Take a top global airline. Add a top national tourist board.
Result: an innovative global marketing partnership to attract more international visitors to Britain.
On 20 October, VisitBritain and Turkish Airlines announced a new partnership. The partnership will focus at the UK end on Turkish Airline’s five regional gateways – including Manchester, Birmingham and Edinburgh – and at the international end on markets in Saudi Arabia, India and the Gulf.
The idea of the campaign is to inspire new people to see what makes Britain a GREAT destination and explore all the nations and regions of Britain through Turkish Airlines.
It all sounds pretty exciting to me. Turkish Airlines flies to more countries globally than any other carrier. Meanwhile inbound tourism is Britain’s fifth largest export industry and contributed more than £26 billion to the UK economy in 2013.
If you want to get a feel for why so many people are travelling to Britain on holiday – including many from Turkey – check out the VisitBritain “lovewall” or check out the fantastic gallery of pictures at my blog “British natural beauty” from September 2013. If you enjoy superb natural beauty, few countries offer more than Britain (although see also the #reasonstolikeIstanbul I am tweeting from my account @leighturnerFCO). Enjoy.
And if you are a travel agent or in the travel trade, check out the VisitBritain trade website for essential resources for travel professionals from brochures to itineraries to toolkits.
Follow Leigh Turner on Twitter @LeighTurnerFCO