Visitor Marketing
As one of the UK’s most popular and best-loved tourism destinations, high impact visitor marketing remains one of Cumbria Tourism’s top priorities and we offer affordable and effective marketing opportunities to our members throughout the year.
Whether you’re an accommodation provider, an attraction, a restaurant or a retailer, there is a Cumbria Tourism advertising campaign that can connect you with new customers.
We have an extensive menu of advertising options to suit your marketing requirements including printed publications such as our Holiday Guide, Attractions, Food & Drink, Adventure and ‘Dogs Love Cumbria’ guide. We can also take you down the digital route with everything from online listings and ads to inspirational e-newsletters, social media posts and blogs.
visitor newsletters sent annually, with an average of a 34% open rate
followers across CT’s visitor-facing social media channels
audience for printed publications
pages viewed annually on visitlakedistrict.com
PR reach annually
How member businesses can get involved:
Digital Marketing
Promote your business on visitlakedistrict.com
Cumbria Tourism’s visitor facing website has more than 7 million page views each year and is a highly effective way to promote your tourism business to the audiences you need to reach.
In fact, the latest Cumbria Visitor Survey showed that almost a fifth of visitors use visitlakedistrict.com to help them plan their visits!
Business Listings:
Advertising on visitlakedistrict.com is included in your Cumbria Tourism membership, so make the most of this key member benefit and highlight the vital information potential visitors need to see, including:
- Online bookability and availability grid
- Up to 20 images of your choice
- Special offers
- A detailed business description, contact address, phone number, email address and reciprocal web link
- Directions to help visitors find your property
- Visitor reviews
See our handy top tips on making the most of your online listings.
Event Listings:
What’s more, visitlakedistrict.com has detailed information on things to do and places to visit across the Lake District, Cumbria.
As a Cumbria Tourism member, you can also take advantage of the ability to upload an unlimited number of events, exhibitions and shows for free.
Our ‘what’s on’ section is one of the most visited areas of the website and a highly trusted resource for visitors. It’s quick and easy to submit an event using a simple online form.
Feature advertising:
We also offer additional paid for options to boost your business profile on visitlakedistrict.com including banners, feature blocks, spotlight features, ‘don’t miss’ feature ads and feature carousels – all linked to blogs or business listings.
Cumbria Tourism’s web specialists are on hand to help if you need further advice and practical support: website@cumbriatourism.org
E-newsletters
Our highly engaged newsletter audiences not only love to know what’s happening in the area, but they love a great deal too! Use Cumbria Tourism’s well-established newsletter marketing channels to promote your special offers and draw attention to new products and promotions.
The Cumbria Tourism team sends a full database e-newsletter to more than 74,000 subscribers on the 1st of every month, with slots available on a ‘first booked’ basis.
There are plenty of added benefits to sending an e-newsletter:
- Our full database newsletters are turned into blogs on visitlakedistrict.com, and in turn, are shared on our social media channels, giving you extra free exposure.
- Evidence shows that adding a special offer or linking to a prize draw on visitlakedistrict.com can increase click engagement by up to 46%.
- Our commitment to GDPR means we regularly monitor our database to ensure our subscribers are actively engaging with content.
We also offer ‘bespoke e-newsletters’ for individual businesses. Designed to tie in with your branding, these personalised updates are fantastic for reaching large audiences quickly and can be tailored for either our full database or any of our segmented databases, detailed below.
Click any of the titles below to read more about our segmented database audiences.
- Adventure
- Camping
- Culture & Heritage
- Dog-friendly
- Family-friendly
- Food & Drink
- Hidden Gems
- Luxury
- The High Life
- Weddings
Our Adventure & Outdoor database with over 42,000 subscribers is targeted at the outdoor adventure seeker looking for information on Cumbria’s adventure & outdoor activities.
Our Camping, Glamping and Caravanning database with over 31,000 subscribers is targeted at people who are looking to stay in Cumbria’s unique selection of camping, glamping and caravan sites.
Our Culture & Heritage database with over 39,000 subscribers is aimed at the cultural visitor looking to discover Cumbria’s wide range of cultural events, historic sites and diverse history.
Our Dog-Friendly database of over 23,000 subscribers is targeted at contacts who are looking for pet-friendly accommodation and attractions to welcome their four-legged friends.
Our Family-Friendly database of over 36,000 subscribers provides information for the family visitor who is looking for accommodation, attractions and things to do that welcome children.
Our Food & Drink database contains over 46,000 ‘foodie’ visitors who are interested in Cumbria’s exciting and world-class food and drink scene.
