Visit Isle of Man has launched the final chapter of its Extraordinary Story tourism campaign aimed at attracting more visitors to experience the Island’s unique UNESCO Biosphere status, by showcasing its extraordinary offering to potential visitors, from its ancient and compelling history, to the vibrancy of its culture and its adventure playground.
The ‘Extraordinary is…an Island like no other’ campaign supports the Isle of Man’s ambitious strategy to attract 500,000 visitors to the Island each year by 2032, up from nearly 320,000 in 2019. Visitor numbers are recovering towards pre-pandemic levels, with the Island projected to have welcomed around 275,000 tourists in 2022 and aiming to reach over 300,000 in 2023. The Visitor Economy Strategy 2022 - 2032 forms a key part of the Island Plan's strategic programme to build a strong and diverse economy, ensuring the Island is well-connected, and enabling travel to, from and around the Island, making it an attractive place to live, visit and do business.
The final chapter of the campaign aims to capitalise on the current appetite for domestic travel, as UK and Irish residents are discovering that there is so much to do close to home, influenced in part by the increasing cost of living and the pandemic.
A recent study by Visit Britain found that nearly 7 in 10 Brits (69%) are planning an overnight domestic trip this year. Furthermore, confidence in domestic travel has recovered from the pandemic more quickly than international travel, as the survey found UK adults’ domestic trip intentions have now returned to close to pre-pandemic levels, while plans to visit overseas are still some way below.
The campaign focuses on celebrating the Island’s uniqueness through its ancient and compelling history, and beautiful vibrant landscapes which provide a playground for visitors of all ages, demonstrating the extraordinary experiences available in any season on the Isle of Man.
For the first time, the new campaign has launched two promotional videos to showcase the best of the Island’s offering, and reach its four target audiences: Traditional Travellers, Curious Explorers, Experience Seekers and Family Adventurers. The videos feature a bespoke piece of music by local artist Ben Donaldson from the band Voodoo Bandits - who composed and produced the soundtrack for the campaign videos, inspired by the positive feelings towards the Island, to create a sense of home that celebrates and promotes its unique UNESCO Biosphere status.
Non-Executive Chair of Visit Isle of Man, Ranald Caldwell, said:
'After a great 2022, we are excited to build on our recovery this year. We are continuing to see the return of visitors gathering pace and have high hopes for the season ahead as we work towards our ambitious strategy. Our ‘Extraordinary Is’ campaign brings to life everything the Island has to offer to visitors of all ages, including the opportunity to reconnect with what matters, to be joyfully and playfully active in our adventure playground, and to discover years of rich heritage, a vibrant culture and a fascinating arts scene.'
Tim Crookall MHK, the Department for Enterprise Member responsible for Tourism and Motorsport, said:
'Having secured unanimous approval for the Visitor Economy Strategy in Tynwald last year, it is encouraging to see the importance of tourism recognised within the Department’s Island Plan and wider economic strategy. The Extraordinary Story Marketing Campaign helps to promote the vibrancy and diversity of the Island’s tourism offering. This will in turn encourage visitors of all ages and hopefully support relocation targets, as well as reminding our residents about what they have on their doorstep so they can join us in the promotion of the Island to their friends and relatives.'
The new campaign includes a creative toolkit, guidelines, photo and video assets that can be utilised by local tourism businesses and residents. The guidelines and creative assets for the new campaign can be accessed at the Campaign overview page on Visit's website. The two videos can be viewed from the Visit Isle of Man YouTube page or below:
