Visit York Public Relations Annual Report April 2010 - March 2011

1. Visit York Public Relations Annual
Report
April 2010 - March 2011
Kay Hyde – PR Manager
Katie Porter – PR Executive

2. Press Visits
The quality of destination articles generated was high with a mix of regional, national and international media
and popular glossy magazines covering the city. The Visit York press office works proactively to encourage travel
writers and editors to write about York year round.
Up to the financial year end (March 2011) Visit York hosted over 160 journalists from the UK and overseas, which
included several overseas group visits facilitated in partnership with Welcome to Yorkshire.
Here is a snapshot of some of the journalists and media titles that have covered York over the last year:
The Telegraph, Mail on Sunday, Daily Mail, Newsletter (Belfast), Nottingham Post, The Scotsman Magazine,
Newcastle Evening Chronicle, Shropshire Star, fiftymagazine.com, Liverpool Echo and Daily Post, Surrey
and Hants Series, Birmingham Mail, Western Mail, South Wales Echo, The People, Daily Star, Bristol
Evening Post, Tesco Magazine (2 million circulation), Daily Mirror, Press & Journal, Simonseeks.com, Let’s
Talk Magazine, Birmingham Independent, Zest Magazine, Metro Online, Escape Magazine, Sheffield Star,
News and Star (Cumbria), News and Star (Carlisle), TNT Magazine, Telegraph and Argus (Bradford),
Swindon Advertiser, Hartlepool Mail, Explorer Magazine, The Journal (Newcastle), Sunderland Echo,
Ipswich Evening Star, Irish Times, Huddersfield Examiner, Good Motoring, Bath Chronicle, Eastern Daily
Press.

3. Spain
Territorio Vikingo (Blog)
The Netherlands
Puur Op Reis (online lifestyle magazine)
Travel Unique Magazine, So British & Irish Magazine (online travel magazine)
Het Parool (Amsterdam Daily Newspaper)
So British & Irish Magazine
USA and Canada
Press+1 (Canada’s largest online entertainment magazine)
Grandeur Magazine, Arts & Leisure Services USA, Zink Magazine, Recommend Magazine, goNOMAD.com, SOMA
Magazine, Passport Magazine, Elle Canada, Global Traveler, Travel Pulse, Fodors.com, Minneapolis Star-Tribune,
Good Times Magazine, National Post, Zoomer Magazine, Pathfinders, Philadelphia Daily News, The Resident,
Boston Globe, San Antonio Express News, About.com
and across the globe…
Eat and Travel Magazine (Hong Kong). Shanghai Traffic FM, Xitek.com (China), Itimes (China), City Traveller
(China), Uplus Weekly (China), Jiefang Daily (China), Lonely Planet (Korea), sina.com.cn, Ming Pao Daily (Hong
Kong), Travelrich Web News (Taiwan) AIRWAY, Apple Daily, NOWnews.com, China Times Daily News, The Liberty
Times, United Daily News, TravelCam Magazine (Taiwan), La Presse (France), Today Magazine (France), Passauer
Neue Presse (Germany), Deutsche Welle (Germany), ipm-Verlag (Germany), Sydney Sun Herald (Australia), Daily
Denik (Czech Republic), Daily Sport (Czech Republic), Financial Daily (Czech Republic),

4. Overseas Group visits
This year we also facilitated and hosted group visits from overseas , in association with Jet2.com and East Coast Trains:
Jorvik Viking Festival (in conjunction with Jorvik Viking Centre)
Politiken (Denmark)
Xinhua News Agency (China)
Embassy of Belgium (Belgium)
Vatan (Turkey)
Mid-Day Publications (India)
Economic Daily (China)
Group Media Visit in conjunction with Jet2.com and East Coast Trains
Lowa Benelux (Netherlands),
Te Veot (Netherlands)
Xinhua News Agency (China)
El Correo (Spanish Regional Newspaper)
Dakenraad (Netherlands)
Archaeologie (Netherlands)
Hotspots Magazine (Netherlands)
Deutschlandradio (German national radio station)

