November 2018 media highlights

Consumer news and features

International

Outlet: CTrip and Mafwengo Reach: 25 million monthly users Headline: Family Trip to Britain in 8 days Date: November 2018 Visit collaborated with China Travel Outbound in August to work on a trip for a high-profile Chinese blogger called Sicilia. Together with her partner and young son, Sicilia took in many of Bristol’s top attractions including SS Great Britain, , , Bristol Aquarium and Wapping Wharf. Her blog also covered their stay at Hotel Du Vin City Centre, as well as their meals at ZaZa Bazaar, Woky Ko, Pinkmans and L’Osteria. Sicilia’s blog has been posted on two of China’s biggest travel review platforms: CTrip and Mafengwo.

Outlet: Salta Conmigo Reach: 204k monthly blog views Headline: 10 Things to see in Bristol, : the city of Date: 5 November 2018 A group of high-profile international bloggers were invited by Visit Britain to Bristol and Bath after attending Social Travel Summit in Belfast in September. Spanish blogging duo SaltaConmigo posted their travel review of Bristol and included SS Great Britain, Bristol Cider Shop, Bristol Cathedral, , St Nick’s Market, Bambalan, Bristol Museum and Art Gallery, Where The Wall Street Art Tour, , We The Curious, The Canteen, Bristol Grand Hotel and the Keepers Bar and Kitchen.

Outlet: Avenue Reine Mathilde Reach: 2.5k across platforms Headline: Halloween in Bristol / Bristol à travers le temps Date: 19 November 2018 French blogger Tiphana Chenu came to Bristol and wrote two blog posts about her time here, including one reviewing Halloween and another that had more of an all-year-round theme. Her blogs featured , Bristol Aquarium, SS Great Britain, Old Duke, St Mary Redcliffe as well as some of Bristol’s famous street art.

Outlet: Vivi Londra Reach: 250k monthly blog visitors Headline: A Day in Bristol: visit the city of street art with a rebellious spirit Date: 21 November 2018 Adriano, founder of Vivi Londra blog, was part of the same group from Social Travel Summit, mentioned above. Adriano is a keen music fan, so was particularly impressed when he heard about the city’s thriving music scene. In addition to several music venues, Adriano also covered in his blog SS Great Britain, Bristol Cider Shop, St Nick’s Market, Bambalan, Where The Wall Street Art Tour, M Shed, We The Curious, The Canteen and Wapping Wharf.

Outlet: Cyberpetrus / BMI Regional Reach: 34.1k followers on Instagram Headline: #flybmihiddentreasures Date: 26 November 2018 French influencer Pierre Lavayssere of Cyberpetrus visited Bristol in association with FlyBMI. His instagram posts (Bristol street art, the Clifton Suspension Bridge, St Nicholas Market and architectural snapshots around the city) were share on BMI Regional’s own Flybmi social media platforms (18.3k followers). Pierre’s weekend visit coincided with Destination Bristol’s Christmas event for local influencers (see below) so he used the #merrybristmas tag in many of his posts.

Outlet: Globe Trotting Mama Reach: 10k followers on Twitter Headline: Family friendly Bristol Date: 30 November 2018 Heather was another member of the group from Social Travel Summit, but as a family travel blogger, Heather wrote about her time in Bristol with her family-orientated audience in mind. Her review covered The Grand Hotel, M Shed, St Nick’s Market, Bristol Insight bus tour, Clifton Suspension Bridge, Where The Wall Street Art tour, SS Great Britain, and Bristol Museum and Art Gallery.

National

Merry Bristmas Campaign On November 15, Visit Bristol invited 40 local social media influencers to the launch for their #MerryBristmas campaign. Each influencer was let loose on the city with a media pass that gave them access to Bristol’s top attractions, as well as a selection of festive treats and experiences from local businesses to showcase and preview what the city has to offer this Christmas. There have been over 1,000 #MerryBristmas mentions on social media (excluding Instagram stories) since the campaign started, generating over 40,000 interactions (a like, share, click or comment, including likes etc on those shared posts), with a potential reach of over 4.2 million accounts. Many posts featured Pieminister, Bambalan, We the Curious Ice Skating rink, Swoon, Pinkmans, 6 O Clock Gin, Spike Island, Bristol Cider Shop, Coconut Tree, Bristol Zoo, Harbourside Christmas Market, Bristol Ferry and many attractions including SS Great Britain, Tyntesfield, Bristol Zoo, Wild Place, Avon Valley Country Park, Slimbridge Wetlands Centre and Aerospace Bristol (and more). There were several blog posts highlighting the Merry Bristmas experiences, including Mama Travels Earth, Me and B Make Tea, Natacha the Franglaise, Mad Ramblings of an amateur photographer, The Millennial Runaway, Hunchco, She and Hem and Practically Perfect Mums.

