Lights, camera, travel: VisitBritain launches screen tourism campaign in T.O.

It’s not Paddington without London, it’s not Downton Abbey without England.

VisitBritain held afternoon tea at the residence of the British Consul General in Toronto on Wednesday (March 5) to mark the launch of its “Starring GREAT Britain” campaign, which celebrates U.K. settings that have been featured in film and television.

Produced to drive inbound tourism across Britain, the screen tourism campaign was first announced in January with a blockbuster-inspired promo that casts Britain as the star.

The action-packed ad, which can be viewed here, draws on iconic film and TV moments from Mission: Impossible to Bridget Jones; Spider-Man to Succession; House of the Dragon to Harry Potter; Paddington to Fast & Furious to Mary Poppins Returns and more.

VisitBritain’s research shows that 9-out-of-10 potential visitors to the United Kingdom are keen to visit film and TV locations during a trip.

“Filming locations are a huge motivation to travel,” said Cathy Stapells, director, Canada at VisitBritain, speaking to PAX at the event. “This campaign showcases destinations in Britain that are the backdrop to all of these favourite stories that people know and love.”

The multi-media campaign uses a mix of channels to showcase destinations across England, Scotland and Wales as the backdrop to stories of action, adventure and romance.

U.K-based productions like Bridgerton, The Crown, Downton Abbey, Blinders, Outlander, the James Bond Skyfall and Spectre films, Paddington, Kingsman, King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, Sherlock Holmes, Harry Potter and Mary Poppins Returns are just a few titles that VisitBritain has leaned on to attract international interest and boost tourism.

VisitBritain is available to work with travel and tourism partners to develop what it calls “screen tourism itineraries.”

And, the campaign directs viewers to a screen-tourism hub on VisitBritain’s website with itineraries themed around film genres, encouraging visitors to broaden their itineraries, discover more regional destinations and stay longer.

More U.K. content than ever

Interest in screen tourism is soaring as streaming services, like Netflix, produce more U.K.-based content, Stapells said.

“There’s more British film and TV content out there,” she said. “We had 30 British films at TIFF last year. It has revved up the interest.”

It’s a lucrative market, too. According to VisitBritain, the U.K.’s screen tourism segment is worth about one billion pounds.

“Around a million Canadians visit the U.K. every year, and often, they go to places like London or Edinburgh. But this campaign showcases more of the U.K.,” said Fouzia Younis, who took up her position as British Consul General to Toronto in April 2023.

The “set-jetting” trend – when people travel to destinations that were filming locations for movies or TV – is real, she said.

“Hundreds of thousands of people are interested in seeing where Harry Potter was filmed, for example, or Lancaster House, where The Crown was filmed,” she said. “The explosion of TV and film, coupled with our first-class U.K. creative and tourism industry, is a match made in heaven.”

The “on location” effect

Wednesday’s event, held in Toronto’s upscale Rosedale neighbourhood, welcomed a guest list of boldface names, including Robert Tinline, British High Commissioner to Canada, Cameron Bailey, CEO of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) and NYC-based Gavin Landry, VisitBritain’s international director.

Other supporting partners included Taj Hotels, Golden Tours, Experience Oxfordshire, Oxford Official Walking Tours, Great Western Railways, The Store and Cineplex.

The concept of the Starring GREAT Britain has “really resonated,” Landry of VisitBritain said, addressing a living room full of attendees.

Landry added that creative industries are investing in the U.K. “in a big way.”

“Not only because we have the talent, but also because most of our filming is done on location [as opposed to studios]," Landry noted 

Virgin Atlantic’s return to Canada

Stephen Goulding, Virgin Atlantic’s new country manager for Canada, was also spotted yesterday, promoting the airline’s upcoming return to the Canadian market.

Virgin Atlantic will launch a new non-stop flight between London Heathrow and Toronto on March 30, 2025, more than ten years since the carrier stopped flying to Vancouver in 2014.

The daily flight will feature a mix of aircraft, including the A330-900, the latest addition to Virgin Atlantic’s fleet.

Virgin Atlantic and WestJet have also expanded their codeshare agreement, strengthening connections from Canada to the United Kingdom and to connecting regions – including India.

Toronto is the second-largest market in North America to London, Goulding pointed out.

“It makes a lot of sense for us to build on this opportunity to grow Toronto to London, but further to that is the focus of connecting Canada to London,” Goulding said, referring to the WestJet codeshare, which will connect 13 other cities to Toronto onwards to Heathrow.

“We’re really excited about everything.”

Visitor spending expected to rise

Starring GREAT Britain comes as VisitBritain shares optimistic tourism numbers for 2025.

As previously reported, the tourism authority expects visitor spending to increase on 2024 levels, with varying rates of growth across major markets.

VisitBritain’s overall forecast for spending by international visitors in the U.K. in 2025 is £33.7 billion, up seven per cent on the spending predicted in 2024.

Looking at the number of visits to the U.K., a record 43.4 million visits are forecast, up five per cent on the 41.2 million expected in 2024.

Impact of Trump’s tariffs?

Amid calls to boycott travel to the United States as President Donald Trump’s tariffs take hold, is Britain expecting a boost in Canadian visitors?

“Until we see the data, it’s too soon to tell,” Stapells told PAX.

“Canadians are really welcome in Britain. We see a million visits, spending a billion pounds, from Canada alone. Canadians are welcome, and if they want to come more, we’ll welcome them more.”  

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