5. Press coverage – Quality and Key Messages
Media coverage generated through the work of public relations at Visit York has the following objectives:
• demonstrate the breadth and quality of the York offer
• position York as the ‘Britain’s Favourite Small City’ to visit in the UK and one of Europe’s top short break destinations
• inspire readers/viewers to book a holiday in York
• encourage visitors to extend their stay and/or make a repeat visit
• generate a call to action by including the www.visityork.org website and booking number in as much coverage as possible
“…York has so much to offer that to see it all on a
short break you’ll need bags of energy. At almost
every turn you’ll encounter one of the unique
attractions which enrich this city of stories…”
“…There are hidden
historical gems down almost
every York snickleway… York
is crammed – literally in the
case of Shambles – with
fascinating ephemera and
long lasting cultural gems.”

6. Examples of UK media coverage

7. Examples of online
media coverage

8. Examples of overseas media coverage

9. Filming (April 2010 – March 2011)
York hosts a variety of film crews and TV production companies throughout the year. The Visit York Press Office,
working within the Film Friendly Partnership alongside the City of York Council and Screen Yorkshire, provides
assistance and advice on filming in the city. Up to March 2011, some highlights of filming requests facilitated by Visit
York’s press office include:
BBC Entertainment contacted the Visit York press office, looking for families of three in
York with a passion for cooking to take part in The Hairy Biker’s Family Cook-Off, airing on
BBC 2, every weekday from October to December 2010. The series finale in December
saw The Raman family from York, crowned ‘Britain’s Best Cooking Family
Channel 5 primetime TV series Street Market Chefs contacted Visit York in their planning
stage looking for locations where local chefs can use local produce to make dishes from
the local market. The result was that York featured in two episodes of the 10-part series
hosted by Amanda Lamb, in the opening episode in October 2010 with a local honey
product and the final episode with locally reared pork and featured filming at the popular
York Farmer’s Markets.
ITV contacted the Visit York press office late in 2010, as the now famous ‘Rock Choir’ were
looking to set up in York and a new mini series for primetime ITV wanted to follow their
progress. Looking for locations for a performance of the new choir in action, we gave a
number of options, the final choice being York Designer Outlet. York featured extensively in
the series which aired 16, 23 and 30 June 2011.
BBC4 contacted the Visit York press office with an enquiry about filming at York Minster for
a new series ‘Handmade in Britain’. We also assisted them in finding the best spot to film a
sunrise over York Minster. A 60 minute documentary about stained glass and the East
Window of York is expected to be screened as the series launches in Autumn 2011.

10. Filming enquiries
We also handled the following filming enquiries:
• Producers of The Hotel Inspector contacted the Visit York press office looking for potential hotels, B&Bs and guesthouses to
feature in the new series.
• BBC Learning were looking for locations in the UK which had distinct areas of disused shops which they could convert into
historical backdrops key to the History of the British High Street.
• Producers at Channel 5 were researching a new series working with the nation’s top restaurant consultants. They were
looking to work with independent restaurants who are struggling in the tough economic times to help them turn their
fortunes around.
• Channel 4 got in touch looking for Bed and Breakfasts’ to participate in the second series of ‘Three in a Bed’
• ITV Producers of Britain’s Best Dish got back in touch looking for contestants for the fifth series. Auditions were held in
York in January 2011 and the series aired in April 2011.
• Screen Yorkshire contacted us in the early stages of working with the Antiques Roadshow on BBC1 looking for suitable
locations to host the series in York. The final programme was filmed in Museum Gardens in July 2011.

11. Overseas Filming
As well as crews from the UK, we also receive enquiries and provide support to international film crews in conjunction
with Welcome to Yorkshire, Screen Yorkshire and City of York Council:
NHK – the Japanese equivalent of the BBC – filmed in York for a documentary on Septimus Severus.
Fronted by Japanese expert on the Roman Empire Professor Masanori Aoyagi from Tokyo – the crew
filmed in the Yorkshire Museum and on the City Walls.
Working with Welcome to Yorkshire, a Taiwanese film crew visited York in September 2010 as part
of a 3 week visit to the UK for Taiwanese travel programme ‘The World is Wonderful’. Visit York
assisted the film crew during filming at the Visit York Information Centre.
Coordinated with VisitBritain and Welcome to Yorkshire, New Zealand’s Breakfast Programme on
TV1 – the UK’s equivalent of BBC1, visited York to do a live link on the city and the tourism sector
here in October 2010. York received extensive coverage, with live links from Illuminating York 2010.

12. Campaigns

13. Unlocking York
The opening of the Visit York Information Centre
Winner of the European Excellence Award 2010
• 81 pieces of coverage (64 regional press, 2 broadcast hits, 4 national hits and 11 trade press hits)
• Media coverage reached a total circulation of 5,303,729 people
• There were 21, 214,916 opportunities to see the media coverage written about the opening of the new Visit York
Information Centre
• The campaign generated £53,397.30 worth of media coverage in total, with a PR value of £160,191.90
• This represented a 356% return on investment
• The original target set for the campaign was a 40% increase in footfall for the first two weeks after opening – this was
surpassed and the centre saw an actual increase in footfall of 190%.
Winner of the European Excellence Award for ‘Best Tourism
Campaign’ awarded by European magazine ‘Communication
Director’

17. Shop and the City
A dedicated three-month PR campaign designed to support the marketing activity for the 2010 Shop and the City campaign.
Shop and the City (2010) was designed to extend and build on the work of the Shop and the City campaign in 2009
highlighting York as one of the best shopping destinations in the UK and using the refreshed shopping trails and newly
designer ‘Shopping Passport’ as a hook to engage with journalists and Feature Editors.
The campaign aimed to:
• Generate strong media coverage in the target, ‘hinterland’ areas
• Position York as a premier shopping destination
• Promote the Visit York ‘passport’ of special offers
• Increase hits to www.shopandthecity.org
Final results for the dedicated media relations campaign and ‘Stylist on the Street’ media stunt achieved an £60,000
Advertising Value Equivalent (AVE) and a PR Value of £180,000. The coverage secured reached a total
readership of £1.7 million people.

19. Illuminating York
Supported by the City of York Council, Visit York, Arts Council England and Welcome to Yorkshire The PR campaign for Illuminating
York 2010 was led by Visit York in conjunction with Purple Marketing, and ran from September to November 2010.
• 86 pieces of media coverage – including national coverage in The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian and on BBC Radio 2 Arts
Show as well as a variety of other online, print and broadcast media.
• The media coverage reached an estimated circulation of over £95 million.
• Media coverage generated was worth £400,000 Advertising Value Equivalent (AVE) and had a PR value of £1.2
million.
• For every £1 that was spent on the PR campaign, it generated £133 worth of media coverage.

21. York – A Break with Tradition
Winter Campaign 2010/2011
York – A Break with Tradition was the 2010 – 2011 Winter Campaign conducted by Visit York. The campaign is traditionally
designed to boost trade in the quieter winter months and is centered around a three nights for the price of two
accommodation offer. The campaign ran from 1 November 2010 – 31 March 2011.
We ran a PR campaign to support the marketing activity and this focused on a number of key areas during this time period:
• Turning the clocks back and Autumn nights – drawing visitors to York at this vibrant time of year for the city
• York staked its claim as the most Christmassy city in the UK
• Visit York helping to keep New Year Resolutions and offering new things to try in the New Year in York
• Ideas to brighten up a dreary February and March.
We also worked with key York figures to endorse the PR campaign, including the Lord Mayor of York and the Archbishop of
York.
Media coverage generated as a result of the campaign was worth over £80,000 Advertising Value Equivalent (AVE),
with a PR value of over £240,000 and reached a circulation of over 30 million.
For every £1 that was spent on the PR campaign, it generated £16 worth of media coverage.

23. York and Scarborough Conferences
Business Tourism PR
Visit York is working in partnership with Welcome To Yorkshire
on a pan Yorkshire conference PR campaign, generating
coverage in conference trade press and regional news
coverage.

