Campaign to bring visitors to Hull for festive period
MORE than one million people could be attracted to Hull in the run-up to Christmas this year through a new advertising campaign.
Hull Business Improvement District (Bid) will be spending thousands of pounds to publicise the city to the masses.
The far-reaching advertising campaign will be taken to a target audience of 1.5 million people throughout Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire.
Bid's city centre manager Kathryn Shillito said: "Our campaign will be hitting regional television and radio, local newspapers and there will be leaflet drops.
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"In previous years, we have always invested in events-based campaigns such as the Georgian players who performed in costume last year.
"But there is already an awful lot going on in the city this year and the three shopping centres always run their own activities, so we thought we could take a different direction."
Bid's committee voted for the new move.
Ms Shillito says the advertising campaign will be "simple, clear and clean".
It plays on the word Hull and bills the city's restaurants and cafés as "flavourfHull", the Christmas atmosphere as "joyfHull"and the number of activities as "eventfHull".
The city is also described as blissfHull, gracefHull, beautifHull, sinfHull and magicHull.
Ms Shillito said: "In short, we wanted to target a vast number of people with a really clean, clear message.
"We're telling people Hull is a thriving city for shopping, for eating, for museums, for theatres and for cinemas."
There will also be a full list online of events running in the city. The website www.christ masinhull.co.uk will shortly feature a programme of things to do over the festive period.
This will include Hull City Council's Christmas lights switch-on, the living nativity scene planned for Holy Trinity Church, markets and Santa's grottos.
The new approach of running an advertising campaign, rather than focusing on events, has been welcomed by the retail community.
Jim Harris, St Stephen's shopping centre manager, said: "At a time when it costs £50 to fill even a small car with petrol, it makes sense to shop locally."
Steven Marsay, store manager of Hull Debenhams, said: "Our store has been completely modernised, which will kick-start our Christmas campaign."
In addition to the advertising campaign, Hull Bid hopes to be able to commit some funds for extra Christmas lights.
Ms Shillito said: "We will be speaking to our members to look at installing some lights in areas where there are currently none, to make them more festive.
"Our overall aim this year will be to commit Bid's resources to market the city effectively and reach a much wider audience as a result."
Comments
by CarmellaBrown
Tuesday, October 16 2012, 6:42PM
“noneventfHull”
by Bouncy_Bouncy
Tuesday, October 16 2012, 5:02PM
“Typical Hull attitude - Bemoan how bad the area is, no investment, no this, that or the other - Someone steps in to try and stimulate trade and it's belittled, undermined, and ridiculed. Same as the Freedom Festival.
We deserve all we get, with attitudes like that. Personally, I wish this programme well. Why not try and drum up trade? What are the drawbacks to it? Anyone? (other than 'Castle Street can't handle the traffic' - Given that most visitors will be coming in from the West, and heading to St Stephens or Princes Quay etc, they won't even touch Castle Street)
Best of luck with this, lets hope it's a success.”
by CarmellaBrown
Tuesday, October 16 2012, 3:38PM
“I think it would be easier to get one million people to leave the city not to visit”
by YorkieTed
Tuesday, October 16 2012, 1:49PM
“Hull City Centre is no better or worse then any other city centre, they are all blighted with their problems, be it litter or parking, but this kind of campaign would definately drive me away, GracefHull? JoyfHull and EventfHull? That really does sound so cheesy, and scornfHull. What they would be better off doing is taking over some of the closed down shop's and putting displays in the windows, making the place actually look festive, who wants to do christmas shopping in a place thats DullHull. Reducing parking charges might improve things too.”
by Jim_Royle
Monday, October 15 2012, 12:59PM
“Hull Business Improvement District (Bid) will be spending thousands of pounds to publicise the city to the masses. WastefHull. Shopping in Hull? My A***!”
by india7
Monday, October 15 2012, 12:12AM
“Just trying to imagine what a first time visitor is thinking when they enter our city ?
Beverley, Hessle, Anlaby (crikey) Road's, What does it matter? It is all the same - a shamefHull bloody eyesore...
And what are the lies about us being a thriving city?!!!
Has this woman ever had a night out in Hull recently? Has she ever tried George Street (on a Saturday night even), slap bang in the middle of our wonderful, 'thriving' cosmo city?! It is dead.
Has she ventured into Bond Street and marveled at its 'beauty' or jaywalked on a busy bustling Prospect Street overflowing with people?! It is dead.
Perhaps she is more accustomed to a night out on Witham, which would in some way explain why she is so delusional about this city, some call Hell!
Our city center is dead and this silly woman thinks people may be attracted to come here!
The decline of our city did not happen overnight. It has manifested over the last 40-50 year's because of elected councilor's and politician's being unable to deal 'affectively with their public duties, as a direct result of incompetence - end of.
Of course the most annoying thing is knowing that some of those very people who turned our home into the 'economic wasteland' that it has become, are still in office and getting away with it... but only in Hull eh?”
by Eleanor91
Sunday, October 14 2012, 6:05PM
“Wouldn't they be better off spending the money cleaning the dump up first? Eyesores, filth, graffitti, litter, boarded up buildings on every road into Hull for people to look at. Interchange filthy with urine soaked walls, a solitary bin filthy, stinking and overflowing. Dirty pavement littered with fag ends... Who on earth would want to come and see all that? Cos coming off a train or bus into the city, that is what they are confronted with. Yes people are knocking the city. They have always had reason to. Hull always was and will always be the filthiest city in the north. Until the men in suits get their act together, thats how it will always stay.”
by gerry_gilbert
Sunday, October 14 2012, 4:38PM
“If potential visitors read any of the petit-bourgeois ravings on these boards they'll steer well clear of Hull. Relentless racist reactionary ranting from green inkers with a chip on their shoulders the size of the Hessle dump and more bile than a barrelful of spleens. The impression any innocent reader would get would be of a bunch of embittered grey men who're happy to wallow in their own fetid juices and see Hull go down the pan into depopulation, decline and complete obscurity. These boards are the worst possible advert for Hull. For all that it has its manky bits (though all cities have them) it does have a calm attraction and local character, it has increasing numbers of cultural and musical events (all of which derided bigtime by the ranters on here, as witness the recent bilefest over Black History Month), it has increasing diversity and life, and above all, compared to York and Leeds, it's cheap!”
by india7
Sunday, October 14 2012, 1:13PM
“Shillito get real. Hull city center is a dump, if you are unable to see that, have a word with yourself.”
by David_Nivea
Sunday, October 14 2012, 12:28PM
“'...to publicise the city to the masses.'
Masses? Surely, plebs or even the hoi-polloi?
Anyway, if even a fraction of a million turn up, they'll never get along Castle Street.”