Every year, we run two major campaigns on our Visit Bath and Visit Bristol platforms, aimed at promoting summer and Christmas breaks in both cities. These include themed original and collaborative content published on our channels, alongside accompanying media campaigns led by our PR team. Discover more about the objectives of these media campaigns, how they work, and how your business can get involved.
In total, we run four major campaigns per year (two for each platform). These are titled as follows:
Bath
#SummerInBath (early July – early September)
#BathAtChristmas (mid-November – late December)
Bristol
#SummerInBristol (early July – late August)
#MerryBristmas (mid-November – late December)
How can I get involved?
If your business is a member of Visit West, and has a specific, unique offering for summer or Christmas, such as special events, offers/packages, menus, etc., there are a variety of ways that you can get involved. Please note that if your business is based in the Bath area, you cannot take part in the Bristol campaigns, and vice versa. However, if your business is based outside the two cities and within equal distance of both, you are welcome to participate in both the Bath and Bristol campaigns.
Image: #SummerInBath Media Showcase 2024, credit Visit West
The most effective way to ensure that your business is included in the campaigns is by letting us know about your plans/new developments for the summer or festive season as far in advance as possible via marketing@visitwest.co.uk and press@visitwest.co.uk. Don’t worry if these are under an embargo – we’re very good at keeping secrets!
This helps us to keep track of which of our member businesses have dedicated offerings for either season, and what these offerings are. You are then more likely to receive an invitation from our PR team to take part in our media campaigns. As well as this, we will also be able to include details of your offerings in the blog and social media content we produce for each campaign on our Visit Bath and Visit Bristol channels.
Image: #MerryBristmas Media Showcase 2024, credit Visit West
Tell me about the media campaigns...
We’re glad you asked! If you’ve made us aware your summer or festive offerings, you may receive an invitation to take part in the relevant media campaign for the location your business is based in (potentially more than one invite if your business is based equidistant to Bath & Bristol).
This will include an invite to a ‘media showcase’ networking event, and a request to extend a complimentary offer to the invited media to claim in exchange for content posted to their channels. You are very welcome to set your own limit numbers and set your own deliverables for any offer that you put forward – the offer is included on a crib sheet with your email address for media to apply directly.
Please note that the experiences on our crib sheet are intended to be offered by businesses to the media on a complimentary basis, in exchange for coverage published on their channels. As a result, offers of discounted tickets/food and drink etc. are unlikely to be accepted and given coverage by the participating media, as payment in kind is the expected arrangement – similar to hosting more traditional journalists.
Image: #SummerInBristol Media Showcase 2025, credit Visit West
Our media showcase events are an opportunity to network directly with a selection of local and national journalists, micro-influencers, and content creators, all of whom have been vetted in advance by Visit West’s PR team. The events also include a short presentation on what to expect in Bath/Bristol during each summer or festive season, often featuring relevant guest speakers. The events will also occasionally feature some suitably themed entertainment, to get everyone in the summer or festive mood!
If you have one, you are very welcome to bring a pull-up banner for your business to the showcase events, along with any flyers to hand out to the media. Depending on capacity at the host venue, you may also be allocated a table to set up your own stand.
Each of our showcase events are generously hosted by one of our member businesses – if you have an event space with a minimum capacity of 150 and would be interested in hosting one of our upcoming showcase events, please email press@visitwest.co.uk.
What are the aims and objectives of the media campaigns?
One of the main aims of the showcase events and media campaigns is for you to encourage the attending media to visit your business over summer or Christmas season and produce coverage of their visit to publish on their channels. This offers a fantastic opportunity to promote your business to a wider audience, at little cost to you.
The other key objective of our media campaigns is to inspire audiences to book a break in Bath, Bristol, and their surrounding areas. This is achieved by requiring participating media to create and publish one video or written roundup of all of the businesses they visit during the course of the campaign, in addition to their coverage of individual experiences. As part of this, we encourage the media to use our dedicated hashtags and core messaging for each campaign, to demonstrate the overall summer or festive offerings of both destinations.
Nervous about attending? Our briefing calls, held immediately prior to each showcase, offer a chance to hear from our PR team on how you can make the most of the event, and the coverage opportunities available from the media/content creators you will meet. We will also provide an overview of the events’ structure and what will happen on the evening in the call, as well as sharing the list of media attendees and giving you an opportunity to ask us any questions.
Examples of coverage
Get an idea of the media coverage produced from previous media campaigns with the examples below:
Other media campaigns
As well as our regular summer and Christmas media campaigns, we will occasionally run additional individual media campaigns for specific key themes, previous examples of which include Austen 250 in Bath, and food and drink in Bristol. If we feel that your business has an offering relevant to any future individual media campaign themes, we will reach out to you directly and invite you to take part.
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