Experience Oxfordshire, the county’s Destination Management Organisation, has launched Spring into Summer the second of three strategic campaigns designed to support businesses operating in the county’s visitor economy.
Focussing on the breadth of arts and culture available to enjoy across the county’s five districts, Spring into Summer, Only in Oxfordshire encourages residents and visitors to explore the county and take advantage of the rich range of events and experiences on offer during the spring and summer months.
The digitally led campaign will run across multiple channels and is built around a newly developed online Arts&CultureHub which features free and bookable events ranging from comedy nights to classical ballet, workshops through to film, music, exhibitions and indoor and outdoor spectacles. Venues, operators and producers working within the related sectors are being encouraged to get involved and those interested in having a free online listing on the Only in Oxfordshire Arts&CultureHub are invited to upload their events via the Submit an event online form.
Hayley Beer-Gamage, Experience Oxfordshire CEO commented: “The Only in Oxfordshire Arts&CultureHub was designed to provide visitors with easy access to information and a route to book events in the county, in addition to offering a free marketing resource for our businesses and venues.
Events are a major draw, not only for our domestic market but for our main international markets too. With the Spring into Summer campaign we’re inviting residents and visitors to feed their minds and free their spirits. Living in Oxfordshire, we have amazing opportunities on our doorsteps: wide-open spaces, a thriving City and towns and villages supporting an active arts community. Our historic houses, galleries and institutions display fabulous artistic and scientific creations and Oxfordshire’s venues host top quality entertainment and thought-provoking debate. It’s an invigorating place to live and visit and it’s the perfect destination to recharge both physically and mentally.”
The campaign builds on the success of the Only in Oxfordshire autumn/winter campaign which engaged with some 11 million individuals. Experience Oxfordshire has been commissioned by the Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership (OxLEP) to deliver three strategic campaigns under their Visitor Economy Renaissance Programme (VERP), which supports the sector’s ongoing re-emergence from Covid-19. Funding for the programme was secured via Oxfordshire County Council’s Contain Outbreak Management Fund.
Helen Ryan-Wallis – Programme Manager (Strategy) at OxLEP – said: “All activity funded under the VERP initiative focusses on supporting the recovery of the county’s visitor economy post pandemic. Although we are seeing a good level of confidence among many businesses, we are aware that there is still some way to go before the sector’s value returns to pre Covid levels. OxLEP therefore welcomes the Spring into Summer campaign’s focus on arts and cultural events which make Oxfordshire such an attractive proposition, an exciting place to visit, and impact positively across the county’s visitor economy.”
**ENDS**
NOTES TO THE EDITOR
Experience Oxfordshire is the official Destination Management Organisation (DMO) for Oxfordshire. We are the trading arm of the parent charity, Experience Oxfordshire Charitable Trust, and are a not-for-profit partnership organisation that is committed to the promotion, management, and development of Oxfordshire as a great destination to live, work, visit and do business whilst improving growth and productivity across the visitor economy. The DMO provides essential business advice and support to visitor economy businesses across Oxfordshire.
In March 2023 Experience Oxfordshire was announced as one of 15 English destinations to gain Local Visitor Economy Partnership (LVEP) status. Developed and administered by VisitEngland, the national portfolio of strategic and high-performing LVEPs support collaborative working locally and nationally on shared priorities and targets to grow the local visitor economy. The creation of LVEPs was part of the UK Government’s response to the recommendations of ‘The de Bois Review: an independent review of DMOs in England,’ to reshape destination management across England, reducing fragmentation and bringing coherence to its DMO landscape.
For more information on Experience Oxfordshire go to experienceoxfordshire.flywheelstaging.com/partner or contact partnership@experienceoxfordshire.org
Contact: Lesley Wright / press@experienceoxfordshire.org / 01865 686433
You can keep up to date with Experience Oxfordshire’s activity by following:
Facebook – Experience Oxfordshire
Instagram – @experienceoxfordshire
Twitter – @ExperienceOx and @ExperienceOxBiz
LinkedIn – Experience Oxfordshire
The Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership (OxLEP) champions Oxfordshire’s economic potential, acting as a catalyst and convener to drive a dynamic and growing economy. Its vision for Oxfordshire being ‘a vibrant, sustainable, inclusive, world-leading economy – driven by innovation, enterprise and research excellence’.
Find out more via www.oxfordshirelep.com. Click here for more information about the Visitor Economy Renaissance Programme (VERP).
Oxfordshire’s Visitor Economy
The current status, as per the 2021 economic impact survey results, shows a significant recovery in volume of trips and related expenditure compared to 2020 but remains below the levels seen in 2019.
- Value: £1.6bn = 56% increase in value on 2020 (36% down on 2019)
- Trips: 23.3m = 56% increase in trips on 2020
- Day trips expenditure is down 26% on pre-pandemic levels and overnight expenditure down 51%
- Employment: 28.8k = 13% increase in jobs supported (33% down on 2019)