VisitEngland together with the Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt, Secretary of State for Culture Media, Sport and the Olympics, today launched ‘Holidays at Home are GREAT’ – the biggest ever domestic tourism campaign aimed at boosting tourism throughout the UK.

Stephen Fry, Julie Walters, Rupert Grint and Michelle Dockery star in the TV ad due to air today, which encourages viewers to visit www.great2012offers.com to take advantage of thousands of special deals and offers, on accommodation, restaurants, attractions, events and transport.

The £5m campaign showcases the country and highlights key events taking place including the Torch Relay, the Cultural Festival and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. It forms part of VisitEngland’s 3 year marketing strategy worth £24million which seeks to generate an additional 5.3m short break nights in England with an incremental spend of £480m by 2015. 

The campaign includes 2.5m accommodation nights and has been supported by hundreds of tourism businesses up and down the country including national hotel chains: De Vere, Marriott, Travelodge, Millennium & Copthorne Hotels; Hoseasons Group, Bourne Leisure, and Accor to name a few.  Attractions giant, Merlin is offering 25% off on their Annual Pass and other attractions such as The Eden Project, Chatsworth House and The National Maritime Museum are on board offering fantastic experiences at 20.12% off.  Thomas Cook, is also participating with some great value offers for UK breaks.

Secretary of State, Jeremy Hunt said: “2012 is going to be a year like no other in our history with the Diamond Jubilee celebrations and the Olympics. With so much going on, this is the perfect time to make the most of the UK and take your holiday, long weekend or short break here. The 20.12% campaign has got thousands of fantastic offers to make holidaying at home affordable this year and the advert really does show off what’s great about the UK.”

James Berresford, VisitEngland’s Chief Executive said: “This is the largest domestic tourism campaign ever undertaken and aims to inspire UK residents to take advantage of the fantastic events taking place in the country this year.  We have thousands of offers up and down the country which means a family can enjoy great deals on accommodation, meals, and tickets to attractions at very affordable prices. Now is the time to holiday at home – there is no comparison anywhere else in the world with what’s on offer here in the UK this year.”

In addition to the main advertisement, a series of additional 10 second destination adverts will be aired.  In return for £100,000, to be match funded by VisitEngland, Blackpool, Skegness, Yorkshire, Liverpool, will be showcased as part of the campaign.