Howard Steele of the British Consulate (who says he travels for culture) with Patrice Geske of the Globus family of brands and Gavin Landry
Susan le Jeune d'Allergeershecque and Gavin Landry in front of the GREAT sign
Discoveries: another great reason to travel – especially to Britain!
Chances are you are reading this because you love to travel – we all are, after all, in the business. But have you ever thought about why exactly you do choose to travel?
VisitBritain has thought long and hard about exactly that. That’s why the international marketing arm for all things touristic in the UK has researched what influences people of different nationalities to choose as their destination for -- as they say in the UK -- their “hols.”
The results of the research are showcased in a new ad campaign, allowing VisitBritain to appeal to its markets worldwide with a tailored pitch to each, based on what the various nationalities stated were their passion points.
The campaign launch was held at Toronto’s upscale Spoke Club and hosted by British High Commissioner Susan le Jeune d’Allegeershecque and Gavin Landry, the new Executive Vice-President for the Americas for VisitBritain.
As tour operator and media guests nibbled on the best of British munchies including mini portions of Welsh lamb, Scottish salmon, fish and chips, cheese and sweeties, we learned that tourism is incredibly important to the British economy, employing over 3 million people.
And as always, the tourism pros will be doing all they can to convince Canadians and other visitors to the UK that there is indeed more than London, a perennial challenge.
So: why do we travel? Turns out Canadians are interested in food and drink, discoveries and adventure and meeting the locals. (Personally speaking, when I step off a plane in the UK and hear the first person speaking with a British accent, I want to hug them. But apparently “Yummy British accents” was not an option on the form.)
Our counterparts in China, interestingly, mention “story books” as one reason why they wish to travel.
The I Travel For campaign will officially launch in Canada later this
month via Facebook and Instagram and focus on some of the destination’s surprising as well as classic sights and experiences.
Martha Chapman Columnist
An OJ columnist since 2006, Martha is responsible for the Biting Questions features as well as special seasonal series. A travel industry lifer known to all in the biz, she frequently covers industry events for Open Jaw.
