Covid-19 recovery – visitor economy
Herefordshire Visitor Economy Project
The visitor economy has been one of the sectors most impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic due to government restrictions that meant many businesses closed for a number of months.
Herefordshire Council in partnership with the Herefordshire Business Board has secured £444,220 from the Marches LEP to support Covid-19 recovery focused on the visitor economy through a campaign promoting the county as a great place for day and overnight visits.
An independent project steering group has been established, with all governance and procurement decisions taken in accordance with Herefordshire Council’s processes. The project will run until the end of March 2021.
The Covid Tourism Recovery Steering Group
The Covid Tourism Recovery Steering Group has a private sector chair with members including representatives from Herefordshire Council, the Herefordshire Business Board as well as individuals from a cross-section of tourism businesses.
The role of the steering group is to:
- Establish the approach to the delivery of the project
- Develop briefs and a ‘concept’ strategy to inform the appointment of creative agencies
- Ensure the project’s successful delivery
Progress
Creative agencies have been appointed to develop the marketing plan and promotional campaigns. A specialist travel PR consultancy has been appointed to handle PR and social media elements. All the agencies are Herefordshire based.
The early focus of the campaign is an update of the Visit Herefordshire website to improve promotion of the county. The PR will focus on press coverage for the staycation market to encourage more visitors throughout the coming seasons.
The first campaign is for autumn, focused during the month of October, called Apples for Autumn.
Tourism is a critical part of our local economy in Herefordshire. All of the public and private sector partners hope that this project will be the first step in supporting future growth in the industry. We are working together to explore the development of a Destination Business Improvement District (Destination BID) across the county.
Get involved
Join Visit Herefordshire – Green and Delicious – a closed Facebook group where updates on this new county-wide project and campaigns will be shared.
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