Local marketing campaigns deliver jobs and income boost for England
A locally focused domestic tourism campaign has generated income of £416m so far this year and created 7,744 new jobs.
The figures have been revealed today by VisitEngland for the second of its three-year Growing Tourism Locally project.
Costing a total of £41.6m with funding from the government's Regional Growth Fund (RGF), the project is aimed at inspiring UK residents to take more holidays at home and generate 9,139 jobs over the three year period to March 2015.
The project was boosted last year by a number of regional marketing campaigns in partnership with various destinations, such as the Kids Love Cornwall campaign promoting family friendly breaks, the Have the Tyne of Your Life campaign in Newcastle, and a heritage themed campaign in Durham featuring attractions including Beamish Museum.
James Berresford, chief executive of VisitEngland, said the Growing Tourism Locally project is delivering "fantastic results, creating jobs and providing a boost for tourism" by showcasing a high quality English holiday offer through creative marketing campaigns.
"It demonstrates the benefits of public and private sector partners working together to stimulate the visitor economy," he explained. "After a successful first year the project continues to build on this success in its second year, with destinations throughout the country benefiting significantly from this investment."
Tourism minister Helen Grant added: "These fantastic results show the government's investment in the industry is helping to generate additional tourism spend and creating thousands of new jobs across the country."
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