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Visitor attraction operator Merlin Entertainments has linked with national tourist board VisitEngland to launch their first ever joint marketing campaign.
Coinciding with English Tourism Week, the £600,000 campaign begins today (12 March) and will run for three weeks. Elements of the campaign will include 20-second peak-time TV commercials, e-shots and online advertising.
The campaign will also be supported by national and local PR activity aimed at encouraging consumers to visit the associated promotional website: www.visitengland.org/funoffer
A key benefit being offered by two organisations will be a 25 per cent discount on the Standard Merlin Annual Pass, a promotion developed especially for the campaign, which will give 12 months access to all of Merlin’s 25 English attractions, which include the EDF Energy London Eye (pictured).
The campaign supports the wider ‘Holidays at Home are GREAT’ campaign launched earlier this week, aimed at inspiring UK residents to take advantage of the range of 2012 events such as the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and the Olympic Torch Relay.
It is hoped the campaigns and initiatives will help attract a significant influx of extra revenue to a range of sectors in the UK economy, with the hospitality industry essential in the package of services tourists and domestic visitors will require.
VisitEngland chairman, Lady Cobham, said: “We are particularly excited by this partnership with Merlin. 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.”
CEO of Merlin Entertainments, 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.
“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.”
