New Escape the Everyday campaign showcases city staycations

VisitEngland, together with the tourism organisations of London, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, is launching the next phase of its UK-wide campaign to boost domestic day trips and staycations ahead of the peak summer season.

The ‘Escape the Everyday’ campaign, which first launched in autumn 2020, showcases destinations, visitor attractions and experiences across the UK to rebuild demand for domestic trips.

This next phase of the campaign ‘Escape the Everyday – Enjoy the UK this Summer,’ with the theme ‘reconnecting with people and places’, has a focus on cities and city visitor attractions as well as regional gateways which have been particularly hard hit by the lack of international visitors.

The £5 million campaign started this week with a short video and branded content across social media with ‘on demand’ television advertising from 25 May.

It also wants tourism businesses, visitor attractions and destinations across the UK to get involved.

The tourism agency’s latest forecasts show that domestic tourism spending is estimated this year at £51.4 billion, which is just over half of the £91.6 billion in 2019.

Last year alone saw about two-thirds of the value wiped off the domestic tourism industry in Britain, representing a £58 billion loss to the economy.

Its forecast for inbound tourism spending in the UK this year is £6.2 billion, less than a quarter of the £28.4 billion in 2019.

"Our tourism and hospitality sector has faced unprecedented challenges over the past year, which is why we’ve already provided £25 billion in support, including £5 billion in VAT cuts," said Tourism Minister Nigel Huddleston.

VisitEngland Director of Marketing Clare Mullin said: "By highlighting the quality and diversity of tourism products, destinations and experiences, we want to inspire people to explore what’s here on our doorstep, and to reconnect with places they love."

A free Escape the Everyday campaign toolkit is available for destinations and tourism businesses across the UK with campaign information, highlighting ways to get involved and marketing materials that can be adapted to promote local products and services.

VisitEngland’s latest domestic consumer sentiment research showed that while bookings for domestic trips for spring had accelerated, with just over half of domestic trips planned between May and June booked, the summer months are slower with just under a third of trips between July to September booked, suggesting a ‘wait and see’ approach.

More than 47,000 businesses across the UK have signed up to the ‘We’re Good To Go’ industry standard reassuring customers, staff and local residents that the correct procedures and processes are in place to welcome them back safely.

The ‘Escape the Everyday – Enjoy the UK this Summer’ campaign is part of the UK Government’s GREAT Britain and Northern Ireland campaign.