24. Media Enquiries
In addition to press visits, the Visit York press office handled hundreds of enquiries from media titles and journalists
throughout the year.
The press office is also frequently requested to provide quotes to the York Press, Yorkshire Post and other media on a day to day
basis – the majority of reactive quotes are issued to the regional press. Topics covered included: York receiving the ‘friendliest
place to live’ accolade, World Heritage Status, Hot weather, the big Wheel returning to York, Yorkshire and York tourism figures,
declaring York to be the ‘Most Christmassy City in the UK’, the reopening of the Barbican, The Budget and street café openings in
York.
News Updates
The Visit York press office issues regular e-news updates to our growing data base of media contacts:
• A bi-monthly events news update which goes out to 170 Listings Editors and other contacts.
• A quarterly news update including product news, festival news, exhibition and hotel news – sent to over 900 media
contacts
• A bi monthly conference news update including all business tourism news sent to conference and business media titles.

25. Corporate PR
• PR activity for Visit York has generated coverage in the York Press, Yorkshire Post, Northern Echo, with good coverage on
www.thebusinessdesk.com and also in the national travel trade titles; Travel GBI, Travel Weekly, Group Leisure, Group Travel
Organiser and Coach Tours UK, to name a few.
• Visit York has achieved extensive radio and television coverage, and interviews with Visit York representatives have been
broadcast on BBC Radio York, Minster FM, BBC Radio Humberside, BBC Look North (Leeds), BBC Look North (North East), ITV
Calendar News and nationally on the BBC 1 evening news prior to August bank Holiday weekend.
• Visit York has a regular ‘What’s On’ slot on BBC Radio York, every third Friday during drivetime at 4.20pm - a regular
opportunity to promote York’s events and also the Visit York Information Centre.
• The Visit York press office has extremely positive relationships with the regional and local media – with 100% of coverage
regarding Visit York to date being positive and on message.
• Corporate news releases are issued at least bi-monthly and include subjects such as: Visitor statistics, Marketing campaigns,
York’s VIP team, Illuminating York, Residents Festival and the York Tourism Awards.
• 20 different pieces of coverage were generated for the York Tourism Awards held in April 2010 including interviews on
Minster FM and BBC Radio York.
• 14 pieces of coverage were generated for Visit York’s annual AGM and Conference held in October 2010 in a variety of local
and regional press.
• The annual Residents Festival held in January 2011 – organised by Visit York generated 33 different pieces of media
coverage – with an estimated PR value of £30,000 - and was picked up in The Guardian Guide’s events listings nationally.

26. PR Evaluation
The press office has collated a year end report April 2010 to March 2011 and analysed media coverage nationally and
internationally. The quality of media coverage and key messages conveyed were exceptionally high. A large percentage of
coverage features full page articles with photographs and the www.visityork.org website address.
Total advertising value equivalent of media coverage is estimated at just
over £2 million*
with a total circulation of over 435 million
Annual PR Value is estimated at 6.1 million
* This figure excludes film and TV

27. Image Library
Brand new image library at www.visityorkimages.co.uk
Over 400 quality images of York easily available online
Journalists, travel trade, conference organisers and
Visit York members can use the library to showcase
the best of the city in their
publications and articles , gaining
free and unlimited access to hi-res
Images.
From 1 September 2010 – 1 September 2011:
• 302 regular users
• includes 127 members of the media
• includes 62 travel trade users
• 855 downloads by Travel Trade
• 833 downloads by the Media
• 91 downloads by Conference Organisers

28. 2011 – 2012 so far…
Highlights…

29. Press Visits
Financial Times, Daily Mirror, Mail on Sunday, Yours Magazine, Irish News, The Guardian, Daily Express, The
Sun, North Wales Daily Post, ETC Magazine, Western Morning News, National Geographic Magazine (US),
Westfalische Nachrichten (Germany) Vocento Regional Newspapers (Spain), Ilta-Sanomat and Matkaopas
Travel Magazine (Finland), Canvas Magazine (New Zealand), Reiselyst (Norway).
Illuminating York 2011
We launched the Illuminating York 2011 on Tuesday 25th October, giving a sneak preview to media ahead of
the public opening on Wednesday 26th. With a range of media, photographers and news agencies attending,
coverage was spread far and wide , including:
BBC Radio York, Minster FM, ITV Calendar, Lonely Planet Magazine, The Times, Sunday Express, The Guardian,
The Independent, Yorkshire Post, The Press, Western Daily Press, Lancashire Evening Post, Wigan Evening
Post, Northern Echo, Metro Yorkshire, Blackpool Gazette, Burton Mail, Travel GBI, TravelBite online,
DesignWeek online and the Huffington Post (US).
Corporate Communications –Members’ handbook
The press office project managed the production of a new Visit York members’ handbook to help
communicate the breadth of Visit York activity and ensure continued membership support.

