Buy-From Creative Agency partner with Visit Shropshire to help over 100 tourism-based businesses

Since the announcement of the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) inclusion of Shropshire in the top ten Destinations to Watch 2024, the spotlight has well and truly been on the county, with online searches increasing tenfold. To help Shropshire-based businesses leverage the power of this news, Visit Shropshire teamed up with Buy-From Creative Agency to deliver a series of destination marketing masterclasses to over 100 businesses, from accommodation providers to visitor attractions and retailers.  


Above: Mark Hooper (Visit Shropshire), Jessica Ralph and Louise Welsby (Buy-From).

This series was developed to provide businesses with information and guidance on a range of marketing channels and to ensure that they are well equipped with the latest information, trends and strategies to maximise the potential for the year ahead. They have been held across the county at Whittington Castle, Shrewsbury Flaxmill Maltings, Love2Stay and the final event of the series is taking this place at Ludlow Castle this week as we enter English Tourism Week. 

Above: Whittington Castle, one of the venues for the masterclasses

Shropshire is expecting a successful summer of both inbound and domestic tourism so the timing of these events puts businesses in prime position to help the county prosper. They have had a fantastic reception from businesses large and small. 

Mark Hooper of Visit Shropshire, says; ‘The workshops have proved to be extremely popular and feedback has been equally as positive. It’s been great to see such a range of businesses represented from nationally recognised brands, event organisers, visitor information centre employees and sole traders. Shropshire is a vital sector for the county which in 2022 generated £987 Million and supports over 10,000 employees. Our aim is to grow our visitor numbers by 10% per year resulting in increased job creation and economic growth. We look forward to another busy year ahead, promoting the county as an outstanding visitor destination and providing a number of business support initiatives.” 

Uisce Ruocco of Shrewsbury Prison Marketing Department, who attended the workshop, says; 

“Our marketing department at Shrewsbury Prison attended the Destination Marketing Masterclass at Love2Stay last week. The content was explained in a way that was easily digestible and captivating to all different levels of marketing as the group included marketing professionals from companies big and small. We took many valuable points and tips away and were able to draw up an action plan to help our team get the most out of our efforts, efficiently. It was also a great insight to be able to catch up with other individuals in the industry, discussing shared wins and challenges at such a beautiful venue. I can’t thank Jessica and Louise of Buy-From enough for their presentation. Louise is one of the most engaging speakers I’ve had the pleasure of listening to and she made the class interactive and enjoyable.” 

VisitEngland forecasts that for 2024, inbound visits to the UK are to increase to 39.5 million (97% of the 2019 level and 5% higher than in 2023) and £34.1billion spend (120% of the 2019 level and 7% higher than in 2023). Coordinated by VisitEngland, English Tourism Week (Friday 15th – Sunday 24th March), is an annual celebration of the tourism industry, highlighting its importance to local economies and promoting the innovation, quality and range of products and services on offer to encourage more domestic breaks. The economic impact of tourism in Shropshire is significant, with a staggering £987.59m income from tourism across the county in 2023.  

Businesses can download the free resource – Leveraging the Power of Destination Marketing: A Guide for Tourism Businesses here:  https://mailchi.mp/56738ce00deb/destination-marketing-guide

You can also find out more about Visit Shropshire on their website.