Peak launches GB’s tourism campaign

VisitBritain's Countryside is GREAT launch. Pictured at the Library room at Chatsworth are Paul Roden, Chairman of Peak District and Derbyshire Tourist Board; Jim Dixon, tourism consultant; Mark Di-Toro, Head of Media and PR at VisitBritain, Richard Reynolds CEO Devonshire Group.

The VisitBritain tourism agency has included the Peak District among other beautiful UK settings to be part of the first year of its campaign to highlight Britain’s countryside to the world.

And the launch of the £3m campaign got underway at Chatsworth House, at Baslow, on Thursday, January 29, with tourism minister Helen Grant.

VisitBritain Chief Executive Sally Balcombe said: “We want to encourage our international visitors to experience more of Britain. Britain has stunning national parks and world heritage sites but they are being overlooked by many overseas visitors. We want to package and sell our countryside to potential tourists. Our ambition is to generate an extra £70m in international visitor spend over three years. Our launch to the British industry is a chance to show how local tourism businesses can get involved with the campaign and help us boost local economies and their profitability.”

VisitBritain’s campaign aims to generate extra visitor spend of £70m which could see the creation of 1,296 jobs by 2018. Britain is ranked 20th out of 50 countries for being rich in natural beauty in the 2014 Anholt-Gfk Nation Brand Index, but VisitBritain research shows a wide range of international visitors enjoy our countryside.

Tourism Minister Helen Grant: “We’ve some of the most outstanding areas of natural beauty and this Countryside is Great campaign will champion rural Britain so that more tourists come and experience it for themselves. We are enjoying record tourism growth in the UK but I want us to do all we can to keep up this momentum and create more jobs as part of our long-term economic plan.”