This also happens to be the motivation behind a new partnership from VisitBritain and Expedia. 

Aiming to raise an additional $165m of visitor spend for the UK economy, it is launching a multi-phase campaign in order to tempt Americans to our fine shores.

Here’s a closer look at how it’s doing it.

Showcasing the best of Britain

Part of the UK government’s Tourism Action Plan – the partnership between Expedia and VisitBritain was actually established before Brexit. 

However, since the value of the pound has dropped, the campaign is putting a positive spin on the current situation – targeting US travellers for whom visiting Britain will now be more affordable.

Titled ‘365 days of OMGB’, the campaign is centred around a bespoke content platform designed to showcase the hidden treasures of the UK. 

Aiming to dispel the London-centric bias of travellers from overseas, it will promote various locations up and down Britain, from Sussex to Edinburgh and everything in between.

Encourages planning

Divided into four sections – #OMGB, Discover, Trip Planner and Calendar – the microsite is designed to both inspire and spur on travellers to start planning their trips.

It enables visitors to search for events based on interests, e.g. Food & Drink or Relaxation, or by calendar month. 

Browsing on the website certainly makes Britain look and sound incredibly appealing.

The imagery promotes the country’s historic buildings and stunning countryside, and the wide range of activities makes a refreshing change from the standard London sights – even for those who already live here.

The event pages include lots of helpful information, such as nearest stations and airports, maps and similar events. 

Combined with the inclusion of the Expedia search tool, it’s effective in encouraging users to browse and plan.

Personalisation and social 

As well as showcasing various locations, the hub can also be used as a handy planning tool. 

It allows users to save events in their personalised ‘Trip Planner’ – enabling them to browse and search around before committing to a booking.

This nicely ties in to the personal and individual nature of the campaign, with its main video highlighting the beautiful ‘moments’ that occur in Britain each day. 

From ‘classic cars in the Cotswolds’ to ‘sleeping giants in Cornwall’, it promotes the beauty of small, undiscovered moments. 

In order to further emphasise this notion, VisitBritain has also produced a series of short videos, which it is using on its various social media channels to promote the campaign.

Twitter in particular looks to be a big focus for promotion, with the hashtag #OMGB used in conjunction with the brand’s image-heavy tweets.

In conclusion…

By partnering up, VisitBritain and Expedia has managed to combine their biggest strengths. 

VisitBritain’s inspirational imagery and evocative language is certainly effective in stirring the emotions that underpins the travel industry. 

Meanwhile, Expedia’s functional search tools and personalised planning capabilities ensure users are one step closer to booking.

Whether or not it is effective in bringing more American tourists to the UK, it’s certainly a nice example of how a brand partnership can elevate a marketing campaign.

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