1. Phil Evans Head of Policy and Analysis 11 th March 2014 British Destinations: VisitEngland Update

2. Activity includes a series of multi-channel themed campaigns in partnership with 50 destinations Advertising live from February and March in national newspaper and magazine outlets on romantic getaways, city breaks, outdoor activities, English seaside, coastal escapes and English countryside Wallace & Gromit to launch the third pan-UK ‘Holidays at Home are GREAT’ campaign to inspire Britons to take a holiday at home in 2014 £2million Government funded ‘Great Adventure’ campaign will run from mid- March until 22 April across multiple platforms with a clear call to action to book a holiday at home through your travel agent Marketing news Marketing activity this spring aims to boost tourism

3. VE has commissioned a professional copy writer to produce in-house case studies that will be published on the new website from June onwards- work starts in April! In the meantime, we have employed an intern to do all the ground work and around 20 case studies have currently been identified for publication We are very short of case studies for seaside resorts in particular VE will do most of the work on any remaining projects if these can be supplied by destination managers/local authorities All work will be offered for approval before being published Action Plans Final opportunity to provide Case Studies for Action Plans

4. Over 1,000 events are planned to take place as part of National Apprenticeship Week Businesses invited to pledge their support and join over 200,000 existing workplaces in England which already offer apprenticeships The government is establishing a series of trailblazers, which consist of groups of employers working together to design new apprenticeship standards for occupations in their sectors The hospitality and tourism trailblazer is being managed by People 1st and led by Hilton Worldwide and will develop new standards for two roles in the sector People 1st has also released a practical guide to help businesses understand the apprenticeship reforms in England Enterprise National Apprenticeship Week

5. A second highlight of English Tourism Week will be the official opening of the Jubilee Park in Stratford and the ArcelorMittalOrbit Tower As part of the Olympic legacy, the park and tower will be opening to the public from 5 th April with a string of pre-opening activities in the previous week VisitEngland will be coordinating many of its London activities for ETW to coincide with the opening There will also be a promotion to highlight the work of the Met Office and opportunities to use free BBC/Met Office Apps for destinations and individual tourism businesses Events:ETW A new tourism attraction for London

6. Enterprise Vote for your Tourism Superstar 2014 Voting has begun for the Tourism Superstar 2014 VE has teamed up with The Daily Mirror to find this year’s winner- a short film of the 10 shortlisted candidates is now live on the Mirror's website, as well as an online public vote where readers can vote for their favourite Superstar Over 7000 votes have been received since the voting started on 1 March The 'Tourism Superstar' accolade was launched 2 years ago as part of English Tourism Week and recognises the dedication and passion of those working in the tourism industry Voting closes on 21 March and the winner will be announced on March 29 - the first day of English Tourism Week

7. VE has been working with the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) to help ensure that the interests of the tourism sector are fully considered in the development of new area management plans for inshore and offshore areas To date, the east area inshore plan is now complete with implementation and monitoring arrangements currently being considered Work is also underway on the south area with consultation exercises arranged between Dover and Start Point Destinations and DMOs are encouraged to engage with the MMO to ensure that local tourism issues are properly considered for their areas Seaside Resorts Action Plan Marine Management Organisation: area plans

8. philip.evans@visitengland.org For further details of all VisitEngland activities, please refer to the corporate website:www.visitengland.org