News: Gatwick Airport works to bring in US visitors
Flights > News > # 325 (16/03/2005)
BAA Gatwick unites with tourism partners to attract American travellers
16 March 2005
BAA Gatwick is investing with tourism partners; Tourism South East, Kent Tourism Alliance, Visit Britain, Visit London and Continental Airlines in a new campaign aiming to encourage more affluent Americans to visit the South East of England. This is the first time that all the partners have joined together to undertake such a high profile US initiative.
The £180,000 plus US "Good Living" campaign will target the discerning and high spending, American traveller. Britain is rated as the fourth most popular international destination for Americans and is one of the largest overseas markets to visit the South East of England, in both traveller numbers and visitor spend.
The campaign will focus on the "Good Living" appeal of the South East of England, showcasing the opportunities for American travellers to enjoy culture, heritage, gourmet dining, spa hotels and resorts within the region, using Gatwick as the stress free and relaxed gateway to the region.
Gatwick is being positioned as the airport of choice for the discerning traveller, offering the brightest welcome and the premier gateway to the South East of England. Gatwick provides easy access to the whole region with around 900 daily train services, the dedicated and direct Gatwick Express service to central London and fast motorway access.
Paul Griffiths, Managing Director, BAA Gatwick commented at the launch of this initiative: "The campaign enables us to work closely with our tourism partners and with one of our leading US airlines, Continental Airlines. By working together, to encourage US visitors to the region, we will be making a positive contribution to further developing inbound tourism and to delivering tangible benefits to the local economy in terms of visitor spend. We have invested £50,000 in this campaign to generate inbound tourism. The US route network is a core market for us at Gatwick and I am keen to see transatlantic passenger numbers continue to grow."
Gatwick's latest February passenger figures showed that just over 2 million people travelled through the airport, up 9.5% on the previous year. Strong growth was achieved in the North American market, with over 243,000 passengers travelling between Gatwick and the US, representing 12% of all passengers who travelled in February 2005.
The US network is one of Gatwick's core markets, 7 airlines operate 25 daily flights, to 14 cities across the US. 4.5 million people travelled between the US and Gatwick last year. This summer additional services will be operated to Newark with Continental Airlines.
Bob Collier, Managing Director, Tourism South East, said: "We are hoping that by working together on this high profile and targeted campaign we can highlight the region's rich and diverse tourism attractions, high quality accommodation, fine dining opportunities and easy access through Gatwick airport, so that Americans will want to experience the Good Life in the South East of England."
The main format of the campaign is web based and e marketing driven, in line with increased usage of the internet. 56% of Americans regularly use the internet to research holiday information or book travel and accommodation.
The US "Good Living" campaign includes a range of initiatives such as developing a dedicated website, direct email marketing to consumers, advertising in lifestyle magazines, and working with elite travel specialist, Virtuoso. One of the targets is to achieve a 20,000 strong database of key American travellers names and details.
Notes to editor
Gatwick – US scheduled route network
Houston, Cleveland, Newark Continental Airlines
Charlotte, Philadelphia US Airlines
Atlanta, Cincinnati Delta
Dallas Fort Worth, Raleigh Durham American Airlines
Detroit, Minneapolis North West
Atlanta, Dallas Fort Worth, Houston, Orlando, Tampa British Airways
Orlando, Las Vegas Virgin Atlantic
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