INTERVIEW VisitENGLAND
Englandspeaks
What is VisitEngland’s main role? VisitEngland is the country’s national tourist board. We work in partnership with the industry to develop the visitor experience across England, plan national tourism strategy, grow the value of tourism in England and provide advocacy for the industry and our visitors with the help of robust research and customer insight.
JAMES
BERRESFORD Chief Executive VisitEngland
www.enjoyengland.com
You must be happy with the publicity and progress made in 2012? Our consumer campaigns have been very successful and the Olympics and Jubilee publicity have been excellent but, ironically, in this country it is still easier to buy an overseas product than to buy a domestic one. To build on the success of the 2012 campaigns, VisitEngland has recently announced plans to work closely with the domestic travel trade, including a TV advert in 2013 encouraging consumers to book a holiday at home with their local travel agent. We are also planning an event next spring to bring suppliers, buyers and agents together to create even more commissionable packages
So you plan to court the trade? Yes. We need to get the trade more involved in selling England. There is great product out there but it just isn’t making a strong impact in the high street. The trade can help us with this. Historically, agents got behind international product because
“Some 80 per cent of Brits are going to make a UK trip this year. That’s a huge number revisiting our domestic product and a
potential for growth we can really build on” Lady Penelope Cobham,VisitEngland Chairman
it paid commission, now however it is time to refocus on what the domestic product has to offer and its potential value to them.
How will you achieve this? Many in the trade see how the demand for domestic product is growing and now we need to show them there is commission
there to be had too. We are acutely aware this is the next stage in the development of the domestic market. We have not addressed it suffi ciently in the past but it will certainly be a priority for the coming year. We are realistic; we are not trying to convert sunlovers to give up on their beach breaks but we know people want what we have and we just need to raise the profi le of English holidays with the trade.
AMANDA COTTRELL Board Member, VisitEngland and Chairman, Visit Kent
“It has been a fantastic year for
England’s profi le. The Jubilee was a great warm up and the excitement across the whole country around the Olympic Torch Relay and the Olympics really was fantastic. Some of our best asssets, like the beaches of Weymouth, the Surrey
We are not starting out from zero but we need to give it more impetus and get the trade behind us.
What initiatives should we watch for? In the coming months we will be launching a training programme for agents in collaboration with Travel Uni. We also know tour operators are very supportive and want to be involved in our efforts to raise the profi le of English holidays with the trade and consumers alike, so we will be working with them on initiatives too.
What’s your key message to agents? Many consumers simply do not know that the travel agent they use regularly for their international holidays can book them breaks in England too. We want to raise awareness of this and make it the norm for travel agents to ask clients who are booking an overseas holiday what they have planned for a domestic break. Consumers may have more confi dence in booking English holidays direct but agents can offer them service, ideas and convenience.
Agents who don’t promote English holidays are missing out on some very lucrative bookings.
Hills and the streets of the capital have been seen on TV screens right across the planet. That has to have been the best ever visual aid. It was a big chance for us and now we have to make sure we do not let it slip away.
“There has been a lot of debate about the legacy of the Olympics and there is no doubt that it is going to help English tourism. Growth is going to happen but we cannot depend on others to make it happen for us; we have to help the process ourselves, not just VisitEngland but all the regional tourist boards too – we all have a role to play.”
www.sellinglonghaul.com • September/October 2012 25
What’s next?
Q. What will happen on the Olympic site after the Games?
A. The site of the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics will be renamed The Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in 2013 and become one of Europe’s premier visitor destinations. It’s the largest new park in London for over a century with upgraded waterways and 300,000 plants and trees
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