Our Hidden Gems database with over 36,000 subscribers is aimed at the traveller who wishes to escape the busier towns to discover Cumbria’s hidden gems
Our Luxury database of over 36,000 subscribers targets visitors who are looking for a premium level of service, accommodation and hospitality for a luxury break they will remember.
The High Life database contains over 52,000 subscribers who love luxury living and the best that life has to offer in Food, Culture and Experiences.
A highly targeted database with over 12,000 subscribers specifically for those who are looking for inspiration, ceremony and reception venues and suppliers to help plan the big day.
Drop the team a line at campaigns@cumbriatourism.org to discuss what will work best for your business.
Social Media Advertising
With a combined following of more than 320,000+, Cumbria Tourism’s visitor-facing social media channels are a cost-effective way to promote your business to engaged audiences who have an affinity with the Lake District, Cumbria.
The Lake District, Cumbria Facebook page is one of the most visited tourism pages in the UK and also boasts the highest engagement rate based on likes. Our lakedistrictcumbria Instagram page is also highly popular.
If your content is particularly visual and features great images or video, we may add the post to our fast-growing lakedistrictcumbria TikTok channel for free, giving you even more exposure.
Email campaigns@cumbriatourism.org for more details about the costs and benefits of social media advertising.
If you need a helping hand to analyse your own social media use, we can also offer bespoke social media reviews and bespoke social media training for your team.
Sponsored content: Blog features on visitlakedistrict.com
A sponsored content feature on the visitlakedistrict.com blog enables you to explain your products, services and offers in an engaging and editorial way. Our blog section receives more than 56,000 views a year and is growing fast.
Make the content tell a story. Bring in a guest’s experience of visiting, using your service or buying your product. Give background about your business and staff or simply promote a special offer. The possibilities are endless…
Your post stays on our blog to enable search engine indexing and is also marketed to our Facebook audience for extra exposure – at no additional cost.
- Email campaigns@cumbriatourism.org to find out more.
- If you would like us to write your content too, we can offer bespoke copywriting as a bolt-on service.
Marketing packages
Get the best value in your marketing by combining a selection of website advertising, e-newsletters, social media, blog features and prize draws into a bespoke package, tailor-made to suit your business and budget.
Our marketing opportunities are designed to complement one another and combining them can produce brilliant results.
Get in touch with the team at website@cumbriatourism.org to discuss the best options for your business.
Country Shows
Cumbria’s Tourism’s attendance at both public events/country shows and national trade shows is a hugely popular way to inspire visitors to plan/book ahead and showcase both individual businesses and the wider destination to a wide and engaged audience. They also present a valuable opportunity to speak directly to potential visitors, gain their feedback and assist with enquiries.
These events give you the chance to showcase your printed literature on our branded stand which is manned with representatives from Cumbria Tourism and our partners Northern Print Distribution (NPD), allowing us to represent your business and product offering without you or your staff needing to attend.
Country shows in summer 2023 are reaching a potential audience of 375,000+, including:
- Northumberland County Show, Hexham – 27 May
- Royal Cheshire Show, Knutsford – 20-21 June
- Great Yorkshire Show, Harrogate – 11-14 July
- Royal Lancashire Show, Ribchester –21-23 July
- Chatsworth Country Fair, Derbyshire: 1-3 September
- Westmorland County Show, Cumbria – 13-14 September
What’s included?
- For an exclusive Cumbria Tourism member rate, we will include your company’s literature on the stand, covering the stand set up and breakdown and pre-packing of packs.
- We will run a competition at each show for data collection, with all GDPR compliant data then shared with stand partners. (Interested in providing a prize? Let us know!)
- Branded packs will be handed out to show visitors, making them ideal for discounts or offers.
- For selected regional country shows, a coach drivers’ “What’s in it for me?” pack will be distributed for a small additional cost.
If you would like to include a second leaflet, get in touch to discuss.
Exclusive CT member show bundle rates are available via: campaigns@cumbriatourism.org
Print Publications
The official Lake District, Cumbria Holiday Guide is the annual ‘flagship’ visitor guide for our county, containing inspiring editorial and imagery that showcases our world-class destination to both first time and seasoned holiday makers. At the same time, we develop a comprehensive distribution plan to ensure it is seen by the right people at the right time.
We also publish the following annually:
- Adventure Guide
- Attractions Guide
- Dogs Love Cumbria Guide
- Food & Drink Guide
Our printed publications have a total audience of 380,000. To express your interest in appearing in future editions, contact publications@cumbriatourism.org or give the team a call on 01539 822 222. We’re happy to chat, without obligation.