Visit Herts 03 December 2015

Visit Herts Go To Places Who are we?

To deliver a clear vision for destination marketing in Hertfordshire by: 1.Providing expertise 2.Raising Hertfordshire’s profile as a tourist destination 3.Increasing visitor numbers, jobs and business opportunities 4.Creating a successful and strategic DMS Our priorities profilefootfallrevenueprofitjobs

It adds up... England’s 3rd largest industry Generates £106bn per year Employs over 2.6m people 300,000 additional jobs since ,000 in this region East of England’s Tourism revenue £7.9bn

It adds up Overnight stays and day trip total spends per annum = more than £1.5bn We will increase day and overnight visitor numbers, jobs and business opportunities

Building the brand Business Herts Invest In Herts Live Herts Film Herts The bigger picture

Key potential investors and organisations Key commercial targets – Herts & Minds Group Our strategy Stakeholder engagement Private sector Public sector CEOs and Leaders Tourism officers Placemaking Themed workshops Study tours

Our funding model Public sector seed funding for two years Subscriptions from key investors Funding bids To deliver a scalable DMS

Our funding model To deliver a scalable DMS Public sector seed funding for two years Subscriptions from key investors Funding bids

Our offer Grow your business : Reach more customers and access quality support Success through partnership : be part of the bigger picture Invest in a new website : Rich content Data capture Links to tourism providers in the county Campaigns

Our early campaigns Kick-start the season with a Big Weekend :12-13 March 2016 Explore opportunities for London campaign: Spring 2016 Engage with Creative England on the film tourism offer for Hertfordshire Launch the new brand during English Tourism Week: 5-13 March 2016 Strong social media presence and PR campaigns The Business Barometer Creating County-wide Itineraries

Hertfordshire’s population is 1,145,000. They are all looking for ways to spend their leisure time Residents regularly have friends and relatives to visit/stay (VFR) In 2014, the VFR market in England generated 36 million trips and was worth £4.1 bn. The number of “holiday” VFR trips in 2014 rose by 1.5%, and associated spending rose by 7%. The market is increasing and the trend is set to grow. The Research Why are local residents important to tourism?

VFR Characteristics Tend to be slightly younger than average holiday market Visit often linked to a social occasion – Birthday, Anniversaries etc. Visit often at key holiday times – Easter, Summer, Christmas but also during shoulder periods The average trip length for VFR visits is just short of a week (6.3 nights) VFR visitors are more likely than other types of visitor to eat and drink out and go shopping The Research Why are local residents important to tourism?

Not just another promotion – it is something special that stands out Attractions/venues offer free tickets for one day/weekend or extra special experience Tickets applied for online 2 tickets per household and only available to local residents Attractions have total control – they can offer as many tickets as they want Reaching residents The Big Weekend

Kent Big Weekend What is the success rate for Kent? In 2015: 114 venues took part 21,000 tickets were issued 12 local media partners with £52,000 worth of press coverage 105,325 ballot entries received through the website 75,879 website visits, 1,321,707 page views and 6.41 minute dwell time. 7,390 Facebook posts 250 Tweets 57% redemption rate of tickets over the weekend 2016 will mark the 10 th Kent Big Weekend

Most visited as a family and brought two extra child tickets 56% of businesses saw an increase in secondary spend Secondary spend on food / drink and souvenirs generated over £256,000 additional income ROI 34:1 Value of Word or Mouth recommendation = Priceless ! Post Campaign Research What did the campaign generate?

Herts Big Weekend Business Engagement / Venue sign-ups (Nov-Dec 2015) Online ballot goes live (Jan 2016) Marketing and PR campaign (Jan 2016) Tickets issued (Feb 2016) Herts Big Weekend (12 th -13 th March 2016)

Dedicated website – Marketing Campaign: Posters Postcards E-marketing Social Media PR campaign: Engage local media partners Coverage across local print, digital, radio, tv channels pre-event, over the weekend and post-event Herts Big Weekend How will it work in Hertfordshire?

Get involved We rely on your support and involvement to make Visit Herts a success! Speak to a member of the Visit Herts team Call:

Any questions?

Thank you.