Attracting the British Holidaymaker to European Destinations in 2020

The British holidaymaker has long been an attractive target market to its European neighbours. Think spending power, proximity to travel, frequent travellers, short and long breaks…indeed, they are attractive for good reason. So, how can you successfully market to and target this profitable audience in 2020?

Brits Love to Travel

It’s no secret that Brits love to travel. A staggering 9.4 million UK residents travelled to Europe in August 2019. The figure increased year on year with Brits spending a total of £7 billion travelling overseas. The most popular European destinations promise sun-drenched sands and balmy temperatures – perfect for its British guests. However, it is not just August that enjoys a rush of British tourists. Travel is year-round to numerous European destinations and includes business travel, city and weekend breaks.

Whilst “Staycations” have enjoyed a boom, the appeal of Europe remains. Its proximity, value, temperatures and attractions are more than enough to entice the crowds.  

Travel to and from Europe is often even better value than a UK Staycation.

Will Brexit have an impact?

Should we mention Brexit? Any decrease in British tourists or travel uncertainty should be short-term. Once regulations are finalised, Brits will continue to travel and their love affair with Europe continue. UK travellers flock in their millions to European destinations and massively contribute to tourism and the economy. This will (no doubt) keenly continue as European countries forge new and lasting arrangements with the UK.

How to attract British holidaymakers?

Many tourists are keen to explore and get ‘off the beaten track’, particularly the younger traveller. With this trend on the rise, lesser-known but upcoming destinations should capitalise on the explorative nature of the Brit traveller and attract them to their destination with clever marketing campaigns.

Attracting British holidaymakers in 2020 requires more than just visual inspiration. The UK market (in particular) is an evolved market both in terms of digital reach and variety of audiences one can target related to travel interest. Therefore, knowing what type of audience demographic to target for your destination is key. This level of granular data is hard to acquire but essential to a successful overseas campaign. Without this understanding it can be time-consuming and expensive to define your specific UK market, connect with them and generate interest in your offering and destinations.

Language and tone of voice is another important consideration when targeting to British audiences. Observing local nuances, culture and dialogue is key to getting the message across in an engaging manner. You can read our tips on localised content here.

If the UK is amongst your priority target market in 2020, then Digital Dialog can help. As a tourism and travel specialist digital agency, we have launched hundreds of successful campaigns to the UK audience, promoting popular European destinations and travel brands. In addition to platform-specific targeting capabilities, we have developed unique audience intelligence and personas across every type of traveller. Our campaigns tap into millennials, families, couples, senior travellers, adventure seekers, arts and culture enthusiasts, city breakers, sun-seekers and many more. We’ve been inspiring the UK market to explore new and established European destinations since 2011 via our creative and colourful media campaigns.

So, if you’re looking to launch a campaign to successfully attract British holidaymakers in 2020, get in touch with Digital Dialog. It is what we do! Here are some of the client’s we’ve helped attract British holidaymakers…