Press release -
Falkirk tourism campaign hits a million
A digital campaign to boost visitor numbers in Falkirk has reached over one million people.
A series of online videos highlighting things to see and do around Falkirk, featuring everything from The Falkirk Wheel to the town’s football team, was given a cash boost by the national tourism organisation last year.
Since then the clips have been viewed over 1.4 million times across social media and via the VisitFalkirk website.
Falkirk Delivers, the Town Centre BID (Business Improvement District), working in partnership with Falkirk Council, Scottish Canals, Falkirk Community Trust, Bo’ness & Kinneil Railway, The Howgate Shopping Centre, The Milk Barn, Scottish Segway Centre and Falkirk Football Club, received £18,300 from the VisitScotland Growth Fund to help create the four online video itineraries.
The group used key themes of cycling, family fun, heritage and night time, for the videos with the aim of increasing the number of visitors to the attractions and promoting Falkirk as more than just a day visit destination.
The videos formed part of a £36,000 digital marketing campaign and were promoted through social media activity and radio advertising along with working with three bloggers.
Tracey Martin from Falkirk Council and Alex Fleming - BID Manager, Falkirk Delivers have praised the VisitScotland Growth Fund scheme in a new testimonial video
It was the second VisitScotland Growth Fund award to the VisitFalkirk partners in recent years, following an award in 2013, which supported a range of activity including the development of the original itineraries that will now become film versions this year.
Neil Christison, Regional Director at VisitScotland, said: “Over the past four years, the Kelpies have been drawing many thousands more visitors to Falkirk, and there is a massive opportunity to extend those stays by revealing just how much there is to see and do in the wider area.
“This award from the VisitScotland Growth Fund has helped some of the great work established in VisitFalkirk’s 2013 campaign by taking the itineraries into the digital realm and getting moving images of Falkirk’s outstanding attractions on to social media and straight into the hands of potential visitors and it is wonderful to see the videos reaching so many people.”
Alex Fleming, BID Manager at Falkirk Delivers, said:“The VisitScotland team encouraged us to be aspirational with the content we created which in turn lead to fantastic responses to the films, the results of which far exceeded even our most optimistic expectations.
“It was also important for Falkirk Delivers to see the town centre linked directly with the attractions and to tell the story of all that Falkirk has to offer as a two or three-day destination.
“Engagement with the campaign proved a great medium to bring tourism industry businesses together and has resulted the industry lead, Falkirk Area Tourism Partnership being formed and we look forward to further strengthening the Visit Falkirk brand.”
In addition to the match-funding from VisitScotland and a further £7,500 from Falkirk Delivers, Falkirk Community Trust (£5000) and Scottish Canals (£3000) also contributed to the campaign. Other financial contributions come from Falkirk Council, Falkirk Football Club, Howgate Shopping Centre, The Milk Barn, Bo’ness & Kinneil Railway and Scottish Segway Centre.
To find out more about the VisitScotland Growth Fund, go to www.visitscotland.org/growthfund
To view the testimonial visit:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ija1yZwhgkA&feature=youtu.be
Topics
- Tourism
Categories
- falkirk
- 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 five overarching strategies: Marketing, Events, Quality and Sustainability, Inclusive Tourism, International Engagement.
- 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
- 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 tourism in Scotland go to www.conventionscotland.com
2018 Year of Young People
- The Year of Young People (YoYP 2018) will inspire Scotland through its young people aged 8 to 26, celebrating their achievements, valuing their contributions to communities and creating new opportunities for them to shine locally, nationally and globally
- Central to YoYP 2018 will be a celebratory events programme that puts young people at the heart of its development and delivery, creating new and valuable experiences for young Scots and the wider public, with links to the inaugural 2018 European Championships.
- Over 200 young people throughout Scotland are currently being recruited to become YoYP 2018 Ambassadors. Ambassadors will ensure that people and organisations in their communities know about what’s happening and will lead on projects and activities to create events and opportunities to celebrate young people.
- The Year of Young People will have six themes which were developed in co-production with young people themselves:
- Participation – looking at how young people can influence public services and decisions which affect their lives
- Education – creating a stronger role for young people in shaping their learning
- Health and Wellbeing – supporting young people to lead healthier, active lives and have opportunities to learn about and improve their mental health and resilience
- Equality and Discrimination – broadcasting the value of young Scots, challenging negative perceptions of young people, and supporting young people to take leading roles in challenging discrimination in all its forms.
- Enterprise and regeneration – celebrating young people’s role in innovation, entrepreneurship and the Scottish economy as well as making Scotland a greener and more pleasant place to live
- Culture – celebrating young people’s talent and contribution to Scottish culture and arts.
- Further information on what’s happening and how people can get involved can be found on the new website www.yoyp2018.scot or @YOYP2018 on Twitter.
