initiative which will fast track our profile in China.”
Visit Manchester’s integrated marketing campaign with the Lake District China Forum will run until March 2017 in conjunction with other destinations to raise awareness of Manchester as gateway from Beijing into North West England.
Graham Haywood, Director of Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership, says: “China is the world’s largest outbound tourist market and the number of Chinese tourists coming to the UK is increasing significantly.
“The start of the first direct flights between Manchester and Beijing means that the Lake District and other parts of Cumbria will become far more accessible to Chinese visitors to the UK.
“This joint marketing approach represents a cost effective solution for the Lake District China Forum to reach more Chinese tourists in both the UK and China.
“If it can exploit upward visitor trends, this will bring significant benefits to tourism attractions, accommodation and hospitality providers, and the wider economy across Cumbria.”