16/05/2011

A new marketing initiative has been launched this week by York's official tourism agency, Visit York.  Taking its inspiration from the success of travel review sites such as Tripadvisor, ‘My York' is an innovative new campaign which puts York's visitors in the driving seat, offering them the opportunity to advise new visitors on the highlights as well as the undiscovered gems of the city.

Following the announcement that York has been voted the nation's favourite small city, Visit York believes its visitors can become its best advocates - a fact supported by research which shows an impressive 99% of visitors to York would recommend York to a friend or relative.

History, stunning architecture, friendly people and the general feel of the city were listed as the things the British public liked the most about York, in a recent independent poll, commissioned by the Rough Guide.  Now, throughout the year, visitors will be encouraged to let Visit York and potential travellers from the UK and across the globe know what it is that they love most about York, be it the city's world famous Minster or an afternoon tea at Betty's Café Tea Rooms.

Social media activity on Twitter and Facebook will encourage York fans to post their top tips online at www.facebook.com/visityork and at twitter.com/visityork.  Liz Moon, Marketing Manager at Visit York said, ‘Essentially, we want to make it easy for visitors to become advocates of York. We will be enlisting visitors to join the conversation and feed back on their experiences by traditional and social media channels, so helping our 7 million visitors get the most of out their stay here and also encouraging new visitors to experience York for the first time.'

The ‘My York' campaign will run throughout 2011, supported by a summer ‘I Love York' advertising promotion. World class visitor attractions, shopping and a focus on key events and festivals will be a prominent part of the campaign, which will also include a host of special offers at restaurants, hotels and attractions which visitors can download from http://www.visityork.org/ .  A new York holiday video will also be launched in June, titled, ‘My York Favourites', incorporating visitors' tips for the city and promoted online.  Liz added, ‘this new campaign for 2011 will ensure that York capitalises on the staycation trend and the current demand for good value for money'.  ENDS