Simon shares this latest news on behalf of Visit Isle of Wight. Ed
A short visit from a TV crew in December has led to a film showcasing the Isle of Wight broadcast on a French TV station.
The crew from broadcaster TF1 were asked to encapsulate northern Europe in just one small area. Journalist Francois Wasson chose the Island and asked Visit Isle of Wight to help find locations and people.
The resulting video was broadcast on TF1 on New Year’s Day to an estimated 8 million people.
Wasson: “A really high-quality report”
Speaking in December, Francois explained why the Island was ideal:
“We chose the Isle of Wight, because of its beautiful landscapes.
“It’s a really high-quality report, the goal is to make French people discover the beauty of the Island.”
VIOW: PR influences destination choice
Sue Emmerson, Press Officer at Visit Isle of Wight, said:
“It was great to be able to help Francois and his team with finding locations and people to film and the resulting video is wonderful.
“I would like to thank everyone for their last-minute support, including walk leader, David Howarth, Kathy Domaille at Godshill Park Barn, English Heritage, The Needles Landmark Attraction, Cheverton Farm, Rod Kellaway at Newport Ale House and to Wightlink for supplying the ferry crossing to the Island.
“PR is one of the main and most cost-effective ways of influencing destination choice. The report on TF1 lasted over 4 minutes and the cost of advertising on TF1’s lunchtime news channel is approx. 9500 euros per 30 seconds. This is in addition to the exposure we will receive on their Website for a whole year!”
VisitBritain: France “an extremely important market for VisitBritain”
VisitBritain added their congratulations, recognising the importance of the visit from the TV crew. VisitBritain Director Patricia Yates said:
“It is great to see the beautiful scenery and landscape of the Isle of Wight in the French media spotlight, inspiring more visitors to explore the Island, boosting the local economy through tourism.
“France is an extremely important market for VisitBritain, the largest in volume for visit numbers and third largest for visitor spend and we want to highlight the world-class destinations on offer across the whole of the UK to inspire visitors to travel further and stay longer.”
Image: © TF1
