goPEAKS campaign begins in earnest!!

On Monday 25th February, Birmingham and Manchester started to be covered over with 120 6x3m billboard posters of iconic Peak District landscape scenery incorporating imagery or our commercial partners, Alton Towers, Camping & Caravanning Club, Chatsworth, Go Outdoors, Northern Rail and Buxton Water.  This is part of Visit Peak District & Derbyshire's goPEAKs campaign aimed at encouraging people from these two cities to make the Peak District their next holiday destination.  The team have been working tirelessly on the campaign for the past few months, and one dedicated member of the DMO even modelled for the billboards, see if you can spot who on the image below. 

After seeing these billboards, as well as online adverts and press coverage, consumers are directed to a dedicated landing page set up for the campaign.  Why not take a look for yourself!

www.goPEAKS.com

"What did we do about the Olympics?"

Visit Peak District & Derbyshire pulled out all the stops to make sure that the area’s ‘moment to shine’ during the London Olympics 2012 wasn’t just a flash in the pan. Over the last year, we’ve been working hard behind the scenes with both VisitBritain and VisitEngland to raise the profile of Britain, England and the Peak District as world-class destinations for tourists from across the globe. London 2012 offered a brilliant opportunity to set out our stall to the international media while journalists were in the UK to cover the Games – and we were determined to make the most of it.

Key elements in our strategy to attract more staying national and international visitors in 2012 and beyond were:

1. Supplying a huge range of newsy ideas to feature on VisitBritain’s Media Centre for London 2012 – www.visitbritain.com/media - including Peak District ‘ambassadors’ from both the UK and overseas, all keen to be interviewed about why they think the Peak District is so special.

2. More Media Centre material – including sample itineraries based on the Great Outdoors, food, history and heritage and film and TV links, plus ‘Top 12’ lists highlighting our famous film hotspots and some of our quirky and unusual traditions.

3. Highlighting some of our key filming locations for TV and film makers – from Chatsworth and Haddon Hall to the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site.

4. Chartering a carriage on the Orient Express at the invitation of VisitEngland to meet 200 overseas journalists and persuade them to introduce their readers to the pleasures of holidaying in the Peak District. As well enjoying a four-hour luxury excursion through beautiful English countryside and a mouthwatering English meal, the journalists were treated to Bakewell Pudding inspired chocolates made by Hope Valley-based Cocoadance and Bakewell Pudding inspired cupcakes made by Emma Mitchell Cakes of Hollingwood, Chesterfield. They could also win bottles of still and sparkling wine from Renishaw Hall & Gardens and real ale from Thornbridge Brewery, Bakewell, in a ‘foodie’ prize draw. And they had a Peak District branded tube of Love Hearts, made by Swizzels Matlow Ltd of New Mills to take home (July 31).

5. Attending a special ‘Meet the Media’ event for domestic and overseas journalists at the Tower of London on Monday August 6. A kind of business ‘speed dating’ to sell the special qualities of the Peak District to media from all over the world at the Tower of London.

6. Organising a film-themed familiarisation visit to the Peak District for journalists in partnership with VisitEngland, looking forward to the 200^th anniversary of the publication of Jane Austen’s novel Pride and Prejudice in 2013. The weekend included a visit to Chatsworth, an outdoor screening of Pride and Prejudice as part of the Summer Nights Outdoor Film Festival at Kedleston Hall, a picnic of local produce and a visit to Haddon Hall (August 18/19).

New Publications for this year

As well as producing the Peak District Holiday guide, the Welcome Magazine, Camping and Caravanning Guide and the Active Peak guide, this year we have produced a series of new guides that visitors can collect once they have arrived in region. The new Explore Maps are due to be out for Easter (apart from the FILM and TV one - which will appear later in the year). In total over 230,000 guides will be distributed this summer. These guides are designed to encourage people to explore more or return for a second visit to coincide with an event or festival.

The Explorer maps and Welcome magazine are now being distributed across the Peak District and Derbyshire through a variety of channels, designed to maximise their impact to visitors and residents across a very wide geographic area.
These include:
• Tourist Information and Visitor Centres in Derbyshire, Staffordshire, Cheshire and Sheffield,
• Visitor attractions, museums and all of Derbyshire's 45 libraries
• Hotels, B&Bs, and self-catering businesses who request supplies
• Over 180 cafes, bars and pubs across Derbyshire
• Over 90 attractions, museums, garden centres and hotels across Staffordshire
• 16 key sites in Derby city
• Sheffield International Venues
• 20 large camping & caravanning sites in Derbyshire and Staffordshire
• A new Peak District pub network (in partnership with the British Beer and Pub Association)
The Maps will also be used extensively at events where the DMO exhibits, including the Derbyshire Food & Drink Fair, Chatsworth Show and the BBC Summer Fair at the NEC.

Peak District Toolkit Resources short cut