Experience Oxfordshire awarded funding to support Tourism Recovery through launch of ‘Escape the Everyday in Oxfordshire’ campaign
Experience Oxfordshire, the Destination Management Organisation (DMO) for Oxfordshire has been awarded funding by VisitEngland to implement a local version of the ‘Escape the Everyday’ campaign to promote Oxford and Oxfordshire to visitors as we move through the government roadmap and businesses re-open.
VisitEngland’s Escape the Everyday campaign is supporting the tourism industry to recover by encouraging consumers to explore, discover and treat themselves on a domestic short break as and when COVID-19 related restrictions allow, and when they are ready to travel.
In November 2020, England’s DMOs were given the opportunity to apply for grant funding to deliver local recovery marketing activities aligned to UK-wide ‘The Escape the Everyday’ Campaign which VisitEngland is delivering. The Awards Panel selected a balance of DMOs representing coastal, countryside and city destinations across England.
The key aims and objectives of the Fund are to support England’s tourism industry through recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic by amplifying and extending the reach of the ‘Escape the Everyday’ campaign to England’s destinations through paid local marketing activity and to generate bookings from the sale of product experiences which can be directly attributed to the campaign activity.
VisitEngland’s ‘Escape the Everyday’ Destination Management Organisations’ Recovery Marketing Fund will enable Experience Oxfordshire to promote Oxfordshire as a destination across digital channels and encourage visitors to book experiences through the DMOs website www.experienceoxfordshire.org.
Through the ‘Escape the Everyday in Oxfordshire’ campaign Experience Oxfordshire has worked closely with local tourism businesses to create content including bookable product experiences for the consumer to purchase. This supports DMO sustainability and recovery during the pandemic, creating opportunities to directly support local businesses and provide increased choice and information for the consumer in planning and booking domestic breaks and experiences.
The campaign will feature a range of new content including videos and photography showcasing Oxfordshire as a world class destination. The digital campaign will be delivered 1 June to 31 July and will drive prospective visitors to the ‘Escape the Everyday in Oxfordshire’ landing pages on the DMOs website; encouraging people to visit the county, with suggested itineraries, attractions and accommodation alongside themes including visiting Oxford, Oxfordshire’s waterways, countryside and experiences.
The Fund aims to allow the DMO to drive bookings and conversion, run paid media activity, track consumer booking data, provide consumers with guides and itineraries, and promote the itineraries through press and PR channels.
All businesses within the campaign hold the VisitEngland ‘We’re Good to Go’ industry standard showing the commitment that Oxfordshire businesses have to adhering to Government and Public Health guidance; ensuring visitors feel safe and confident to visit. Across Oxfordshire over 500 businesses have now achieved the VisitEngland industry standard.
VisitEngland Director Andrew Stokes said:
“VisitEngland is delighted with the number of innovative and high-quality submissions which show just how much preparation destinations are undertaking locally and as they align their activities to our national ‘Escape the Everyday’ campaign. Our priority is to support the industry through crisis to recovery and beyond and this funding will inspire future travel when it is safe to do so, getting us out exploring and discovering the outstanding destinations and quality attractions right here on our doorstep. It will also support local businesses who have been working so hard to welcome visitors back safely, adapting and innovating to meet new ways of working and still providing a great visitor experience.”
Hayley Beer-Gamage, Chief Executive of Experience Oxfordshire said:
“This was an extremely competitive process and we worked hard to submit a strong application for the fund and are delighted to have been one of the successful DMOs to be awarded the funding. It is extremely exciting that our destination is now part of the national VisitEngland campaign and to have ‘Escape the Everyday in Oxfordshire’ showcasing Oxford and Oxfordshire alongside other destinations across England. This campaign will massively help raise our destination profile and will support our visitor economy as businesses re-open and we work through recovery from the pandemic. The team have had the opportunity to work with a wealth of experts as part of this project and create inspiring new content, that we hope will act as a catalyst to inspire visitors back to the city and county and drive bookings throughout the summer period.”
View the new promotional video and find out more at www.experienceoxfordshire.org/escape-the-everyday-in-oxfordshire.
**END**
NOTES TO THE EDITOR:
About the ‘Escape the Everyday’ Destination Management Organisations’ Recovery Marketing Fund (“the Fund”)
VisitEngland, as the tourism delivery partner for the GREAT Campaign, launched in September 2020 the UK-wide domestic marketing campaign, Escape the Everyday. The campaign aims to support the UK’s tourism industry to recovery by encouraging consumers to explore, discover and treat themselves on a UK short break as and when COVID-19 related restrictions allow and when they are ready to travel.
The Fund provided the opportunity for England’s DMOs to apply for grant funding to deliver local marketing activities aligned to the national campaign (in spring 2021).
Experience Oxfordshire is working with local tourism businesses to create Escape the Everyday guides and content, including bookable product experiences available for the consumer to purchase on their own destination website.
The Fund is supporting DMO sustainability and recovery during the COVID-19 pandemic, creating opportunities to directly support their businesses and provide increased choice and information for the consumer in planning and booking domestic breaks and experiences.
About VisitBritain/VisitEngland
VisitBritain/VisitEngland is the national tourism agency – a non-departmental public body funded by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS)
Working with a wide range of partners in both the UK and overseas, our mission is to grow the volume and value of inbound tourism across the nations and regions of Britain and to develop world-class English tourism product to support our growth aspirations. For further information and to access the latest in-depth market intelligence and statistics visit www.visitbritain.org or www.visitbritain.com and www.visitengland.com for consumer information.
Experience Oxfordshire is the official Destination Management Organisation (DMO) for Oxfordshire. We are the trading arm of the parent charity, Experience Oxfordshire Charitable Trust, and are a not-for-profit partnership organisation that is committed to the promotion, management and development of Oxfordshire as a great destination to live, work, visit and do business whilst improving growth and productivity across the visitor economy. The DMO provides essential business advice and support to visitor economy businesses across Oxfordshire.
For more information Experience Oxfordshire go to https://www.experienceoxfordshire.org/partner
Contact:
Name: Anne-Marie Hicks
Email: press@experienceoxfordshire.org
Call: 01865 686433
