Insight
Visit Essex is the county’s tourism organisation. The team work to bring visitors into the county to bolster the £3.3 billion tourism economy in Essex.
The brief: “We want to attract more people to Essex for day trips and short breaks. We need to showcase our 350-mile coastline, attractions, hidden gems and vibrant culture. We need an agency to manage our media relations arm and help us gain local and national press coverage.”
Implementation
We’ve been providing press office services to Visit Essex for the past few years. We have built strong relationships with national and local media, plus glossy and travel magazines.
We develop a hard-working strategy to excite and inspire our target audiences to visit Essex for a short break. Key target areas include north London, the Midlands, plus people travelling in via the county’s airports and ports. Our target audiences are empty nesters, couples, families and Gen X.
Press office: As a reactive press office, we’re always on call. We respond to journalists’ requests for content and images, plus organise itineraries for press trips.
Media relations: We run a series of targeted campaigns to highlight the county’s offer and follow the calendar year. Content is produced monthly for media outlets and can vary from where to go for an Easter break to top glamping retreats in the county. We also work to extend the season by pushing walking breaks to empty nesters in the Autumn, and Spring paddleboarding adventures to Gen X.
We’re inventive and we create newsworthy angles to keep the campaigns fresh. Highlights have included a bucket list of things to see and do in Essex, hidden historical gems of Essex etc.
We also have great working relationships with local influencers, such as Essex Mums, who constantly provide reviews of local attractions and events.
Short breaks/staycations: Each year, we kick off the season with a launch of our short breaks and staycation offer. We’ve launched from the harbourside in Brightlingsea to showcase our stunning estuaries and coastline. Our launches attract mass regional coverage, and also act as a spur for national titles, such as The Sunday Times and The Sun, to set up press visits from their travel writers.
Food and drink: Essex’s local food and drink offer is extensive. Essex has the fastest growing number of vineyards in the country. For the past two years, we’ve held press events live from the vineyards to showcase our world-class offer. We also work with other local food and drink suppliers, such as Mersea Oysters and Tiptree Tearooms, to build awareness of what Essex has to offer.
Day trips: There’s an abundance of attractions to enjoy and big offers in Essex, from Adventure Island in Southend to Colchester’s Zoo and Castle. We create a series of media releases to keep Visit Essex’s member attractions top-of-mind. We also support Visit Essex with their ‘Big Weekend’ promotion, which helps to extend the season, build trial, and boosts awareness of what the county has to offer.
Impact
- Visit Essex has appeared more than once in every national newspaper!
- 211 news pieces over 12 months.
- Tourism is on the up – it is now on a par with pre-pandemic levels.
- 6 major marketing awards won.
We have been working with Big Wave PR for over five years. The team are full of new and fresh ways to showcase Essex as a top tourist destination and deliver an award-winning service!
www.visitessex.com
