25 January 2010

Airlines back VisitBritain cities tourism push

British Airways and EasyJet are to offer low cost flights from 12 European countries to ten UK cities as part of a cities tourism push by VisitBritain.

Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, London, Birmingham, Bristol, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle-Gateshead and Oxford are featured as the tourism agency seeks to drive incremental inbound business in the low and shoulder seasons.

The promotion follows last year’s "See More Britain For Less" campaign which highlighted the affordability of travel to the UK.

The latest campaign is based around contrasting themes of the ten cities with information on traditional and contemporary experiences with a twist, according to VisitBritain.

Marketing director Laurence Bresh said: "The current and extremely favourable exchange rate in Britain means that consumers will be able to get even better value in the New Year sales, not only in London but in other shopping hot spots such as Edinburgh, Birmingham and Manchester.

"The ‘Cities Campaign’ will not only help make visitors’ money go further but it raises awareness of ten key cities around Britain which offer great value for money and engaging cultural experiences.

"Whichever city the visitor is lucky enough to experience, they all combine an incredibly rich combination of centuries of history and heritage, rural landscapes with dynamic and vibrant atmospheres."

BA chief executive Willie Walsh said the airline was in a "perfect position to send out the message that the ‘Cities Campaign’ arrives at a good time for tourists, with the value of the pound sterling still low but the quality of destination in Britain as high as ever".

EasyJet chief executive Andy Harrison said: "The ‘Cities’ campaign gives visitors from mainland Europe the fantastic opportunity to travel to the UK and experience some of the cities which we have to offer."

Campaign micro-sites have bee set up which can be accessed at www.visitbritain.fi/cities

by Phil Davies

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Your Comments (1)

BA ONLY CARES ABOUT LONDON

Whatever Mr Walsh may say the reality is that British Airways has abandoned the regions of Britain. Most potential visitors, on a short inexpensive break, will not transit via London which is BA's preferred route to and from all of Britain. They have already given up most major cities either to the low cost carriers for short haul or a wide variety of foreign carriers for long haul. We have heard for twenty years the argument that it's all about hubs. The truth is BA has always had a London-centric management and could never see the potential outside of South East England. Perhaps Mr Walsh would care to tell us the BA route and timings for every city on the list apart from London. That would soon provide evidence of their commitment to the rest of the country both for this campaign and for British passengers wishing to travel abroad.

By PAUL CONNELLAN, Monday, January 25, 2010