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To coincide with English Tourism Week the UK and Europe’s biggest visitor attraction operator, Merlin Entertainments has linked with national tourist board, VisitEngland, to launch their first ever joint marketing campaign. The £600,000 campaign kicks off 12 March and will run on air for three weeks with a schedule which will include 20 second peak time TV ads; e-shots; and online advertising to target social networking and influential blog sites; supported by national and local PR activity all aimed at encouraging consumers to visit visitengland.com/funoffer.
The VisitEngland and Merlin Entertainments activity will highlight a 25% discount on the Standard Merlin Annual Pass, a promotion developed especially for the campaign. The Merlin Annual Pass gives 12 months access to all Merlin’s 25 iconic English attractions (which will increase to 26 with the opening of an observation tower in Weymouth in time for the Olympic yachting crowds to enjoy); as well as other offers in the 4 hotels Merlin has across 3 of their Resort Theme Parks – Alton Towers; Chessington World of Adventures and, from next week, LEGOLAND Windsor. Merlin’s attractions also include the EDF Energy London Eye; SEA LIFE, Warwick Castle, Madame Tussauds, Thorpe Park, Dungeons, LEGOLAND Discovery Centre, and the Blackpool Tower.
The campaign supports the wider Holidays at Home are GREAT campaign launched earlier this week, aimed at inspiring UK residents to take advantage of 2012’s incredible events like the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, the Torch Relay, the Cultural Festival, and book a holiday at home during this momentous year.
Commenting, Lady Cobham, VisitEngland’s Chairman said “We are particularly excited by this partnership with Merlin, one of our most exciting and dynamic leisure organisations offering world-class attractions throughout the UK. Now is the time to holiday at home – there is no comparison anywhere else in the world with what is happening here in the UK this year.”
Merlin Entertainments CEO Nick Varney, said “The UK is where Merlin began, and many of our best known and biggest attractions are here. We strongly support the Government’s efforts to encourage domestic as well as international tourism – not least because a successful tourist industry is also the quickest and most effective way to create new jobs, particularly for young people. Indeed as the theme park season begins we are ourselves recruiting for several thousand jobs around the country.
We believe that events in 2012 offer new impetus for people living here to rediscover what a fantastic range of activities there are in this country, at all price points, and for all the family. We hope too that the success of this campaign, on every level, will encourage Government to go even further in the future.”
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
