Heart of Devon Tourism Partnership

Marketing Activity 2014 - 15

• The Heart of Devon Tourism Partnership is the Area Tourism Partnership

for the areas of Exeter, East Devon, Mid Devon and parts of Teignbridge. • Our aim is for the area to be recognised as one of the premier holiday

destinations within the region, on a local, regional, national and international level, to increase year round visitor numbers and spend.

• Income for 2014 – 2015:Exeter City Council £35,000Membership £20,000Partners £12,000Advertising £11,000Sponsorship £3,000TOTAL £81,000

• All income raised through membership and advertising is put back into marketing the area

Recent marketing campaigns

LV Cup Final, Sunday 16 March• ‘Rugby Weekender’ page created, promoting special offers over the LV

Cup Final weekend, ideas on things to see and do www.heartofdevon.com/rugby

• Photo shoot & press release

BookEngland campaign

• Lead by VisitEngland, supplementing their existing marketing activity promoting England

• Highlighted product price points prior to the Easter 2014 holidays, to drive bookings

• Experiences uploaded to www.visitengland.com, linking to www.visitdevon.co.uk and member websites for visitors to book

Open for Business Conferences

• VisitEngland provided funding to destinations to deliver a series of free workshops to businesses affected by the extreme weather

Year of the Bike

• Funded through the government’s Growing Tourism Locally campaign • Cycling breaks in England – launched Saturday 14 June• 96 page editorial supplement in the Guardian and online• Press release sent out locally Monday 16 June• Cycling routes, maps and information loaded onto

www.heartofdevon.com, and www.visitengland.com • Cycling e-newsletter• Tour of Britain – Thursday 11 September

Social Media Marketing

• Facebook Likes increased from approx. 600 at the beginning of 2014 to over 3,000 today • Twitter followers 7,700+

Regular Marketing Activity

• Monthly consumer e-newsletters

• Competitions with member businesses, sharing opt-in data

• PR around major events

• Responding to media requests & hosting journalist visits

The Sun, March 2014 Flybe Onboard Magazine, Jan/Feb 2014

Devon Life Magazine, January 2014

Visit Exeter Official City Guide 2014

• 140,000 copies printed & distributed

• Key pick up points include TICs, servicestations, supermarkets, airports, visitor attractions, pubs, cafes, restaurants, bus and rail stations

• Available to download from www.heartofdevon.com

Results

Visits to www.heartofdevon.com have increased by 95% in the past 12 months

www.conferencedevon.com, launched February 2014

Get Involved

As a member of the Heart of Devon Tourism Partnership, you can get involvedwith the work we do by:

• Updating us with your new developments, openings, events• Letting us know if you are willing to host a journalist, or provide us with a

competition prize• Interacting with us on Facebook & Twitter – let us know if you want us to

share/retweet particular social media posts• Checking your website entry is up to date• Sending us any new, high quality images for use on the website & social

media• You can have access to our images for use on your own website &

marketing material• Linking to www.heartofdevon.com from your own website

Future Plans

• Tour of Britain – Thursday 11 September - website landing page

- downloadable routes for visitors to cycle- where to watch the race

- restaurant offers - press release - competition • Photo competition - favourite Heart of Devon event

- uploaded to Pinterest- judged by local professional photographer - prize of vouchers and one-to-one photography workshop in Devon

• Rugby World Cup, 2015