Best of Britain & Ireland 2009, a brand new event allowing Britain and Ireland’s tourism industry to showcase its offering to the travel trade and, for the first time, consumer audiences, has kick started a major campaign to entice exhibitors and trade visitors and raise awareness of the show.

Best of Britain & Ireland 2009 is a four-day event taking place at London ExCel, London from 26 - 29 March next year, comprising the two-day business focussed Best of Britain & Ireland Travel Trade Forum followed by a two-day consumer event which will be a showcase of the domestic tourism experience.

Best of Britain & Ireland Travel Trade Forum is a major step forward in domestic tourism. As a high-profile platform for all that’s best in travel and tourism in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, it is an exciting and innovative successor to British Travel Trade Fair.

The trade event will deliver over 3,000 of the best buyers both domestically and from overseas. Highlights include a dedicated programme of seminars and workshops relevant to all areas of the industry, an innovative personal agenda planner allowing exhibitors and trade buyers to structure their appointments and networking areas tailored to different trade sectors. It also offers fantastic value for money, as exhibitors will be able to stay at no extra charge to showcase their product at the consumer show that follows over the weekend.

The consumer event is expected to attract over 20,000 visitors and will invite visitors to explore the best of Britain and Ireland’s holiday offering, celebrating the heritage, flavours, adventure, countryside, coast and luxury of all areas of the country. There will be shows, interactive demonstrations and tastings to bring the experience to life.

In partnership with VisitBritain, and with the support of the regional and national tourist boards and a range of industry partners including major domestic travel trade media and trade associations, the event promises to be an event for successful trading.

The sales and marketing teams from Best of Britain & Ireland 2009 have embarked on a proactive outreach programme to all sectors of the industry to ensure that the event is as well attended and successful as possible. They are travelling around the country to meet with key industry representatives including tourist board, hospitality, attraction, transport, tour operator and travel agent partners.

They have also appointed leading international PR consultancy Fleishman-Hillard to deliver a strategic, momentum-building trade and stakeholder PR campaign as well as a consumer awareness drive.

Fleishman-Hillard’s appointment, which followed a competitive pitch, is a key part of the Best of Britain & Ireland Travel Trade Forum’s strategy to communicate the compelling reasons to exhibit at and visit the event. The campaign will capitalise on the many fun and unusual activities, places and traditions that Britain and Ireland are home to, and that will be showcased at the event, as well as focussing on the educational benefits of the show.

Angie Watson, Event Director, Best of Britain & Ireland said: "2009 is going to be an important year for domestic tourism and so we’re excited to be launching this new format event at time when holidaying at home could not be more relevant. We see the combination of VisitBritain’s support and an increasingly interactive and trade-friendly format as a winning formula. We are confident that exhibiting partners will be able to do some serious business on the first two days of the event and that they will also reap the benefits of being able to market directly to the consumer for the second two days."