As part of recent sector recovery work, almost 27 million people were reached by Experience Oxfordshire’s “Escape to Oxford” marketing campaign this summer.
The local marketing initiative formed part of VisitEngland’s ‘Escape the Everyday’ campaign to support England’s tourism industry recovery post-pandemic. Experience Oxfordshire worked with Navigate Agency, on the VisitEngland funded campaign, to attract a domestic audience of pre-nesters, 25-44-year-olds with no children, to enjoy days out and short breaks in the city of Oxford and across Oxfordshire.
The campaign reached over 26.6 million consumers, with the majority of engagement coming from London. Activity drove a record 246,000-plus website visits from multiple paid media channels, with Click Through Rates exceeding all previous campaigns. As a direct result of the campaign, almost 1,500 bookable product experience conversions have been tracked, ranging from walking tours of the city to river cruises on the Thames.
Influencers @bymattandabbie and @roamingrequired extended the reach and engagement of the campaign to the target audience, as did an online competition with Stylist Magazine supported by Experience Oxfordshire’s luxury self-catering partner Greyfriars Hideaway. A new “Escape to Oxford” video and image assets were produced as part of the campaign which will be used for further promotion of the city and county.
Experience Oxfordshire’s CEO, Hayley Beer-Gamage, said: “As we look to promote the county, support businesses and aid visitor economy recovery, the awareness that has been generated for Experience Oxfordshire, our partners and destination as a result of the ‘Escape the Everyday’ funding has been incredible.”
“We hope to build on this as we move forward, using the marketing assets and content that we have been able to create as well as the enhancements we have made to the Experience Oxfordshire website shop to further increase bookable product experiences. We were delighted to work with VisitEngland on this exciting national campaign.”
VisitEngland Director, Andrew Stokes, said: “It’s fantastic to see these results from Experience Oxfordshire, with our national campaign being adapted and used to such excellent effect locally. ‘Escape the Everyday’ has been all about driving bookings and supporting businesses and destinations as they continue to build back. This activity has done just that, also encouraging people to take a new look at what’s here on their doorstep.”
