England marketing director Mike Bedingfield has been working with brand agency Corporate Edge to give 'destination England' a more aspirational feel. The strategy is called Project Rose.
All marketing materials will carry the strapline 'Be yourself. Enjoy England' and feature images depicting the 'authentic experiences' of holidays in England.
The approach will be used in a 'City Culture' press ad campaign, to be launched by tourism minister Richard Caborn at the British Travel Trade Fair on March 3. It will also be used in a major TV ad campaign in the autumn.
"England is going upmarket. At dinner parties people talk of holidays in South-West England in the same breath as trips to Barcelona or Prague," claimed Bedingfield. "Low-cost airlines encouraged the 'Go generation' to take short breaks abroad. I want the Go generation to come back; to realise there are funky places on their doorstep."
Bedingfield's brief, set out by culture secretary Tessa Jowell in April 2003, is to grow the value of the domestic tourism market by encouraging Brits to spend more on tourism throughout England and throughout the year.
UK domestic tourism is currently valued at £26.7bn a year, according to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
Under Project Rose, VisitBritain will refocus its marketing on what it has identified as the most lucrative types of domestic tourists: 'cosmopolitans', 'style hounds' and 'discoverers'. These groups are described as early-adopters, high-spenders and adrenaline-seekers respectively.
VisitBritain will spend £5m on the promotion of domestic tourism annually. The organisation is creating a roster of ad agencies for this task. A shortlist, expected to feature incumbent WCRS, will be published in April.
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