Isle of Man Steam Packet Company plans to promote the Island as a visitor destination for 2018 are well advanced.
Photoshoots have taken place at Isle of Man beauty spots and visitor attractions for use in off-Island advertising and publicity, and a major media partnership to promote the Island has been agreed.
Every year the Steam Packet Company invests more than £500,000 promoting the Isle of Man off-Island, with a strategic marketing plan using a mix of different media outlets including UK national and regional newspapers, specialist magazines and digital platforms.
During the summer an Island photographer and eight models from the Isle of Man were engaged for a series of photoshoots at locations including Peel beach, Rushen Abbey, Laxey Wheel and Archallagan Plantation, as well as on board Steam Packet Company vessel Manannan with a photoshoot on board Ben-my-Chree planned for late September.
The photos, which will be used in marketing to highlight the Isle of Man as a desirable destination for 2018, feature models representing families, mature people and younger travellers, and a wide range of activities, showing the Island has something for everyone.
As part of its media advertising campaign, the Steam Packet Company has agreed a partnership with the Guardian newspaper which will see the Isle of Man heavily promoted in early 2018. The Guardian has commissioned travel writers to visit the Island to research articles to be featured in the promotion, which will appear in print and online.
The Guardian’s online content reaches 155 million unique browsers worldwide every month, including 25 million in the UK, ensuring a large audience will learn about the Isle of Man and what it has to offer.
Marketing the Isle of Man as a destination is a longstanding annual commitment of the Steam Packet Company. During 2017, the ferry company has heavily promoted the Island in newspapers like The Times, the Guardian, the Telegraph and the Observer, as well as titles in Ireland including the Sunday World, Irish Independent and the Herald, with a combined print circulation in excess of 2.5 million.
The campaign has also featured in special interest publications including Country Walking, Cycling World and National Trust Magazine, and targeted online advertising which had attracted more than 44 million impressions by September.
Promotion during 2017 was supported by a series of videos filmed in the Isle of Man by a local film crew, which have been used online and in cinema advertising.
Steam Packet Company Marketing and Online Manager Renée Caley said: ‘Every year we invest in excess of £500,000 promoting the Isle of Man as a holiday destination in the UK and Ireland, and the ferry as the best way to travel. A considered strategy is created which targets the right mix of media, including print and online, to showcase what the Isle of Man has to offer visitors.
‘Our plans to promote the Island as a tourist destination for 2018 are well advanced, with some wonderful photography ready to use in advertising and articles, a high profile partnership with the Guardian which will heavily promote the Island, and a campaign for print and online advertising which builds on the success of the work we have done in 2017.’
Steam Packet Company Chief Executive Mark Woodward added: ‘The Isle of Man has a lot to offer visitors and we intend, through our planned promotions, to spread that message to as many people as possible.’