Outlet: My Travel Monkey Reach: 8k followers on Instagram Headline: Things to do in Bristol with kids Date: 30/11/2018 London-based travel blogger Ting Dalton came to Bristol to write about visiting Bristol with a family at Christmas time. Her review covered their stay in Cleyro serviced apartments, SS Great Britain, We The Curious, M Shed, , Spike Island, Clifton, Bristol Zoo, Aquarium and Brandon Hill.

Local Outlet: Bristol Business News Reach: 4.8k followers on Twitter Headline: Soaring international tourist numbers help put Bristol in running for ‘rising star’ award Date: 9/11/2018 Following a press release from Destination Bristol, Bristol Business News picked up on the story that the city had been shortlisted in National Geographic Traveller Reader Awards in the Rising Star category, alongside Valencia in Spain and Tbilisi in Georgia.

Outlet: Bristol 24/7 Reach: 209k unique users per month Headline: Bristol success at regional tourism awards Date: 17/11/2018 Bristol 24/7 reported on the Bristol, Bath and Somerset Tourism awards ceremony where Destination Bristol’s Head of Tourism, Kathryn Davis was awarded Outstanding Contribution to Tourism award and the Tourist Information Centre won gold for Tourism Information Service. There were record number of winners at the event, including many Destination Bristol members and partners which were all named in the press release and article.

Outlet: Bristol Business News Reach: 4.8k followers on Twitter Headline: Big night for Bristol’s tourism industry as its attractions and venues collect top awards Date: 16/11/2018 Similar to the Bristol 24/7 piece described above, Bristol Business News also ran a piece on the Bristol, Bath and Somerset Tourism awards.

Outlet: Bristol Live Reach: 17k circulation Headline: Bristol beats competition to be named one of Europe’s best cities Date: 27/11/2018 Bristol Live published an article announcing Bristol’s victory at National Geographic Reader Awards where it beat Valencia and Tbilisi to be awarded the Rising Star and recognised as the “hip hub city” and a must-see visit.

Other coverage Discover Britain ran a double page spread on ’24 Hours in Bristol’ in their December issue, outlining the maritime history and thriving food scene. The Guardian published an online article on to how to access cultural events on a budget, with a link to Visit Bristol website and a nod to the Culture Flash Sale, and in a paid-for piece by Google Pixel 3 in The Guardian, there’s another link to Visit Bristol website and the Banksy Walking tours. Bristol 24/7 featured a quote from Destination Bristol’s Head of Tourism, Kathryn Davis, in their article following National Geographic Traveller Reader Awards, when Bristol won Rising Star Award. The Bristol-themed Christmas mural commissioned by Visit Bristol, in collaboration with Stuff Digital agency and local street artists Cheo and Silent Hobo, was featured in a news article by Bristol 24/7. Blocal-Travel.com posted a nostalgic blog about returning to Bristol after having lived here previously. The blog covered Wapping Wharf, new street art in Bedminster and beyond, Bristol Beer Factory and an afternoon in Clifton.

Press trips and enquiries (where coverage is forthcoming) Journalist Macarena Escriva from visited Bristol on food-and-drink them press trip, representing three Spanish titles: Conde Nast Traveler magazine, Esquire and hospitality magazine, Viajer. Her trip included a Bristol Food Tour, Box E, Pinkmans, The Ivy and Bristol Hoppers Beer Tour. Italian blogger Giovi Malfiori came to Bristol for a weekend in October to explore the city, as did blogger Kara Guppy aka Chelsea Mama and Valerie Wouters from Belgium. A food blogging couple from Fun, Food, Travel came to Bristol for a few days to sample the city’s gastronomy including Thornbury Castle, 6 o Clock Gin, Moor Beer and Bristol Cider Shop.

Press releases In November, a press release was sent to local and trade press outlining a recent familiarisation trip that the Meet Bristol Convention Bureau, Visit Britain and Visit Bath collaborated on to welcome a group of German events agencies to the region. A mid-November press release, combined two stories: a win for Destination Bristol at the Bristol, Bath & Somerset Tourism Awards (head of tourism, Kathryn Davies won an Outstanding Contribution to Tourism award) and the launch of the #MerryBristmas campaign. And finally ‘Bristol is tourism’s rising star’, a release to announce Bristol’s win in National Geographic magazine’s annual reader awards: the city beat Valencia and Tbilisi in a category that judged the destination best seen to be ‘making a name for themselves’ worldwide.

News and networking Members of the Destination Bristol marketing team attended the World Travel Market in London to meet industry professionals, bloggers, journalists and influencers. The team shared a stand with Visit Bath, in order to promote the ‘two cities, one trip’ message and secured new contacts with a view to arranging media visits in 2019.