A £500,000 marketing campaign to extend the holiday season safely in Norfolk and Suffolk begins today (August 28) with the support of all the region’s tourism organisations, local authorities and the UK Government.
As part of the UK Government’s ‘Enjoy Summer Safely’ initiative, through September a wide-ranging series of advertisements will appear in national print media, on posters and in social media promoting the two counties as ‘Unexplored England’.
For the first time ever, every destination marketing organisation (DMO) in Norfolk and Suffolk had been working together on a tourism promotion when the opportunity arose to bid to the UK Government’s ‘Enjoy Summer Safely’ campaign.
Visit East of England Executive Director Pete Waters said, ‘We formed a unique collaboration of DMOs, supported by funds from local authorities, to jointly promote Norfolk and Suffolk for the first time because we realised that our collective voice would be stronger when we are competing with better-known and better-funded parts of the country. The UK Government award further demonstrated the benefit of working collaboratively. The campaign is the biggest ever in support of Norfolk and Suffolk’s visitor economy.’
The promotion aims to ensure visitors are well informed, reassure them that businesses and local authorities are doing everything possible for a safe return to tourism, promote responsible travel, and follow Government messaging. It is also aligned with VisitEngland’s ‘Know Before You Go’ and ‘We’re Good To Go’ initiatives.
‘This will give us a fantastic opportunity to promote our tourism offering, extend the traditional season, and hopefully give more businesses a fighting chance of surviving through what has been a turbulent time for the visitor economy,’ Mr Waters added.
The ‘Enjoy Summer Safely’ element of the ‘Unexplored England’ campaign will run in September, followed by more promotion to encourage Autumn visits and bookings for 2021.
With a strapline of ‘Find the paths and places less travelled’, the campaign promotes the two counties’ 9,172 km² of coast and countryside, with lots of space for outdoor activities and the opportunity to get off the beaten track and away from crowds.
The promotion highlights the region’s three Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, the Broads National Park with 125 miles of navigable, lock-free waterways, nature reserves, country estates and parklands, as well as picturesque market towns, chocolate box villages, and hidden gems to discover such as the waterfront in Ipswich and green spaces of Norwich.
VisitEngland Director Andrew Stokes said, ‘Millions of jobs and local economies depend on tourism right across the country and the industry needs all of us to make sure it gets back on its feet. This campaign will encourage more of us to get out and discover destinations and quality attractions close to home, right here on our doorstep. It will also support local businesses who have been working so hard to welcome visitors back safely, adapting and innovating to meet new ways of working and still providing a great visitor experience.’
The campaign is supported by a series of ‘Unexplored…’ blogs on the Visit East of England website and follows a visit last week to Norfolk by Tourism Minister Nigel Huddleston.
With Visit East of England, the destination marketing or management organisations in the alliance are:
Suffolk: Visit Suffolk, The Suffolk Coast, All About Ipswich, Discover Newmarket, Bury St Edmunds and Beyond.
Norfolk: Visit Norfolk, Great Yarmouth Tourism and Business Improvement Area, Visit Norwich, Visit the Broads, Visit West Norfolk, Visit North Norfolk, Norfolk and Suffolk Tourist Attractions, Where To Go In North Norfolk, Broads Authority.
