Bath’s destination marketing organisation, Bath Tourism Plus, (BTP) is set to invest an additional £1m into promoting Bath and North East Somerset over the next three years after receiving £500,000 from the Government’s Regional Growth Fund (RGF). The additional funding will support marketing campaigns which will seek to attract high-spending, short break and premium shoppers and help grow the value of Bath’s visitor economy.
Bath is one of a number of destinations in England that has been allocated additional funds through RGF to support destination marketing campaigns designed to bring new visitor spending and associated jobs to the area. The money will bring added support for Bath’s forthcoming campaigns such as this autumn’s Great Bath Feast and extensive Christmas and Spring marketing activities.
Neighbouring Bristol has also benefitted from the RGF, being allocated an additional £500,000 over the next three years, which will also be topped up to £1m by Destination Bristol.
Here in Bath BTP, who have recently appointed a new chairman, Matt Davis, sales director of QA Systems, will be working closely with partners across the industry, in particular the Bath Business Improvement District (BID).
BTP’s Marketing Strategy sets out ambitious growth targets which they hope will add an additional £43m into the visitor economy by 2014. In a new collaboration with Bath BID, BTP will deliver marketing campaigns which will see Bath promoted both nationally and regionally through press advertising, digital marketing, and outdoor sites together with an extensive PR programme.
VisitEngland chief executive James Berresford said: “The RGF money is a huge boost for tourism in England. This project enables our public and private sector partners to work together to stimulate tourism and ultimately grow jobs throughout the country with particular emphasis on some local areas. This is a great time to launch and we hope that by riding on the crest of a wave of a successful London 2012 Olympic Games we will harness the swell of national pride and inspire Brits to take the home advantage and holiday at home this year and beyond.”
Nick Brooks-Sykes, chief executive at Bath Tourism Plus said: “This investment acknowledges the real value of Bath’s visitor economy and its ability to deliver real economic growth. By producing innovative and effective campaigns, we will be able to realise our ambition of raising the value of day visitors by 9%, growing domestic overnight visitors by the same amount and increasing business event delegates to 169,000, so that by 2014, tourism will be worth £400m to the local economy.”
Andrew Cooper, Bath Business Improvement District Manager said: “Working in partnership with Bath Tourism, we can ensure that the Bath BID’s resources are maximised and this delivers real value for our levy payers. Collaborative marketing campaigns will promote Bath to our key audiences and will aim to drive additional high spending footfall into the city’s
For more information of what the city of Bath offers, see www.visitbath.co.uk
