24/11/2009

Capitalising on the Meeting Friends and Relatives (MFR) tourism market, this new initiative will tap into social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook and Flickr, using these sites as the ideal platform for families to discuss and agree their next location to meet up.  See You In York will harness the power of personal recommendation to spread the word about York across the world wide web. 

Mothers, brothers, sisters, nephews, nieces, grandparents, aunts, uncles and just good friends will all be the target of this new social marketing campaign.  The Visit York promotion - ‘See You In York' - will invite friends and families from London to Edinburgh, from the Midlands to the North West, to make York their destination of choice for a get together, be it a shopping break for sisters, exploring the city's world class attractions with grandchildren or celebrating a special birthday for the whole family.

Kate McMullen, Marketing Manager for Visit York said, ‘See you in York is about positioning York as the ideal location for the fast growing MFR market. With so many families dispersed across the UK and overseas, it makes perfect sense for York to tap into this market.  We'll be promoting the strapline ‘See You In York' and encouraging friends and families to send this message to each other.  With some of the best air, road and rail links in the UK and a wealth of things to see and do, we aim to make York the first choice for a family or friends' get together.'

Kate continued, ‘We see the MFR market as being of significant importance to York. In the annual visitor survey 99% of visitors to York said they would recommend the city to their friends or family. This campaign will drive home the message that York is the perfect place to enjoy a special experience together.'

Visitors booking a ‘See You In York' break will be offered three nights for the price of two or four nights for the price of three at selected guest houses and hotels and those booking a four night break will be welcomed with a bottle of Yorkshire Country Wine, to help kick start their celebrations.  Richard Brown of Yorkshire Country Wines, Glasshouses, said, ‘We were delighted to get behind this campaign and what better way to celebrate a reunion than with a bottle of Yorkshire country wine.'

See You In York will run from November until the end of March and aims to achieve an additional 600 on line bookings, generating £120,000 revenue for hotels, restaurants and shops. For more details and to book a ‘See You In York' break visit www.visityork.org/Seeyouinyork or telephone York Visitor Information on 01904 550088.  ENDS

Press Contact: For more information, please contact Kay Hyde, PR Manager, Visit York, Tel: 01904 554451, email: kh@visityork.org