Public Sector: Inhouse PR wins VisitEngland account

PR Week UK, Friday, 26 February 2010, 12:00am,

VisitEngland has appointed Inhouse PR to communicate its first strategic framework in more than ten years.

The agency, which is run by two former Conservative Party staffers, was appointed after a competitive tendering process.

The framework is aimed at ensuring that tourism has a sustainable future in England, and was developed in consultation with key voices from the public sector and tourism industries.

According to provisional figures from the International Passenger survey, the number of visits to the UK from overseas residents in 2009 fell eight per cent on 2008, to 29.6 million, while spend increased just one per cent, to £16.5bn.

Inhouse will be taking the message nationwide, working with various stakeholders to ensure the framework reaches all nine English regions.

Inhouse PR senior consultant Victoria Barton said the agency would be working on a campaign 'that would demonstrate England has a thriving tourism industry that has the trajectory to go from strength to strength'.

Last April, VisitEngland appointed Trimedia UK to launch its £3m Enjoy England marketing campaign. The multimedia campaign included TV and print advertising, and aimed to encourage Brits to use their free time to explore what England has to offer.