Marketing Liverpool is launching a new campaign to persuade people as far afield as Yorkshire to visit Liverpool this autumn. Tony McDonough reports
Liverpool’s main tourism body is launching a campaign to persuade people as far afield as Yorkshire to visit Liverpool this autumn.
Marketing Liverpool’s new drive will use both digital and print advertising to attract visitors to the city in a bid to help its beleaguered visitor economy start to recover from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
It has secured funding for the campaign as part of the Government’s Enjoy Summer Safely programme, which will now help areas of the UK to recover in through the autumn months and into the critical Christmas trading period.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s Eat Out to Help Out initiative helped to push up footfall in Liverpool city centre on Mondays. Tuesdays and Wednesdays during August by 27%. But with that scheme ending Marketing Liverpool is keen to maintain some momentum.
This latest push follows on from the successful Love Your Liverpool programme which was launched in the summer, the first stage of the recovery plan which encouraged local residents back into restaurants, shops and attractions in July and August.
It will target people through social media through what is called ‘geo-targeting’, focusing on people within a two-hour drive time of Liverpool. So, for example, someone in Yorkshire who has searches for city breaks would be shown ads for Liverpool.
The campaign will also utilise digital advertising sites in the north of England and will also look to take advantage of advertising in media outlets in cities such as Leeds and Sheffield.
Until this year, Liverpool city region’s visitor economy was worth more than £5bn annually, attracting more than 60m visitors and employing around 57,000 people. Due to COVID-19 those numbers are likely to be significantly down in 2020.
Chris Brown, director at Marketing Liverpool, said: “While the last couple of months have been encouraging for our visitor economy businesses, we can’t rest on our laurels now.
“As we head into the traditionally quieter autumn months, it’s vital that we attract new audiences from outside the city region. We will use targeted advertising, encouraging people to tailor their visit and experience Liverpool their own way.”