VisitEngland Launches New TV Campaign for This Years Rugby World Cup

VisitEngland launches 'Discover Your England', a TV campaign aimed at raising the profile of English destinations in the year of Rugby World Cup 2015. Aired for the first time on Channel 5, ITV and SKY in England, on Sunday 11 January, the advert featured over 16 English destinations and includes appearances by an exciting collection of sports personalities including former England rugby captain Martin Corry MBE, England Rugby Head Coach Stuart Lancaster, former England women's Rugby World Cup 2014 winner Maggie Alphonsi MBE and Official Anthem Singer and million selling soprano Laura Wright*.

VisitEngland recently welcomed new figures released by Ernst & Young (EY) on behalf of England Rugby 2015, Tournament Organisers, which demonstrates the very significant and positive impact Rugby World Cup 2015 has in store for England. The value of the Tournament is set to generate a total output of £2.2billion to the UK economy, with benefits reaching all sectors. This TV Advert is one of a number of projects being delivered by VisitEngland to help promote the enormous opportunities for the tourism sector and help stimulate and drive economic growth in this area.

James Berresford, Chief Executive of VisitEngland said: “We are extremely excited to mark the year of Rugby World Cup 2015 with the launch of our Discover Your England campaign. England holds something truly special for all visitors and the arrival of the Tournament this year is an opportunity to maximise the potential for growth in the tourism sector. The aim of this campaign is to help trigger this growth.”

“The TV Advert showcases England as a fantastic place to book a holiday or short break and I hope it gets the British public as excited as we are about what's in store for 2015. We want to entice Brits to set out to find what makes England a unique and special destination for them.”

The advert showcases the variety of scenery on offer in England to encourage Brits to explore the destinations on their doorstep and set out to find what makes a holiday or short break in England special for them. Alongside the words of 'Jerusalem' - synonymous with English rugby - the ad features iconic English attractions, landscapes and scenery from across the country, including snapshots of Hadrian's Wall, Newcastle, Brighton, Yorkshire Dales, Wiltshire, the Royal Crescent in Bath, Tower Bridge, Twickenham and more.

Helen Grant, Minister for Sport and Tourism, said: "With action all across the nation the Rugby World Cup 2015 is a brilliant opportunity to go out and discover England. From Exeter's Sandy Park to Newcastle's St James' Park we stand ready to welcome the world and show off the best our country has to offer. The Government's tourism strategy is delivering record inbound visitor numbers and Rugby World Cup is a fantastic opportunity to further build on this success."

Laura Wright, English Soprano a Tourism Ambassador for VisitEngland's Discover your England campaign said: “This is such an exciting year for England as we get ready to welcome Rugby World Cup 2015. It's been great being a part of this TV Advert and I hope it entices visitors to set out and explore this beautiful country, which has something on offer for everyone.”

The advert is live at http://www.visitengland.com/blog/January-2014/rugby-ad(Live from 12PM).

An international version of the Advert will be promoted in key overseas markets by VisitEngland's International PR, Online Travel Agencies and British Posts (embassies).

Click here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcCiqW4LQWk

Please head over to YouTube, watch the videos, like them and share them via your own personal social media channels. We will be tweeting it, Facebooking it and sharing on the VisitEngland blog: http://www.visitengland.com/blog/January-2014/rugby-ad

A variety of visitor experiences can be found at Visitengland.com including information about all the film locations featured in the advert.

The Economic Impact of Rugby World Cup 2015 report can be downloaded here. This report was released by Ernst & Young (EY) on behalf of England Rugby 2015.

Rugby World Cup 2015 Match Venues and Host Cities:

1. Brighton Community Stadium, Brighton & Hove
2. Manchester City Stadium, Manchester
3. Elland Road, Leeds
4. Kingsholm Stadium, Gloucester
5. Leicester City Stadium, Leicester
6. Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
7. Olympic Stadium, London
8. Sandy Park, Exeter
9. Stadium MK, Milton Keynes
10. St James' Park, Newcastle
11. Twickenham Stadium, London
12. Villa Park, Birmingham
13. Wembley Stadium, London

About VisitEngland

VisitEngland is the country's national tourist board. We work in partnership with the industry to develop the visitor experience across England, plan national tourism strategy, grow the value of tourism in England and provide advocacy for the industry and our visitors. Our work is underpinned by robust research and customer insights. You can access the latest in-depth market intelligence and statistics on www.visitengland.org/insight-statistics.

England is a unique destination and a real powerhouse in global tourism. It represents 84 per cent of the total UK visitor economy, is worth £106 billion, and supports 2.6 million jobs.
For corporate information see www.visitengland.org and for consumer information see www.visitengland.com.