Update from Sally Everton - Director
4th March 2020
Visit Devon’s Director, Sally Everton, has been busy driving promotion internationally and encouraging visitors to come to Devon.
In February Sally has been working on the following:
DOMESTIC
- Day to day contact and face to face meetings with our members and potential members re benefits of VisitDevon membership,
- Press enquiries and visits - including 2 large media trips coming in via VB and Englands' Coast coming now in Sept * (from Vakantibeurs) 12 influencers / journalists with a reach of 10M
- Meetings with VisitEngland on building a landing page for VisitDevon - business events. Still in progress but now live covering Torquay, Exeter and soon to bePlymouth and incentive venues
- Attend 50th Anniversary of the BTA in London as guest of VisitBritain
- Prepare and attend the Camping, Caravan and Motorhome Show at NEC working collaboratively with DATA and some member partners - 6 days. Very busy on all days 1650 VisitDevon brochures given out, similar for DATA.
- Annual review presentation at the Springboard Conference - at Pennywell Farm, South Devon Meet and chat to a number of our members
- Looking at introducing TV, film and Literature segment as talking to a number of location scouts re Devon as film and TV location
Press and Blogger pieces
We now use a cuttings service - Meltwater - and all the press coverage links will now come via Ignyte and Simon Fishwick.
INTERNATIONAL
- Regular contact with VisitBritain and VisitEngland with regards to the Coronavirus - sharing that information to our members
- Itineraries for TravelSquire and other travel bloggers/journalists for May onwards (pre Explore GB)
- Confirm itinerary for 12 meeting planners and buyers for Devon (US & EU) April 2020
- Working with 2 new tour operators - Gallea - Belgium re 20 tour groups for 2020/2021 50 pax 4 days; Compass Holidays (targeting international clients) re intorducing Cycle Devon amongst others
- Day to day contact with agents - mostly US
DEF PROJECT
- Continue to work with VisitCornwall and the tour operators /agents and DMC's to get our product onto their selling platforms for 2020 and beyond
- Some tweaks to our continution bid
PARTNERSHIP OPPORTUNITIES - Trade show and press/buyer educationals
- BTTS - March 2020 Closed
- Press and FAM visit requests - national and provincial. Requests covering all areas
- US VIRTUAL Sales Mission organised by VisitBritain - March 2020. Postponed until Spetember 2020
- US Sales and Media event - Postponed until September 2020
- MeetGB - April 2020 - Business tourism. Partner opportunities still available (still going ahead as of today)
- ExploreGB - May 2020 Partnership opportunities (Still going ahead as of today)
- Destination Brtian North America -September/October 2020 Partnership opportunities available
- IBTM 2020 - Nov 2020 Partnership opportunities available