Press release -
Glasgow - Loch Lomond promotion reaps rewards
A campaign to boost the number of two-centre breaks combining the excitement and buzz of Glasgow with the tranquility and stunning scenery of Loch Lomond has surpassed its targets significantly and been hailed a major success.
The Pack More In promotion – the result of a partnership involving destination marketing organisations Glasgow Life and Love Loch Lomond, and travel partner ScotRail – contributed £1.42 million to the regional economy – double the anticipated impact.
It also created 20 million opportunities for people to view its marketing messaging and generated a 4% increase in off-peak return journeys.
With a total budget of £68,000 – £34,000 of which was provided by VisitScotland through the national tourism organisation’s Growth Fund* – the joint campaign ran from November 2015 to November 2016.
It involved a range of activities including digital content generation and digital promotions, the creation of a short marketing film as well as radio, press and online ads, familiarisation trips by journalists and bloggers, and participation in Travmedia International Media Marketplace – a prestigious travel media event in London.
Pack More In, which primarily targeted prospective visitors from Edinburgh and Aberdeen, highlighted the close proximity between the urban experiences of Scotland’s largest city and the beautiful landscapes of Loch Lomond.
It also emphasised the regularity of ScotRail train services between Glasgow Queen Street and a number of stations in the Loch Lomond area including Balloch, which has a journey time of 50 minutes, as well as the variety of special tickets available throughout the campaign, such as Kids Go Free.
Liz Buchanan MBE, Regional Partnerships Director at VisitScotland, said: “The VisitScotland Growth Fund drives tourism growth by making it easier for businesses and partners to work together, and the success of this joint campaign by Glasgow Life, Love Loch Lomond and ScotRail has proved that it works. I’m delighted that the campaign delivered such great results and got the message across that these two unique, yet complementary destinations offer a perfect way to enjoy the very best of both worlds.”
Susan Deighan, Director of City Marketing and External Relations at Glasgow Life, said: “The Pack More In campaign is a great example of Glasgow’s new Tourism and Visitor Plan in action – promoting the close proximity and ease of access between the city and Loch Lomond and encouraging visitors to consider exploring the varied, but altogether complementary, tourism products and experiences available in both destinations.
“Glasgow Life is committed to working with partners like Love Loch Lomond, VisitScotland and ScotRail to achieve the city’s ambitious objectives of positioning Glasgow as the gateway to Scotland; attracting one million more visitors by 2023 and realising the huge potential of the sector for the city and country as a whole over the next seven years.”
Alasdair Smart, ScotRail Tourism Manager, said: “This joint campaign shone the spotlight on the train as a key part of the entire two-destination break experience, rather than just a link joining different places. It also highlighted how accessible Loch Lomond is from Glasgow due to the frequency of train services to the stations in the area and how easy it is to plan a combined trip that offers so much to see and do. We are very pleased with the results of the campaign and the increased passenger numbers it has delivered.”
Karen Donnelly,Manager at Love Loch Lomond, added: “We were delighted to work in partnership on this exciting campaign which has been very successful in marrying the outdoor and urban tourism product.
“Pack More In showed visitors that they can make the most of their precious time off by extending the range of activities they take part in during a break or holiday; they can enjoy both the vibrancy of the city with the tranquil beauty of Loch Lomond, The Trossachs and the Clyde Sea Lochs. The campaign definitely inspired visitors to pack in much more by travelling on from Glasgow to enjoy the great outdoors and I’m sure its impact will continue to encourage more visitors.”
Ends
*The VisitScotland Growth Fund is open to applications from groups of three or more businesses to support well planned, inspiring and new marketing campaigns.For more information on the VisitScotland Growth Fund, please see www.visitscotland.org/growthfund
For further information contact:
Ellen Drummond Ferroni, VisitScotland Corporate Press Officer
T: 0141 566 4019; M: 07801 820757; E: ellen.drummondferroni@visitscotland.com
Topics
- Tourism
Categories
- corporate communications
- growth fund
Regions
- Scotland
Notes to Editors
- Follow us on twitter: @visitscotnews
- VisitScotland is Scotland’s national tourism organisation. Its core purpose is to maximise the economic benefit of tourism to Scotland.
- The organisation’s core objective is to contribute to the Tourism 2020 Strategy ambition of growing tourism revenues by £1 billion by 2020.
- This will be supported by seven overarching strategies:
- Marketing: we will market Scotland and its outstanding assets to visitors from all parts of the world, including the promotion of Scotland to people living in Scotland to visit different parts of the country
- Events: we will support the national events strategy and its delivery, and sustain, develop and promote Scotland’s international profile as one of the world’s foremost events destinations
- Internationalisation and International Engagement: we will utilise all our platforms to enable Scottish-based tourism businesses to better understand international opportunities and market to a global audience and we will work within One Scotland Partnerships to optimise the potential of Scotland’s Diaspora and our strategic partners at regional, European and global levels
- Customer Experience: we will provide information and inspiration to visitors both locally and globally via their preferred medium of choice
- Quality and Sustainability: we will provide support and advice to businesses, with the goal of improving the quality and sustainability of the tourism sector in Scotland. We will provide quality assurance to visitors through our Quality Schemes
- Inclusive Tourism: we will strive to make tourism in Scotland inclusive and available to all
- Working in Partnership: we will listen to and work with the industry, partners and communities to shape our offering and support
- VisitScotland works together with tourism businesses to make tourism a success for everyone and ensure the industry continues to grow.
- The organisation employs 700 people and has offices and VisitScotland Information Centres across Scotland.
- Spending by tourists in Scotland generates around £12 billion of economic activity in the wider Scottish supply chain and contributes around £6 billion to Scottish GDP (in basic prices). This represents about 5% of total Scottish GDP.
- The Scottish Government is the Managing Authority for the European Structural Funds 2014-20 Programme. For further information visit www.gov.scot or follow @scotgovESIF
- For VisitScotland’s press releases go to http://www.visitscotland.org/media_centre.aspx, tourism statistics and frequently asked questions go to http://www.visitscotland.org/
- Where possible, a Gaelic speaker will be made available for broadcast interviews on request (Far an tèid iarraidh, agus far am bheil sin nar comas, bruidhinnidh neach le Gàidhlig aig agallamh)
- For holiday information on Scotland go to www.visitscotland.com
- For information about business events in Scotland go to www.conventionscotland.com
- 2017 Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology
- 2017 is the year to delve into the past and discover Scotland’s fascinating stories through a wide-ranging variety of new and existing activity to drive the nation’s tourism and events sector, boosting tourism across Scotland.
- The Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology begins on 1 January 2017 and will end on 31 December 2017. It will build on the momentum generated by previous themed years in Scotland including the 2015 Year of Food and Drink, Homecoming Scotland 2014, the Year of Creative and the Year of Natural.
- The Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology is a Scottish Government initiative being led by VisitScotland, and supported by a variety of partners including Creative Scotland, Scottish Tourism Alliance, Scottish Enterprise, The National Trust for Scotland, Historic Environment Scotland, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Built Environment Forum Scotland, Heritage Lottery Fund, Museums Galleries Scotland and Traditional Arts and Culture Scotland.
- The Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology is supported by £570,000 of Scottish Government funding.
- The Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology events fund is managed by EventScotland, part of VisitScotland’s Events Directorate.
- For more information visit visitscotland.com/HHA2017 or join the conversation at #HHA2017
