English Tourism Week: 17-25 March 2018

23rd January 2018

Categories: Business News

An annual celebration of English tourism. A series of events showcasing visitor experiences in England. English Tourism Week highlights the value of tourism.

English Tourism Week: 17-25 March 2018

Taking place in spring each year, English Tourism Week campaigns to raise the profile of the industry and celebrate the value and quality of tourism in England. It provides you with a vehicle to kick start the season and promote your local tourism products. Whether you are an accommodation provider, an attraction, a tourist information centre or a destination, everyone can participate.

Submit your events for inclusion on our ETW18 events platform.(link is external)

Take part in our Business Takeover for ETW18 with People 1st.

Support your industry 

The English tourism sector touches everyone – visitors, residents, businesses and employees. It’s one of the few sectors active in every part of the country. It’s the third largest employer, every day supporting 2.6 million jobs and is a major employer of school leavers and young people and an incubator for entrepreneurs.

The visitor economy is worth £106 billion a year to England supporting thousands of businesses and impacting on the performance of supplier industries including farming, transport, retailing, sport, museums and galleries, the theatre and other performing arts. Tourism cannot be offshored – it only happens here! Find out below how to get involved.

What's in it for me?

There are many benefits to businesses getting involved in English Tourism Week. It can:

• Raise the profile and understanding of tourism with decision makers, the media, those who work or are considering a career in the industry
• Increase awareness amongst consumers including local residents to discover the delights on their doorstep, and visitors from further afield who can experience England, its variety, accessibility and value 
• Provide a national framework for local destinations, businesses and organisations to build their own marketing and PR campaigns
• Provide you with a free marketing and communication “hook” to heighten awareness of your own activities

English Tourism Week works best when everyone participates. So get involved today!

How do I get involved?

There are many ways to take part and this is a great opportunity for the tourism industry to work together, whether you are a destination management organisation (DMO), local business, tourist information centre or the community, to promote the wealth of tourism products on offer in your destination. See Things to do for ETW18 (PDF, 131KB) for some great tips and ideas.

By organising your own event under the English Tourism Week banner you will be raising the profile of your business and be adding to the combined efforts of the week to raise awareness with local residents, their visitors and key decision makers. Get involved and inspire local residents to discover the destinations on their doorstep and beyond.

Follow these four simple steps:

1. Start planning your activities for the week. This can include special offers, discounts, fun events and promotions for visitors, local residents, stakeholders and more.
2. Download our free toolkit of logos and posters (on the right of this page) to help you brand your events to your local visitors and stakeholders.
3. Register your events and offers on our dedicated ETW events platform(link is external) using our ETW events submission form(link is external), for a chance of promotion across VisitEngland's consumer website and social channels, as well as to media, trade, MPs and industry.
4. Use the hashtag #ETW18 on social media to encourage your visitors, customers and even local residents to come to your events and share their photos and experiences on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and more.

Take part in our Business Takeover with People 1st

Take part in the new Business Takeover event with VisitEngland and People 1st to give hospitality students a chance to work in a tourist attraction. Find out more and sign up.

Obviously how you choose to take part depends what sort of tourism business or organisation you are. Events don’t have to be big or costly; the simplest ideas can be really effective. See our Things to do for ETW18 (PDF, 131MB) document for helpful suggestions or create something completely original!