Summer marketing campaigns promoting Wales as a holiday destination are now underway in London and the South East in order to entice Londoners to Wales during the Year of Legends.

A Visit Wales marketing campaign will see a huge motion screen at Waterloo station to showcase Wales at its best with a specially edited film which will also bring some serenity and calm to London’s busiest rail station, with 250,000 people travelling through Waterloo each day.

Following the recent Lonely Planet accolade, where North Wales was named in the list of the Top 10 Regions for 2017, North Wales Tourism – working with the six Destination Management Partnerships in the area – were successful in securing support from the Visit Wales Tourism Product Innovation Fund (TPIF) to deliver an innovative campaign in London to raise awareness of North Wales as a destination and to capitalise on this great award and recognition by Lonely Planet.

During July and August six London taxis will be ‘wrapped’ to create an impression the driver is on a surf board or flying down a zip wire. For the first four weeks of the campaign, a bus on a central London route will also be fully wrapped. To support the campaign Radio X will run a digital and airtime competition for listeners to win a 3 night break in North Wales to experience first hand the range of adventure and activities on offer.

Economy Secretary, Ken Skates, said:

“Our aim is to encourage and inspire new visitors to consider Wales as a holiday destination right now, and to continue developing Wales’ reputation as a cool, contemporary, vibrant place to visit, with lots going on. Our summer campaign includes a mixture of TV advertising, digital, press partnerships and out of home advertising in key London underground and rail stations. “Our message for this campaign is clear – Wales is alive over the summer with legendary experiences, festivals and events. We’ve developed content to showcase Wales’ rich culture, heritage and landscapes and celebrate our wealth of cultural and sporting events and icons. I’m delighted that activity from our north Wales partners is reinforcing the message that a legendary experience awaits in wales this summer.”

Jim Jones, Managing Director of North Wales Tourism said:

“We’re delighted that this funding from Visit Wales has enabled us to work with partners on a London and South East campaign. Our aim is to raise the profile of the Lonely Planet recognition, but to also draw attention to just how close we are from London.”

The Visit Wales campaign also includes TV advertising with the Year of Legends campaign film starring Luke Evans being shown on Channel 4 in London as well as on Sky Regional London and Sky Adsmart Meridian. Print adverts, cover wraps and editorial features will be appearing in the Evening Standard and the London Metro with printed and digital adverts appearing in 36 rail and underground stations across London.