VisitBritain brings in Bond to fire tourism campaign

Ahead of the release of the new James Bond blockbuster Spectre, VisitBritain has turned to the world’s most famous super spy to fire the starter pistol on its new tourism campaign.

Spectre, the 24th James Bond adventure, launches in cinemas worldwide from 26 October and VisitBritain is once again utilising 007’s iconic international profile to show the best of Britain.

To leverage the global fascination with Bond and the international exposure the film affords to potential visitors to Britain, VisitBritain is today launching a global Bond is GREAT Britain film tourism campaign in partnership with Sony Pictures Entertainment and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios. The campaign is kicking off across more than 60 countries to encourage 007 fans to choose Britain – the home of Bond – for their next holiday.

VisitBritain’s global campaign is using a mix of outdoor billboards, print, digital and social media. This includes exclusive ‘behind the scenes’ footage from Spectre through its dedicated campaign page VisitBritain.com/spectre.

Other highlights include the release of four new 360-degree images of key filming locations in Spectre including Blenheim Palace, Camden, Westminster Bridge and City Hall to be promoted internationally through VisitBritain’s social media channels. The immersive 360-degree experiences will give overseas visitors a virtual opportunity to step inside some of the iconic British locations showcased in Spectre.

It is the third time that VisitBritain has partnered with the Bond franchise to inspire more international visitors to come to Britain. The last Bond film Skyfall was credited with helping to significantly boost visitor numbers to one of Scotland’s mountain landscapes. Glencoe saw more than a 40 per cent increase in visitor numbers last year, thanks in part to Daniel Craig's depiction of Bond in the 2012 Blockbuster where the final scenes take place in the region.

“We know that the link between tourism and film is a potent one,” said VisitBritain CEO Sally Balcombe.

“Recent films have demonstrated that they deliver a real increase in visitor numbers with just under half of our potential visitors to Britain wanting to visit places they have seen featured in films or TV so we are doing everything we can to capitalise on this ‘set-jetting’ phenomenon.”