Press Release 13 July 2017
VisitWiltshire Secures £1m Discover England Funding to Develop The Great West Way
VisitWiltshire has been successful in securing £1m over two years from the Discover England Fund to develop the Great West Way into a premier touring route between London and Bristol.
The ‘Great West Way’ project will be led by destination management organisation VisitWiltshire and is set to transform tourism along the 125-mile route – a quarter of which is in Wiltshire.
This is one of a number of successful projects made possible by HM Government’s £40m Discover England Fund, administered by VisitEngland (www.discoverenglandfund.org). The ‘Great West Way’ project will be supported by 40% match funding from partners in the public and private sectors.
VisitWiltshire Chief Executive David Andrews said, “We are absolutely thrilled to hear that our round 2 bid has been successful. This major investment will help us create one of the world’s premier touring routes between London and Bristol, linking destinations, accommodation, attractions and transport options under a single Great West Way theme. It will include the development of inspirational new content and channels making it easier for visitors to book personalised trips, and act as a catalyst for visitor economy growth along the route.”
The Great West Way is targeted primarily at international visitors but is also likely to benefit domestic tourism.
VisitEngland Chief Executive Sally Balcombe said: “We have been delighted by the many bids reflecting the innovation in product development thriving across the country’s tourism landscape. This commitment to fund the ‘Great West Way’ is the first of a number of major investments that will enhance England’s tourism offer. Together, the successful Discover England Fund projects will boost international and domestic visitor growth, creating a step-change in the industry and spreading the economic benefits of tourism across the country.”
VisitWiltshire received Round 1 Discover England funding of £250,000 for Great West Way activity in 2016/17 to develop and concept test the idea, and to create and launch a Great West Way proposition and brand positioning
Partners supporting the project include Destination Organisations, Local Enterprise Partnerships and towns along the route, transport operators, arts and heritage organisations, ports of entry, World Heritage Sites and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, tour operators, guiding companies, and a wide range of tourism businesses.
For background information on the project and to download a copy of the brand booklet please click here.
For further information or to arrange a press visit please contact Florence Wallace, Travel Trade & PR Manager, flowallace@visitwiltshire.co.uk Tel: 01722 341309 or 07436 588860
Notes to editors:
About VisitWiltshire
VisitWiltshire is the official Destination Management & Marketing Organisation for Wiltshire representing 600 partners. It is a public/private sector membership organisation with our main funder being Wiltshire Council. VisitWiltshire's priority is to grow the county's Visitor Economy by raising awareness of the destination and generating additional tourism visits and spend. Wiltshire's Visitor Economy currently generates an estimated £1.5billion and supports over 29,000 jobs.
About the Discover England Fund:
- In November 2015, the Government announced a £40 million Discover England Fund, an unprecedented opportunity for English tourism. The Fund delivers world-class bookable tourism products, joined up across geographies and/or themes; including integrated transport solutions to provide an end-to-end customer experience.
- The Fund supports the growth of one of England’s most valuable export industries, inbound tourism. Tourism is an industry that delivers jobs and economic growth across the English regions. The Fund supported 20 pilot projects in year one (2016/17) that tested product development approaches. In years two and three, 2017-19, the fund will support:
- A number of large-scale collaborative projects to be delivered over the two year period 2017-2019 that will create a step-change in bookable English tourism product for international consumers,
- A smaller funding pot for new one year pilot projects (in year two), and
- Continuation funding for existing year one projects that demonstrated early learnings (in year two).
About VisitBritain/VisitEngland
- VisitBritain/VisitEngland is the national tourism agency – a non-departmental public body funded by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS)
- Working with a wide range of partners in both the UK and overseas, our mission is to grow the volume and value of inbound tourism across the nations and regions of Britain and to develop world-class English tourism product to support our growth aspirations. For further information and to access the latest in-depth market intelligence and statistics visit www.visitbritain.org or www.visitbritain.com and www.visitengland.com for consumer information.