Even among Great Britain fans, Wales is still a real insider tip. Since 2001 we have been supporting the Welsh Tourist Office Visit Wales to increase the visibility of the destination in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
The Challenge
To promote the visibility and awareness of Wales as an attractive travel destination and thus increase the number of visitors from the German-speaking markets as well as a clear positioning in relation to the competitive markets of England, Scotland and Ireland. We started our work for Visit Wales in 2001 as a full service agency. In 2011 the decision was made to have all markets serviced by a single international agency. Only four years later, expert PR & HWM resumed the marketing and trade representation for Wales.
Our Approach
We have developed and implemented a holistic campaign to increase awareness, visibility and perception of Wales as a potential holiday destination for travelers from Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The main goal of the campaign is the growth of the tourism industry in Wales by increasing the number of visitors and the length of stay of holiday makers from the countries mentioned. This is achieved both with classic PR work, as well as with a wide-reaching B2C marketing campaign and by closely cooperating with the B2B sector, for instance various tour operators. Our activities also include social media marketing, the handling of the entire German language website and support in the organisation and implementation of trade fair appearances, for example at ITB Berlin.
Success & Numbers
As service provider for Visit Wales we have organised an average of 46 press trips per year with a reach of 145 million reader contacts and an advertising value of over £ 11 million, which corresponds to an ROI of 1:157 (in £). Last major project: a 10-page travel report in the magazine BRIGITTE, published in winter 2019. In ten years we have organised and accompanied 52 group press trips and FAM trips to Wales and realised and supported 35 TV productions. In 2001, a total of only 27 tour operators in Germany had trips to Wales in their programmes – today there are over 300 tour operators in the German speaking markets that offer Wales. In 2019, the Germany-wide marketing campaign in media such as DIE ZEIT, Brigitte Woman, Geo Saison, DER FEINSCHMECKER, Laviva, etc. generated a reach of 13.7 million users as well as 77,235 prize competition entries.
Before the stories came the travels. My research trips will always be connected with great memories, acquaintances and support. There are countless reasons to say thank you and, deputizing everybody who supported me, I want to thank Kiki Müller, who carried out the organisaton with the best decisions possible. This made the writing process so much easier.