The Search Is On For England’s Biggest Fan !
Lancashire and Blackpool Tourist Board (LBTB) has achieved a major landmark today (27.3.12), with the tourist board’s visitor website visitlancashire.com recording 1 million unique users in the last twelve months (exceeding it by 4,000 by 9.30am on 27.3.12).
LBTB uses ‘unique visitors’ for evaluating and benchmarking online activity, but those 1 million unique users have generated an incredible 6 million page views.
Cilla Lowe, LBTB’s Digital Manager, commenting on the news said “The website has proved a very useful tool for visitors to Lancashire, from helping plan and book accommodation to creating itineraries of things to do and places to see across the county. We have helped many overseas visitors from as far afield as Australia and China and from closer to home in Europe, make the most of their stay in the Lancashire. We’re also very aware that locals and UK residents use the site to find out about specific events or, to plan short breaks and day visits.
“In the last twelve months we have invested more time in developing Twitter and Facebook activity and seen a huge increase in social media engagement as a result, which has undoubtedly helped us achieve this significant landmark for the company.”
Each week the tourist board issues the Top Ten pages visited on visitlancashire.com which has proved a very good indicator of public interest and of Lancashire’s favourite attractions and activities; over the last twelve months Family Days Out, Walking, Events, Historic Houses and a recipe for Lancashire HotPot have regularly featured in the top 5.
Key events in 2012 starting to make their mark in the Top Ten, are pages related to the 400th Anniversary of the Lancashire Witch Trials, Preston Guild and the Open Golf Championship. LBTB is the official provider of the visitor website for The Open 2012 and has created a bespoke website visitlancashire.com/open2012 for the event, which is proving useful to overseas visitors in particular.
Last week saw the launch of the tourist board’s Lancashire Witches campaign on visitlancashire.com/witches2012, which features a downloadable version of the Witches Trail, taking the visitor on a 45 mile journey from the Pendle Heritage Centre in Barrowford, over Pendle Hill, through the Ribble Valley and Forest of Bowland, to Lancaster Castle.
The Lancashire Witches entered the Top Ten this week at number 2, with its associated Prize Draw to win a Bewitching Short Break in Lancashire for 4 people, taking the number 1 spot. The accommodation element of the prize has been supplied by Dam Head Farm, their superb 4 star self-catering Blacksmith’s Cottage is located in Roughlee, a village associated with the Lancashire Witches. The prize also includes a year’s pass for Lancashire Museums, offering access to a wealth of heritage attractions across Lancashire.
To plan your next visit to Lancashire, join a growing club of over 1 million unique users, who make visitlancashire.com their destination of choice.
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Media enquiries: Anna Izza, Communications Manager, Lancashire and Blackpool Tourist Board on 01772 426459 or [email protected]
Notes to Editors
1. In 2010 the Lancashire and Blackpool area attracted 60 million visitors who contributed £3.25 billion to the local economy and helped support 55,227 jobs.