VisitEngland has brought out a series of short films and images in the next phase of its campaign in a bid to get more young Brits to take a short break at home.
The six-week #MyMicrogap campaign runs until the end of October and includes a series of five 10-second clips and 10 images displayed on digital billboards across England, northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
Longer, 30-second clips are being used on online channels including social media, digital display and ‘on demand’ TV adverts.
They all encourage young Brits to ‘go wild’, ‘learn more’, ‘switch off’ and ‘give back’. Using content showing experiences and activities taken during a gap year, the ads aim to encourage young people to take what the tourist board calls a ‘microgap’, described as ‘the best bits of a gap year in a few days in the UK’.
VisitEngland statistics show the growth among different age groups taking holidays at home in the last decade, from 2008 to 2018, is the lowest among 16 to 34 year olds.
Director of marketing Clare Mullin said: “We want more young Brits to get out and experience the amazing destinations and activities on our doorstep whether learning how to paddle-board in London, switching off in a log cabin in the Cairngorms in Scotland or tackling cliff camping in Anglesey, Wales, trying your hand at street art in Manchester or contemplating the wonder of nature at the Dark Hedges, Ballymoney in Northern Ireland.
“By working with destinations and tourism businesses our Microgap campaign is igniting the passion for domestic travel in young people right now and building a habit that will last a lifetime, boosting growth from tourism and spreading its economic benefits across more of the year.”
VisitEngland’s campaign, now in its second year, follows research into the travel habits of young Brits, which showed less than a quarter, 24%, of 18 to 34 year olds, were likely to take a career break to travel in the next three years.
It is run by VisitEngland in partnership with the tourism organisations of Scotland, Wales and northern Ireland as part of the UK government’s GREAT Britain & Northern Ireland campaign.
It is expected to generate an extra £50 million in domestic tourism spend for the economy. Tourism is worth £127 billion annual to the UK economy.
