VisitBritain’s see things differently campaign, IMEX Group sustainability report, mia research, & more

This Monday’s Insights (27 February 2023) feature brings you the latest news including VisitBritain seeing things differently, IMEX Group sustainability report, mia research, and more.

Headlines

VisitBritain has launched a multi-million pound campaign inspiring visitors to ‘See Things Differently,’ driving bookings to Britain. 

National tourism agency VisitBritain has started rolling out its new multi-million pound international campaign for 2023 to drive tourism to Britain.

The international GREAT Britain marketing campaign invites visitors to ‘See Things Differently’, showcasing Britain as a dynamic, diverse and exciting destination, packed full of activities to come and enjoy now, with a warm British welcome at its heart.

The first phase of the 2023 campaign, with a budget of £9.8 million, gets underway this week and runs until early spring focused on markets where VisitBritain is seeing strong recovery including the USA, its largest and most valuable market, Canada, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and European markets including France, Germany and Spain.

In Europe and the GCC, the ‘See Things Differently’ advertising campaign – ‘Spilling the Tea on Great Britain’ – uses a play on Britain’s love of tea, through destination images and short films (see launch film here) to tell a fresh and exciting story about the experiences on offer, showing visitors that ‘whatever your cup of tea, we’ve got it.’

From a ‘Festival’ tea theme that gives a taste of Britain’s live music scene to a ‘Graffi-tea’ that celebrates its vibrant cities and cultural attractions. A ‘Surf’ theme shows the adventurous side of Britain and ‘#nofilter’ its natural beauty. A ‘Monster Hunting’ tea draws inspiration from myths and legends including world-famous Nessie the Loch Ness Monster. A limited release of the themed teas, blended by British tea company Tregothnan, will also be available for tastings at VisitBritain promotional and trade events.

In Canada and the USA the campaign, called ‘Fake (Br)it Till You Make It’ highlights the richness of Britain’s regional diversity. The phased advertising campaign gets underway with a variety of local phrases alongside destination images from across Britain. Later in March, a series of short films sees Brits sharing a warm welcome in local accents and dialects promoting their destinations, encouraging visitors to come and explore for themselves. Also from late March, a new online game on VisitBritain’s consumer website, using machine learning, goes live where players can have a fun go at mastering the accents with links to destination information to drive bookings.

VisitBritain CEO Patricia Yates said: “We know there is pent-up demand for travel and that tourism is also a fiercely competitive global industry. Our priority is to build on the recovery we have seen, competing hard in markets where we are seeing strong growth, tapping in to motivations for travel now to drive bookings.

“All eyes are on Britain this year and by telling the story of our dynamic destinations and diverse culture, along with a warm British welcome, we’re inspiring visitors to discover more, stay longer and explore year-round, supporting local businesses and economies.”

The campaigns also plan to capture major events in 2023 including the Coronation of King Charles III in May and Liverpool hosting the Eurovision Song Contest, on behalf of Ukraine, also in May, valuable opportunities to show Britain’s welcome, creativity and ability to host events of the highest calibre.

The campaigns have been developed based on VisitBritain’s research into motivations for travel now, with discovering new and surprising experiences high on the wish list for its target audiences and markets.

Both multi-media marketing campaigns are using a mix of on-and-offline channels including short films and branded content across social media, digital display advertising, for example digital billboards in the Paris Metro, and print media. Content also drives online traffic to VisitBritain’s consumer website with ideas and links to activities, attractions and experiences themed around ‘See Things Differently’ using #lovegreatbritain. 

VisitBritain is working with partners including Lastminute.com in Europe and online travel market place Wego in the GCC as well as paid content partnerships to extend the campaigns’ reach and drive bookings.

It has also called for tourism businesses, attractions and destinations to get involved by sharing local experiences that promote a different side of Britain across their own channels using #lovegreatbritain.

Separate campaigns are also set to run in the USA to harness the growth from this market, with visitor spending by Americans up 40% on 2019 based on latest statistics. A campaign is launching in March in the USA with British Airways as well as a test pilot of a cooperative marketing programme with industry to drive bookings. Marketing activity is also underway through VisitBritain’s GREAT Gateway Innovation Fund to boost visits through regional gateways.

