An international tourism campaign portraying the UK as a place ‘Where Giant Dreams come to Life’ is being unveiled to capitalise on the release of the film adaption of Roald Dahl’s story The BFG.
VisitBritain is collaborating for the first time with Disney, producer of the film directed by Steven Spielberg and based on the book by the Cardiff-born author.
Filming took place at locations across Britain including Blenheim Palace, London, the Isle of Skye and Bamburgh beach in Northumberland.
The BFG film is released in the US on July 1 and in the UK on July 22.
The £350,000 six-week digital and social media campaign showcases “magical, mysterious and dreamlike moments” that it is claimed can only be experienced on a trip to Britain.
A set of exclusive images of giant landmarks including the Angel of the North, Big Ben, the Isle of Skye and the lions in Trafalgar Square are featured.
The images, and other UK visitor experiences across, are being promoted across VisitBritain’s online and social media channels, adapting its #OMGB (Oh My GREAT Britain) tagline to ‘Oh My GIANT Britain.’
The campaign also wants people to upload their own images of ‘giant’ experiences and locations in Britain to their own social channels.
VisitBritain/VisitEngland chief executive, Sally Balcombe, said: “Our collaboration with Disney on The BFG is a fantastic opportunity to promote to a global audience of millions an unexpected side of amazing, family-friendly moments that can only be experienced in Britain.
“By inspiring people to come and experience the best of ‘GIANT’ Britain we can drive growth from tourism and its economic benefits across all our nations and regions.”
Balcombe said that the link between tourism and film – ‘set-jetting’ – was “a potent one” with recent films delivering a real increase in visitor numbers.