“Our Capital’s much-missed buzz is back” – Council leader Cllr. Adam McVey
Forever Edinburgh, the city’s official destination guide, has secured a further £90k from VisitScotland’s Destination and Sector Marketing Fund to continue amplifying promotional activity.
This follows a successful first year of ‘The Story Never Ends’ campaign, which promotes the Capital as the UK’s top city break and shares the unique stories and experiences visitors can discover around every corner.
Delivered jointly by the City of Edinburgh Council, ETAG, VisitScotland and private sector partners, the campaign showcases the attractions, shops, bars, events and restaurants. It was launched as lockdown was easing in April 2021 to target domestic leisure visitors in Scotland and England encouraging people to meet up safely and spend time together once again.
At a local level a new Resident Rewards Edinburgh scheme was also launched in 2021 as part of the campaign. It aims to help residents to re-discover all the city has to offer by benefitting from a high-value reward or discount with a new business every month.
The funding secured from Scotland’s national tourism organisation will support the next phase of campaign activity over summer 2022 and adds to £50k set aside in the City of Edinburgh Council’s budget to develop the Forever Edinburgh website, helping to strengthen the Scottish Capital’s shop window to visitors from across the globe.
An update on the campaign’s ongoing success – which has seen page views increase by 460% year on year – was given to the Council’s Policy and Sustainability Committee this week.
Council Leader, Adam McVey said: “The Forever Edinburgh campaign has been a vital piece of partnership working, helping encourage residents back into our city centre after attractions and businesses had dealt with the challenges of COVID restrictions. And its success is clear to see; our Capital’s much-missed buzz is back.
“After a hugely difficult time for our hospitality industry, it has been crucial to safely welcome visitors back into our city centre to support local businesses. Everything we’ve achieved with our City partners with the campaign demonstrates what we can do when we work together, and I’m grateful to everyone who has stepped up to support it.
“While we’ve come far, the impact of the pandemic will be felt for a long time to come so it’s important that we keep up the momentum. This latest funding boost from VisitScotland is hugely welcome and, alongside £50,000 from the Council, will be used to encourage even more residents and visitors to enjoy our beautiful Capital and rediscover all it has to offer this summer.”
Depute Leader Cammy Day said: “Forever Edinburgh has been a true partnership and this additional money from VisitScotland recognises how well the campaign is working. It also demonstrates how important it is that we continue to work together to reinvigorate tourism in the Capital, and we will use the funding to leverage the partnerships we have in place.
“In this next stage of the campaign there will be a focus on our live music scene and all the events lined up to take place over Spring and Summer. The city’s calendar is building back up and there is no shortage of places to see, restaurants and shops to enjoy and arts and culture at every turn.
“As we move forward, I’m sure residents and visitors will continue to lend their support to businesses which were hit hard by the pandemic and feel inspired by the Forever Edinburgh campaign.”
Neil Christison, Regional Director at VisitScotland, said: “Forever Edinburgh has been a fantastic platform for businesses and the tourism industry to engage with residents and visitors during an incredibly challenging time.
“While the return of international visitors will be important for the long-term recovery of the industry, domestic visitors will continue to play a key role in helping businesses get back on their feet.
“The award from the Destination and Sector Marketing Fund will ensure the Forever Edinburgh campaign continues to extend the benefits of tourism to the capital and the surrounding region in a sustainable and responsible way.”
Campaign highlights
‘The Story Never Ends’ featured a series of summer and winter-themed films showcasing Edinburgh’s broad product offer and unique stories, radio advertising, paid media partnerships, new content and itineraries created for the Forever Edinburgh website and new photography of the city. As a result of this activity the website saw page views increase by 460% year on year during campaign period April-February, with users accessing the site saw a rise of 174% compared to the previous year (2020/21).
A consumer PR campaign complemented this activity including travel journalists and social media influencer visits to the city to experience what Edinburgh has to offer first-hand. Global media coverage was secured for a new video promoting dog-friendly Edinburgh, reaching over 1billion readers through media coverage, and a competition prize package with multi award-winning author, Ian Rankin OBE reached nearly 250million readers online.
As a result of this participating businesses have reported a rise in bookings due to the media coverage. Further celebrity endorsement was given by Gail Porter for the city’s spooky stories while there is still more in the pipeline to promote the Capital’s live music scene and sustainability credentials.
The new resident focused initiative, Resident Rewards Edinburgh, was launched in December 2021, with promotion on social media and YouTube as well as a partnership with The List and ForthFM.
Working in partnership with the city’s tourism businesses, residents of Edinburgh are enjoying high-value rewards and discounts with a new business every month. The dedicated Resident Rewards section has become the second most popular page on edinburgh.org since it launched (December-February) with 33,000 page views and 2,279 referral clicks.
This activity was all supported though both Scottish Government’s Regional Recovery Fund and VisitScotland’s Destination and Sector Marketing Fund and Market Readiness Fund money.
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