By Isle of Wight Observer
The Visit Isle of Wight Twixmas campaign has got underway using eye catching images of Island locations and activities.
It is only with the support of Wight BID levy payers that the Isle of Wight is able to conduct a sustained campaign to bring the Island to the attention of visitors to benefit a key industry here.
The period between Christmas and New Year known as Twixmas is seen as a key time for people who are looking to book their holidays for the coming months and Visit Isle of Wight has been encouraging Wight BID levy payers to take advantage of that.
Will Myles, MD at Visit Isle of Wight, explains: ‘We’re going out at this time of year because decision-making is done in that Twixmas period. People sit down, have their Christmas dinner, have their Boxing Day and then they sit and look at the various places they want to go and stay, and [see] what’s new for people and we will be there looking at getting people to come to the Island. There’s various offers out there from our providers on the Island and it’s about teasing people to come to the Isle of Wight.’
This year, Visit Isle of Wight is reaching out to new markets further north in the UK to attract new business, while partner organisations will be consolidating the impact from previous campaigns that have been concentrated a little closer to home.
A combination of email newsletters, advertising bill boards, website and Facebook advertising campaigns will be delivered over a few weeks.
Will Myles says the Island is still only a four hour journey away for many people: ‘We are going out in search of new customers for the Island. So, therefore we’re taking our message a little bit further north this time. We’re going to be targeting areas in and around Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Sheffield, [and] Leicester in order that we can get that message over and people can come down to the Island.’
Recent research carried out on behalf of Visit Isle of Wight showed that many potential visitors were aware of some of the activities available, but weren’t aware of one of the Island’s most spectacular natural resources, as Will explains:
‘We’ve done some research recently. We have people that are saying that they didn’t realize that the Island has beaches! So, we’ve actually put a massive amazing shot of Compton Bay across all of our advertising, showing people on the beach. It’s an amazing image, it could be any one of the tropical beaches anywhere in the world, and it is Compton Bay.’
The Visit Isle of Wight Slow Travel Guide, released in the summer of 2019, will also be given traction as new ways to experience the Island are highlighted.
Will explains that it is another important aspect of the Twixmas campaign: ‘We’re also looking at how people can come to the Island, the imagery of people cycling across the Island. This is an amazing place to come and cycle, to come and walk, enjoy the slow travel approach across the Island. You can scratch that surface and go to where the locals go and go to the places that are off that beaten track just a little bit and that’s another message that we’re going to be putting out.’
