Cheltenham will be promoted at a specialist travel trade focussed event in Washington DC next week, thanks to our partnership with Cotswolds Tourism and local authorities across the region.
Sally Graff and Rebecca Clay, on behalf of Cotswolds Tourism, will attend Destination Britain North America which is organised and coordinated by VisitBritain. This unique travel event will allow Cotswolds Tourism to promote the region’s international trade ready businesses directly to handpicked top buyers via a series of one-to-one meetings, seminars, workshops, and networking opportunities.
Trade events like this are crucial for engaging this core traditional market and re-establishing strong trade relationships for the future, and the visit is supported by sponsor businesses including the iconic Lygon Arms in Broadway as well as other attractions, experiences, and hotels that are key to the USA and Canadian markets.
The USA is the UK’s largest source market in terms of inward visits and with the most valuable for visitor spending. Approximately 5.4 million North American (including Canada) residents visited the UK in 2019, representing over 1 in every 10 international arrivals and accounting for 15% of spend by international visitors spending £4.18 billion in 2019.
A public-private sector organisation, Cotswolds Tourism is hosted in Cotswold District Council with support from West Oxfordshire District Council. Cheltenham Borough Council (Marketing Cheltenham) is a strategic partner alongside Tewkesbury Borough Council, Gloucester City Council and Stroud District Council. Cotswolds Tourism’s priority is to grow the area’s visitor economy by raising awareness of the destination and generating additional tourism spend.
Rebecca Clay from Visit Gloucester said “Prior to the pandemic, we had all worked together on trade-focussed projects such as “Uncover the Cotswolds” and US Connections. This enabled us to set up a dedicated travel trade website with authentic bookable local experiences from across the wider region.
The pause in international travel caused by the pandemic has meant that attending events like this one provides us with the perfect opportunity to showcase our website and products. I am looking forward to attending this key show with Sally Graff who led the Uncover the Cotswolds project and getting buyers reacquainted with these year round experiences.” Visit Cheltenham features in the literature which will be taken to the event, and the town will be promoted as part of the region as a whole during conversations which Rebecca and Sally will have with international buyers over the course of the week.
Marketing Cheltenham 