The upcoming film,
Paddington, about the marmalade-sandwich munching, globe-trotting bear, is to be used by VisitBritain in its largest ever film tourism campaign targeting first-time family visitors.
The campaign will show Paddington visiting various locations in the UK and taking selfies, which will be shared on social media. Members of the tourism industry across Britain have been sent Paddington Bear soft toys to feature in their own photos of local landmarks, which will be shared on social media. Visitors will also be encouraged to take selfies at locations around the country using the hashtag #PaddingtonsBritain.
VisitBritain has worked closely with film makers STUDIOCANAL on the campaign and even achieved some product placement in the film: GREAT posters feature on a bus and the Tube.
VisitBritain marketing director, Joss Croft, said: “Paddington Bear is popular all over the world with people of all ages, giving us the opportunity to inspire a wider pool of visitors to come in greater numbers and to spend more money across the whole of Britain.”
VisitBritain will be supplying itineraries for towns across Britain, reachable via Paddington station, highlighting how easy it is to travel across the country by train and where to find the best marmalade.
Based on previous successes, VisitBritain has high hopes for the film tourism GREAT campaign, it is predicted to provide a return on investment of 7:1 and increase the incremental spend of overseas visitors by £1.75m across the country over a three month period.
Indeed, there have already been great results in marketing off the back of films and tv dramas. Alnwick Castle saw visitors increase by 230 per cent, with a benefit of up to £9m extra spend due to Harry Potter and Alice in Wonderland led to visitors to Antony House, in Torpoint, increasing fourfold, to 100,000.
VisitBritain believes that around one tenth of the value of foreign tourism to the UK may be attributable to UK films. In 2011 this additional spending was estimated to be worth £1bn to UK GDP.
