Let The World See The Beauty Of The North West

Heathrow, the UK’s only hub airport, has announced a competition where the public can vote for their favourite British region to receive £1m worth of free advertising at the airport with VisitBritain. The competition on Heathrow’s Facebook page will see the North West go head to head with the North East, Northern Ireland and the Midlands, with the winner announced on the 4^th August.

From the 21^st July, members of the public can go to the Heathrow Facebook page where a gallery of four stunning images from each region will be featured. The image representing the North West in the competition showcases the beautiful scenery of Western Fells in the Lake District. The public have two weeks to vote for their chosen region, simply by ‘Liking’ the corresponding image. The competition will close at 23.59 on the 4^th August. If the North West wins, four advertisements showing the breadth and beauty of the region will then be shown across digital screens in all terminals at Heathrow from the end of August until the end of November.

Around 13 million passengers a year already use Heathrow as their gateway to Britain’s regions.  This 12-month advertising partnership with VisitBritain, worth £4 million, started in March and is designed to inspire passengers to explore further afield during their visit – or on future trips.

John Holland Kaye, Heathrow’s CEO said: “This competition is a fantastic opportunity for the public to really get behind their favourite region. We have been delighted with the first two rounds of adverts from the partnership with VisitBritain – the imagery from the GREAT campaign is breath-taking and demonstrates just how beautiful this country is and we’re excited to see which region comes out top as a result of this competition. Being born in Cumbria, I know who I’ll be voting for! We hope to see the people of the UK backing their region and look forward to welcoming the winner to Heathrow soon.”

Tourism Minister, Helen Grant, said: “Our aim is to boost the economic benefits of international tourism all over Britain. So, empowering the public via social media to decide which stunning images should be used to greet the millions of travellers passing through the airport is a fantastic idea.  I hope our guests are motivated by the winning region and turn their interest into action.”

Joss Croft, Marketing Director at VisitBritain, commented: “This round of advertising will encourage our international visitors to explore different regions of Britain. Home to the Lake District and Manchester United, the North West received 2.4 million international visits in 2013 and Manchester and Liverpool remain two of the most popular cities for international visitors. If the region wins this competition it will be showcased in all its glory to millions more travellers passing through Heathrow.”

The first three months of the partnership promoted the previously flood hit areas of Devon, Cornwall, Llanddwyn Island (Wales Coast Path) and Glastonbury, to show they were back on track and open for business. The second round of adverts that went live in June and are currently live until August were chosen to coincide with the Tour de France Grand Départ, illustrating the natural beauty of Yorkshire’s celebrated countryside as well as the region’s retail and architectural strengths.

The competition will be live on Heathrow’s Facebook page (Facebook.com/HeathrowAirport) from 21^st July – 4^th August.

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Notes to editors:

 Please keep up to date with which region is coming out on top with the hashtag #yourgreatbritain

For any queries please contact Laura Greene or Abigail Morris – [email protected] 07808 115647 / [email protected] 07730 148 242