30. Filming
Visit York, working with VisitBritain and supported by City of York Council, were delighted to support an
NBC film crew in York in August 2011. NBC is the sole rights holder for media broadcasting of the
London 2012 Games in the United States. The crew spent time in York Minster and along The Shambles
getting key shots of the city which will be used as footage during the broadcast of the Olympics. The
resultant footage shot in York could generate up to a billion viewers (inc online).
BBC Four are putting together a new documentary on ‘Medieval Queens’ and asked for Visit York’s help
in looking and securing locations for filming, with a focus on medieval architecture and buildings. After
pointing them in the direction of some of York’s finest medieval architecture, filming took place in York
Minster, All Saints Church and around the city streets in June 2011.
Producers at BBC One were looking for exciting, history-related events between 10 August and 7
September for a new early evening history series presented by Dan Snow and Sian Willams broadcasting
Wednesday nights at 7.30pm. With Hungate DIG being in its last year this was great timing – and when
the crew came to film in early August one of the DIGs major finds took place – a Jade ring from a Roman
burial site. The programme aired on Wednesday 17 August with a great profile for the city of York.
Scottish TV are in the midst of producing a brand new travel programme – 6 x 30 minute episodes
featuring destinations around the world. Casting real people on real holidays the programme aims to
showcase the best that destinations have to offer. Broadcast in Scotland but also to be made available
online. Visit York worked with the Producers’ to bring the programme to York and they filmed in the city
at Grays Court, York Dungeons, York Minster and Jollydays campsite, as well as generic city shots.

31. A bit of feedback from the media …
Felt compelled to reply to this email because I have to say this information I receive from you every quarter
is an absolute editors dream!! Do keep up the good work - your efforts certainly keep York on the radar for
me. Andy Greeves, Editor of Group Travel & Coach World Magazine on receiving the York Update.
Just a quick belated thank you for a fabulous weekend in York. I had never actually visited the city before and
was quite bowled over by it....We were also genuinely very impressed by the quality of the tourism
information - clearly a very well oiled machine! I can tell you in advance that it will be something of a rave
review... Lisa Thompson, writing for the Mail on Sunday.
Thank you so much for organising another fantastic visit to York. I so love that city! I tweeted my thanks this
morning btw both @KayHyde and @VisitYork. Every time we visit there is something new to discover but we
still love visiting the familiar attractions too and somehow never manage to cover everything. Take care and
many thanks again. YORK IS FAB! Gilly Pickup, Freelance Travel Journalist.
I would like to thank you and your team once again very heartily for the excellent visiting tour, the great
preparation and the really professional realization. You hardly could made anything better. It has inspired
me to inform my listeners as soon as possible about York and his many attractions. Just as a broadcasting
date in German public radio is appointed, I will let you know. Jochen Spengler, Deutschlandradio (German
National Radio)
I just wanted to get in touch to say a big thank you for organising my trip a couple of weekends ago - it was
lovely to meet with you too. It was a brilliant trip, I still can't stop raving about it - the beautiful buildings,
the hotel, the lovely restaurants...it's really got so much to offer. Lisa Herriott, Tesco Magazine.

