Local Destination Marketing - Take a Look "Inside"

This is a selection of recent marketing initiatives from England, Scotland and France aimed at promoting domestic tourism and 'staycations', local collaboration and product development as well as manage domestic issues affecting their reputation and tourism flows.

VisitEngland is "Growing Tourism Locally"

VisitEngland has announced the start of a new partnership project to deliver local destination marketing and thematic campaigns throughout the country.

‘Growing Tourism Locally’ is a three year programme delivered by VisitEngland and local partners funded by the Government’s Regional Growth Fund, VisitEngland and the private sector.

The aim of the project is to inspire Britons to take more holidays at home, boosting local economies through growth in visitor spend, resulting in the creation of 9,100 indirect jobs.

Cumbria Tourism kick start the campaign with its, ‘Go Share Great Moments’ and ‘Go Take Your Breath Away’ options. The advertising will now be displayed around London’s key rail and underground stations aiming to generate late summer, autumn and winter bookings.

A number of areas were selected to participate in the Destination element of the project. However all destinations in England can participate in the programme through the thematic element of the project.

This activity will be focused around groups of destinations, which when joined together, will be promoted under a specific tourism theme.  Themes of all destination campaigns will focus on what England is most loved for including: Heritage, Coastal, Countryside, and Culture including Sport and Literature.

The project also aims to boost business tourism through promoting local goods and services to international conference and exhibitions buyers. VisitEngland will coordinate the project nationally, working with local partners to design and deliver specific activity.

More on VisitEngland.org

Scotland's Invitation to  "GoRural"

Tapping into consumers' growing rural tendencies is at the core of a new initiative launched this summer called GoRural. It aims to increase footfall for Scotland's vibrant rural tourism sector as well as encouraging collaboration between the rural businesses that are its members.

Go Rural aims "to provide information, suggestions and offers to people living in or visiting Scotland's cities to encourage them to enjoy day trips, short breaks and holidays in rural Scotland."

The project started life during the 2011-12 Scottish Enterprise Rural Leadership Programme. Since then, GoRural has been awarded VisitScotland and Scottish Enterprise grants totalling £48,000 - £10,000 of which is targeted at training the member businesses.

Nigel Miller, president of NFU Scotland, one of GoRural's project partners, states: "Over the past few years, fantastic diversified farm and rural businesses have opened up to visitors. There is a genuine focus on providing a great experience and developing unique local features and skills. GoRural is the next stage; adding value by building a collaborative network of attractions and providing an instant information pathway for visitors."

A number of partners have come together to help get the project off its feet, including NFU Scotland, VisitScotland, Scottish Enterprise, Scottish Land & Estates, Angus Council and the Association of Scotland's Self Caterers.

As Mike Cantlay, chairman of VisitScotland, stated: "Scotland's countryside has so much to offer...Next year is the Year of Natural Scotland, which will enhance our country's reputation as a place of outstanding natural beauty. By working together and offering quality visitor experiences, it is clear that rural tourism will continue to play a major role in Scotland's visitor economy."

France Fights Back on Domestic Rudeness

Long criticised for their rudeness, the French are becoming more and more annoyed by bad manners according to recent polls and publicity campaigns. Bad manners and aggressive behavior top the list of causes of stress for the French, even higher than unemployment or the debt crisis, says pollster IPSOS. A total of 60 percent cited rudeness as their number one source of stress in a survey last year on social trends.

According to the most recent survey of Paris’s public transport network (RATP), not only the tourists are affected by the snooty and selfish behavior of the French people. Many people from other countries living in Paris are dissatisfied with the way the locals treat them and declared they would like to move to another city and country.

With a new campaign the RATP has decided to put an end to rudeness by launching a campaign that would show locals how to behave accordingly in order to create a positive impression on tourists. The campaign features large ads picturing animals behaving like... animals, before horrified human onlookers. Among the beasts is a sloth who hogs a bus seat while onlookers glare at him, a hen who yells into a mobile phone on a packed bus and a donkey who spits chewing gum onto a train platform.

The RATP also created a website on which frustrated commuters can write their own captions for photos of stressful situations caused by boors.

In France, one of the world's most visited country, rudeness is also a concern for tourism. Atout France, the country's tourism development agency, launched a summer campaign in regions where tourism is suffering to promote service quality.

"We're very aware of the problem making tourists feel welcome," says Fanny Moutel, communications director for Atout France. "We've noticed that there are fewer English visiting places like Brittany and Normandy and the Loire, so the campaign aims to improve the way tourists are treated."

Where English-speaking tourists were once greeted with raised eyebrows and a Gallic shrug, more and more French in the service industry speak English.

Earlier this month on a high-speed train, there were puzzled smiles from passengers after a decidedly un-French loudspeaker address: "Hello, welcome, please greet your neighbor, and may you adopt a zen attitude."