England Originals Update

A product designed to attract US visitors to regional England, and specifically 16 historic cities spread across the country, including Bath, England Originals (England's Historic Cities) comprises five itineraries that can be enjoyed by train, plus a new approach to interpreting historic destinations through storytelling and technology. Visit Bath is a part of the project.

In development since 2016, by autumn 2019, England Originals was ready to be launched in the US, packaged by US-based tour operators and ready to be promoted by them to consumers, specifically millennials aged 25 to 39. In January 2020, the project reported the following key achievements and were looking forward to a significant number of international bookings from March 2020 and beyond.

The main achievements included:

• Over 180,000 visits to the England Originals website
• Over 12,000 downloads of the England Originals app
• Over $35k of bookings secured (autumn 2019)
• Partnerships with three DMCs and four internationally focused tour operators
• 350+ US travel agents trained on the England Originals product
• Over 30 press articles with a 11.5million reach

With the global pandemic bringing a halt to inbound tourism, England Originals turned their attention to the domestic market. With the help of further investment from the Discover England Fund via VisitEngland totalling £158,000, they have been refocusing the project on UK millennials.

Activity and Results (Autumn 2020 to Spring 2021)

Activity

• Building the product offer to increase the appeal of historic cities to UK millennials by adding a broader range of experiences
• Adding product that is in the city hinterlands, building on the appeal of countryside and outdoors as places to visit
• Reorganising and updating the England Originals website
• Adding travel trade pages to the England Originals website
• Re-energising England Originals social media channels
• New photography and new edits of film footage to produce city-specific footage
• Updating the England Originals app with new products
• Partnership with VisitEngland on their Escape the Everyday campaign
• Maintenance of trade relationships for when international travel becomes possible
• Updating the England Originals academy for US-based travel agents
• Developing a way for historic cities to support each other through cross promotion activity
• Integrating TXGB – the VisitEngland-led B2B platform – into the England Originals website

Results

England Originals has been promoted through two media partnerships managed by VisitEngland:

• The NewsUK partnership resulted in three pieces of press coverage: 'Pinch of Salt' in The Times, 'Have A Go Holidays' in The Sun and 'Step Back in Time' via The Times Facebook page
• The Buzzfeed partnership resulted in two online pieces: '14 Places where the History You Learn at School Actually Happened' and 'Here Are the Best 2 Cities in England to Combine into 1 Weekend Break'. They were delivered via the Buzzfeed website and Facebook page

Results of the above coverage will be received and shared in due course by England Originals.

England Originals has been reinvigorated with the international travel trade and UK-based DMCs through 1:1 activity and trade events. Events attended include ExploreGB and ETOA’s main US event, North American Marketplace. In total in this period:

• 123 trade buyer meetings have taken place
• Eight DMC/tour operator partnerships are active
• 14 England Originals programmes (from four tour operators) are being distributed domestically and internationally

Two critical DMC partnerships with AC Tours and ASA have been consolidated and a collaborative approach to planning and relaunching England Originals in the US with their tour operator clients, such as GCS, is underway.

14 new city-specific films have been produced and over 30 new images taken, despite lockdown.

80+ products have also been added to the existing 166 promoted under the England Original brand.

Next Steps

As the end of the funding period approaches, the focus is on consolidation and putting in place mechanisms that will ensure the England Originals product continues to be promoted and supported through the rest of the year.

Central to this for the domestic market in the short-term is ensuring that VisitEngland and VisitBritain have all they need to promote the cities in their recovery campaigns, adding value to the work done at destination level to support businesses as they look toward reopening. Equally important is the final preparations to establish ways in which the cities promote each other, now and in the long-term, using their existing marketing channels for mutual benefit.

England Originals will issue a further report later in the spring.

Visit the England Originals corporate Induction Learning Platform here.