Valentine's Special: Destination Marketing & Romance

An other Valentine's Day is just around the corner, a great time to have a look at how some destinations are promoting their romantic image this year! Are you ready?  

"Get a Room" in Washington DC

Destination DC, the official tourism and marketing corporation for Washington, DC, launched Date Nights DC “Get A Room,” a five-week long marketing campaign to inspire consumers to visit Washington, DC for a date night or romantic weekend in February. Visitors and residents alike can choose from 33 deals at DC area attractions and 10 romantic hotel packages featured on Datenightsdc.org during February, traditionally a slow period for the city’s hospitality industry.  The ‘Get a Room’ campaign positions DC as romantic destination year round and directly drives consumers to book hotel rooms.                      In addition to the dedicated website, the campaign is encapsulated in a 30-second ad that focuses on a couple in a provocative encounter in a restaurant, turning the heads of their fellow patrons. This awkward moment serves as the setup for the line that comes to everyone’s mind when confronted with this type of situation - “Get a Room.”  The 30-second spot communicates the desired consumer action – booking a hotel room. More: washington.org  

Travel is Good - for your Relationship!

The U.S. Travel Association, the industry's main lobbying group in U.S , is planning a multimillion-dollar campaign called "Travel Effect", with the goal of undertaking and promoting research that shows the benefits of traveling to people's health, relationships and communities, as well as to the economy. The project hopes to find the kind of science-supports-desire research that has been a home run for other industries, such as the wine business. Here are some interesting stats on how travel is good for your relationship! THIS VALENTINE’S DAY, INSTEAD OF BUYING JEWELLERY AND CHOCOLATE, BOOK A TRIP 

• Nearly two-thirds of couples (63%) surveyed say a weekend getaway is more likely to spark romance in their relationship than large or small gifts.
• Just one-third (36%) viewed receiving small gifts the same way.
• And only 15% rated getting big gifts like jewelry as important to improving romance.

LOOKING TO REKINDLE THE ROMANCE? CONSIDER A VACATION FOR JUST THE TWO OF YOU

• More than eight in ten (83%) of those who travel as a couple say the romance is still alive in their relationship.
• Fully seven in ten (72%) of the couples surveyed believe traveling inspires romance.
• Nearly two in three couples (65%) say being romantic is an important reason to travel with their partner

COUPLES WHO TRAVEL TOGETHER REPORT HAVING A BETTER SEX LIFE THAN THOSE WHO DON'T

• Three-quarters (77%) of respondents who travel as a couple say that they have a good sex life, compared to 63% of couples who do not travel together.
• More than one in every four couples (28%) say their sex life improved after traveling together – and of those, 40% say sex together is permanently better after travel.

COUPLES WHO TRAVEL TOGETHER HAVE MORE TIME FOR INTIMACY AND SEX

• A strong majority (59%) of couples participating in the survey say that being more intimate is an important reason to vacation together.
• Among couples that did not take a trip together in the past year, nearly one in four (23%) say they “do not have enough time for intimacy and sex.”

More: traveleffect.com/you

Visit York is Romantic

Romantic Brits are wooed by tourism organisation Visit York to book a stay in York as part of a new multi-channel marketing campaign in partnership with the national tourism body VisitEngland. The new campaign positions York as one of England’s most romantic heritage cities. York, the birthplace of romantic poet WH Auden, is being showcased in a series of high profile national print, online and broadcast media outlets as part of the campaign throughout January. This new marketing activity is set to encourage romantics from London to Edinburgh, Birmingham to Plymouth to book their next break in York. Apart from press and radio advertisements, York’s romantic appeal is also promoted through a substantial programme of digital and social media activity, including Facebook competitions, video content and dedicated Romantic York pages on visitengland.com. James Berresford, VisitEngland’s Chief Executive, said: “This exciting campaign is the first of several launching this year with the aim of growing tourism in England. Starting in time for the run up to Valentine’s Day and Easter, the campaign promotes some of England’s most beautiful historic destinations. “This is a great example of the industry working in partnership to stimulate tourism and grow jobs throughout the country.” York is one of seven UK destinations taking part and will feature alongside Bath, Chester, London, Oxford, Salisbury and Stratford-upon-Avon. More info: www.visitengland.com