Marketing Manchester, part of the Growth Company, has won silver at The International Travel Awards in the category of Best City Campaign for Come Together; a direct invitation to experience the spirit of diversity that makes Manchester in the months following the Manchester Arena attack.
Competing on the world-stage against leading cities and regional destinations such as Toronto, the Canary Islands and Kerala, the campaign was judged by a panel of 22 marketing and travel experts and was praised for being ’inspiring, full of hope, and built on a laser sharp focus to show that love triumphs hate’.
Reinforcing Manchester’s credentials as an open, welcoming, friendly destination, the campaign – which ran from August 2017 to May 2018 – had both a domestic UK iteration and a European iteration, targeting 30 cities in total with new photography, film and branding.
Sheona Southern, MD, Marketing Manchester, presents the trophy with Marketing Manchester’s International Marketing Advisory Board.
Sheona Southern, managing director of Marketing Manchester, said: “I’m absolutely delighted by this win which firmly acknowledges the world-class work that we do day-in-day-out to position Greater Manchester as a leading destination to visit, invest, meet and study in.
“Focusing squarely on our visit remit, this award is particularly significant as our campaign was created as a direct response to the atrocity inflicted on our city in May 2017, projecting vitally important messages to the world about our welcoming and tolerant region, where love ultimately wins.
“To pick up an award for such work is really very special and I would like to offer thanks to our partners, particularly VisitEngland, Greater Manchester Combined Authority, Manchester Airports Group, Ocean Outdoor, Ryanair, Transport for Greater Manchester, and Virgin Trains.
VisitEngland Director Andrew Stokes, said: “This fantastic win recognises the passion the people of Manchester have and want to share for their great city as well as the strength of partnership working. The campaign reminded visitors of the city’s legendary welcome as well as it’s fantastic tourism offer, boosting the economy along the way.”
Eamonn Boylan, chief executive of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, said: “The Come Together campaign was a very important piece of work to position Greater Manchester as a destination of choice during what was a very challenging period. The campaign succeeded in achieving this goal and whilst many challenges remain, making work like this that warmly welcomes visitors from across Europe to Greater Manchester is very pertinent. I’d like to extend my congratulations to all of the team at Marketing Manchester.”