VisitBritain's new campaign discovers what Canadians travel for

The best of British cuisine was showcased in downtown Toronto last night, as VisitBritain launched its new I Travel For… digital marketing campaign.

With food and drink a main driver for Canadian travellers to Britain, the campaign was launched amidst servings of locally-sourced British foods including Welsh lamb, English cheese and glasses of Glenlivet. According to Gavin Landry, VisitBritain’s director for The Americas, the launch exemplified the targeted approach of the campaign, which will vary between markets based on visitors' interests rather than promotion of the destination.

Gavin Landry, VisitBritain’s director for The Americas

“We’ve known we wanted to go in a different direction for several months and what we wanted to do with this campaign was move it away from destination-based marketing to the consumer’s perspective,” Landry explained to PAX. “That’s how we landed at the I Travel For… concept, because the reasons that one person travels vary from market to market. Canadian ‘passion points’ are not the same as those in the U.S. or China. We’re able to work with the market and look at their consumers’ reasons for travel and then capitalize on that with our messaging and reach in an environment where they’re already consuming content.”

Cathy Stapells, VisitBritain’s marketing & communications manager for Canada, told PAX that in addition to cuisine, the drive to explore Britain beyond its main tourist centres is also a big draw for Canadians.

“Canadians know Britain very well and they want to explore beyond London and the major cities,” she said.

According to Landry, while final numbers are still being tallied, Canadian arrivals to Britain in 2017 are expected in the neighbourhood of 930,000, topping the 828,000 Canadian arrivals in 2016.

And with a Royal Wedding just months away, 2018 is shaping up to be another big year for the destination.

“Canadians love the Royals,” Stapells added. “It’s been driving a lot of interest.”