A new global marketing partnership is to be unveiled today between VisitBritain and Turkish Airlines to attract more international visitors to the UK.
The campaign will initially focus on Saudi Arabia, India and other Gulf countries.
The focus will be across the airline’s five regional gateways, which include Manchester, Birmingham and Edinburgh, as well as Heathrow and Gatwick.
VisitBritain and Turkish Airlines will develop an international marketing campaign over the coming 12-months.
Marketing in the Gulf kicks off this week with a promotional campaign focusing on Saudi Arabia, which represented 144,000 visitors to the UK in 2014 – a figure which is expected to almost double by 2020.
Turkish Airlines serves seven cities in Saudi Arabia, providing even more connectivity to UK regions via its Istanbul hub.
A tactical digital campaign will also be launched in India early next year. Turkish Airlines is also supporting VisitBritain’s ‘Bollywood is GREAT campaign’, focusing on promoting Britain’s culture and countryside.
Longer-terms plans could include more promotional activity in Turkey with the travel trade press to develop and promote UK tourism, including familiarisation trips for the Turkish travel trade and media.
VisitBritain chief executive, Sally Balcombe, said: “We are very pleased to be the first national tourist body to develop a global partnership marketing campaign with Turkish Airlines.
“There are significant growth opportunities in the markets served by Turkish Airlines, including the emerging market of Saudi Arabia, using the airline’s global connectivity and rapidly expanding network.
“This partnership will also allow us to target our marketing to inspire more international visitors to come and explore all the nations and regions of Britain, so we can continue to create jobs and deliver our ambitious plans for growth.”
Turkish Airlines chief marketing officer, Ahmet Olmustur, said: “The travel market in the UK continues to go from strength-to-strength and therefore we strongly believe this partnership will further enhance visitor numbers in the UK in the coming year.
“Turkish Airlines is always investing in the UK and, along with partnerships such as this, we hope to see big inroads being made in terms of visitor numbers.”