The England’s Historic Cities consortium has secured new investment from VisitEngland. England’s Historic Cities, which includes Experience Oxfordshire and Visit Greenwich has secured further investment from the Discover England Fund for their innovative England Originals project. The project was created in 2018 to encourage more US visitors to explore regional England and has already benefited from over £1m of investment from the fund. This new investment will be used to promote the cities to domestic audiences in 2021 to help with recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.
England Originals brings together 16 of England’s historic destinations under one brand umbrella and promotes them to younger audiences. It does this by combining story-telling and augmented reality with a visitor offer that emphasises fun activities and new experiences set against a backdrop of some of England’s iconic heritage locations. The new investment will be used to enhance and expand the visitor offer, produce new inspirational content and deliver a consumer marketing campaign in early 2021. It will also support ongoing collaboration with US tour operators and travel agents for when travel restrictions are lifted, and international visitors are able to return.
Hayley Beer-Gamage, Chief Executive of Experience Oxfordshire said, “We are delighted that England Originals has received this investment. Our businesses need help and support to survive the pandemic and it is a welcome boost in difficult times. We look forward to highlighting even more of the wonderful experiences that Oxford has to offer younger visitors and attracting more of them to our city and surrounding areas.”
Barrie Kelly, Chief Executive of VisitGreenwich said, “We are delighted that England Originals has received this investment. Our businesses need help and support to survive the pandemic and it is a welcome boost in difficult times. This funding provides us the resource to package our Greenwich offer in different ways to increase our appeal to the millennial audience. We will be working with our partners and the travel trade to position Greenwich as the most obvious and appealing destination to base visitor to London for the foreseeable future.”
Melanie Sensicle, Chair of England’s Historic Cities said, “To secure a fifth year of funding from the Discover England Fund is fantastic and a testament to the strength of our partnership. We are an example of what can be achieved when destinations work together, and we look forward to introducing England Originals to domestic visitors.
VisitEngland Director Andrew Stokes said, “Millions of jobs and local economies depend on tourism right across the country and the industry needs all of us to makr sure it gets back on its feet. This funding will encourage people to get out and discover the outstanding destinations and quality attractions on our doorstep and also keep England’s tourism products and experiences front-of-mind for future international travellers. Now in its fifth year the Discover England Fund is all about embedding these amazing tourism products and reaching new audiences to drive visitors growth and boost local ecnomies.”
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