32. Just got back to work today. York was an absolute delight, thank you so much for organising it. The hotel
was amazing and we certainly made the best of the visitor passes you kindly included, taking in the
Minster, Jorvik Viking Centre, the Barley Hall, Castle Museum, Clifford's Tower, a York Brewery tour, the
National Rail Museum, the castle walls and many of the delightful pubs :) Debbie Thompson, Travel
Editor, Surrey and Berkshire Media
What a truly magnificent city you have, and your organisation and assistance was quite excellent …
loved every minute of our visit (even the weather didn’t disappoint!) The Mount Royale was charming,
the VIP pass invaluable, the citizens friendly and helpful, the history overwhelming. In short, we quite
enjoyed ourselves. I will certainly be able to get two good pieces for my newspaper. Colin McAlpin,
writing for the News Letter, Belfast
Just wanted to let you know what a fantastic time we had in York – just not enough hours in the day
though! Hotel was superb and the passes were fantastic for the attractions. We needed a break by the
time we got back!!! Our feet were worn out but we really did have a wonderful family break. I will
forward you the cutting as soon as it goes in and I look forward to working with you again in the future.
Kirsty Smallman, writing for the Shropshire Star.
Can I just thank you on behalf of my partner and myself for a wonderful visit to York. The hotel was
beautiful, the staff very friendly and the area as a whole fantastic. Nice weather helped too! We
managed to cram in a visit to the Dungeons, the Minster and various other attractions, as well as some
shopping, nice food and a few refreshments! Overall, it was a fantastic trip. Brian Hossack, Senior
Reporter, Greenock Telegraph

33. York – An award-winning city
• Best Cycle Rail Station in the UK (Nov 2011), awarded by East Coast
• York has been crowned the best gastro destination in the UK and fifth best in Europe by Trip Advisor, the largest on line
travel review site (Oct 2011)
• York was voted the best place to visit in three out of six categories including best family day out, best historical place to
visit, and best for rest and relaxation in a new survey by East Coast rail (Sep 2011)
• York has been hailed as Britain’s most beautiful city – and the place where most people want to live (July 2011). York
received
• 17% of the votes in an independent survey conducted by the search engine Bing to find the most attractive place in the
UK and one in ten people named York as the city they would most like to move to.
• York was voted (May 2011) ‘Britain’s Favourite Small City’ in an independent poll commissioned by the Rough Guide (and
• conducted by YouGov)
• Petergate has been shortlisted as the ‘Best Shopping Street’ in the UK in the 2011 Google Street View Awards.
• York was voted ‘Most Group Friendly UK Destination’ in the Group Travel Awards 2011
• York was given an ‘Honourable Mention’ in Annual British Heritage Awards, awarded by www.BritainExpress.com
• Chief Executive of Visit York, Gillian Cruddas, was awarded an MBE for services to the York tourism sector, 2011.

34. • York won a European Excellence Awards (2010) – for ‘Best Tourism Campaign’, awarded by the magazine ‘Communication
Director’.
• 2010 - Google Street View Awards –
The Shambles – Most Picturesque Street in Britain
Stonegate – 2nd Best for Fashion in Britain
Fossgate – 3rd Best in Britain for Food
• York has topped a new list of friendliest places to live, beating 28 others including Cambridge, Edinburgh and Newcastle.
• A survey by health insurance company National Friendly, Coined ‘the Friendly Index’, questioned 3,000 people in the UK
about how often they spoke to their neighbours and whether they knew the names of their local postman, policeman and
milkman.
• York was voted friendliest place in the UK to live.
• York was voted ‘safest place to visit’ in the 2010 Conde Nast Readers’ Traveller Awards.
• York crowned ‘City of the Year’ at the Coach Tourism Awards 2010. Coach operators and readers of Coach Monthly
Magazine, which organises the awards, voted for York above other tourism hot spots including Bath, Chester, Liverpool and
Southport. This is the third time York has won this accolade at the Coach Tourism Awards having scooped the ‘City of the
Year’ title in 2006 and 2008.

35. Thank You To All Our Partners
Thank you to all our partners; Welcome to Yorkshire, City of York Council and all those
businesses who generously offer complimentary rooms, restaurant deals and rail travel for our
visiting journalists.
What’s Your Story?
Take advantage of PR for your business by:
• Offering accommodation/meals for visiting journalists
• Tell us your news! Send in regular news releases – email is always best – but remember to
ask ‘So What’?
• We can include your news in our e news updates to journalists and add it to our online
media room and press kits
• Email or send on disc high res good quality images
• Do your own thing – we can offer advice and help with media contacts