VisitBritain’s latest inbound tourism forecast shows continued strong recovery in overseas visitor spending this year. Its latest forecast for 2023 is for overseas visitor spending in the UK of £29.5 billion, up 4% on the all-time spending high of £28.4 billion in 2019. It estimates 35.1 million inbound visits to the UK, 86% of 2019 levels.

VisitBritain’s ‘See Things Differently’ campaign is part of the UK Government’s GREAT campaign.

The Meetings Industry Association’s (mia) latest research has revealed that one third of organisations in the sector started the year with more confirmed bookings for 2023 than they did in 2019.

According to Conference News, mia’s latest survey of 126 event venues and suppliers found that two-thirds (66%) of organisations have forecasted more revenue for the year ahead compared to 2022.

The feature continues ‘Despite this signal of sector optimism for the year ahead, the research also reveals the estimated value of cancelled business as a result of recent rail strikes to exceed £337m for the sector, while over £550m of business has been postponed.’

The report also provides a look at the industry’s ongoing recruitment challenge as 53% of organisations claim to be understaffed, almost half (47%) have had to reduce their service, with almost eight in 10 (79%) currently advertising live vacancies.

Kerrin MacPhie, chief executive of the mia, said: “While the latest forecasts from within the sector gives confidence that we are navigating the road to recovery well in testing times, we must remain cautious of ongoing challenges that threaten the industry’s recovery. The value of business cancelled due to rail strikes demonstrates just how the UK’s volatile environment can change forecasts at the flick of a switch.”

Reda more here.

IMEX Group has published its first ever externally-verified Sustainability Report for IMEX Frankfurt (23 – 25 May). 

The IMEX Group has tracked and published the environmental performance of its American show, IMEX America, since 2012 but today’s report represents a significant achievement for its German counterpart.

The report for IMEX Frankfurt has been prepared by sustainability partners MeetGreen, an organisation devoted to accelerating the event industry’s transition to a sustainable future. It marks an extension of an existing partnership as well as the first step in an ongoing process of data-gathering intended to measure and improve the show’s environmental impact.

Today’s report is also an important milestone in IMEX’s Pathway to Net Zero. In working with an external authority to validate results, this report represents an important sustainability step for IMEX and establishes the benchmark against which all future IMEX Frankfurt shows will be measured. Previous environmental reports for IMEX Frankfurt have been conducted by IMEX staff only.

The new report covers aspects such as waste management, energy and water usage, event design and also social impact. 

IMEX Frankfurt is currently the only show at Messe Frankfurt to track such a high level of sustainable data and to make it public.

The report reveals notable achievements in waste diversion and energy use, as well as highlighting several opportunities for improvement. These include simplifying and standardising carbon footprint measurement, sourcing more carpet with recycled content and expanding community donations.

As well as benchmarking the show year on year, the report is designed to share the IMEX team’s learnings with the rest of the global business events industry and – ultimately – deliver long term change. A prime example of a long-term shift is the show’s energy use. Since 2012, IMEX has worked closely with host venue Messe Frankfurt to achieve 100% renewable electricity use. As a result, Messe Frankfurt has now adopted 100% renewable sourcing as a standard operating procedure across all its events.

“We’ve long been committed to improving and developing our sustainability practices at IMEX Frankfurt and were able to share some good results prior to the pandemic,” explains Carina Bauer, CEO of the IMEX Group. “However, thanks to an expanded partnership with our sustainability consultants MeetGreen, I’m delighted to share this first externally-verified Sustainability Report for IMEX Frankfurt 2022.

“This, together with our sustainability reports since 2012 for IMEX America, is part of a long-term commitment to the environment. As supporters of the Net Zero Carbon Events industry initiative, we’re also set to publish our roadmap to achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050 later this year.”

IMEX Frankfurt takes place 23 – 25 May 2023. To register – for free – click here.