Conference venue ad campaign attracts 3.7m visitors to Lancashire and Blackpool

A national awareness campaign highlighting the range of conference venues in Lancashire and Blackpool attracted 3.7 million business visitors to the region this year.

Lancashire & Blackpool Conferences & Meetings launched the marketing campaign at the start of the year.

A series of high-profile showcase events and an ambassador programme led to a 23 per cent increase in enquiries, meetpie.com reports.

Alston Hall, which is located near Preston, reported a 28 per cent rise in external corporate income as a result of the campaign.

Sarah Wilcock, business development manager at Alston Hall, said: "We have also seen 11 new companies starting to use Alston Hall this year with at least five more new companies with bookings for 2011 already."

Tony Openshaw, director of marketing at Lancashire and Blackpool Tourist Board, told the website that the challenge the region now faces is to build on this year's success.

Earlier this month, Graham Stephenson, chairman of the Association of Event Venues, advised venue operators to make sure they are prepared for the VAT increase that will come into force in the UK on January 4th.