VisitWiltshire has been ranked number one in the first English Tourism Social Media Index, a league table which grades 126 regional tourism bodies in England according to social media performance by their official channels – Visit Cornwall and VisitLondon ranked 2nd and 3rd.
Produced by social media agency Umpf in association with HolidayLettings.co.uk, tourism bodies in the south of England dominated the top of the table, with only one northern region – Visit Peak District & Derbyshire (eighth) – achieving a top ten place.
Source: www.englishtourism.socialmediaindex.co.uk
Launched to coincide with English Tourism Week (14-22 March 2015), the Index is compiled by measuring the social media performance of each tourism body based, not just on an algorithm, but a team of five people who looked at nine social networks.
Three months in the making, the data was then analysed by a panel of four industry judges who presided over the final results, creating a league table which benchmarks social media success among England’s tourism bodies.
VisitWiltshire achieved one of the best data scores due to their breadth of social channels, high engagement across various social platforms and responsiveness to their communities.
In addition to achieving a high score in the algorithm-based section of the methodology, judges said VisitWiltshire showed a diverse range of content, from the creation of their own videos, to the sharing of bespoke images and links to third party content.
The panel was also impressed by the tourist board’s strategy implementing the #timeforwiltshire hashtag across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, achieving shareable, user-generated images and content.
Matthew Balmforth, Social Media Account Manager at Umpf, said: “VisitWiltshire’s data score was one of the country’s best, attaining top marks for engagement – the content produced is clearly in tune with their communities’ wants and needs.
“As well as great content and audience growth, the team’s overall understanding of social media and responsiveness to their communities, in particular on Twitter, cemented VisitWiltshire’s place as winner of the inaugural English Tourism Social Media Index.”
Saskia Welman, PR Manager for HolidayLettings.co.uk and panel judge, said: “The use of social media across tourism and travel brands is instrumental in reaching an audience, so it’s great to see so many fantastic examples of innovative and creative work across the medium.
“VisitWiltshire is doing a brilliant job of capturing its audience and is really leading the way for tourism organisations.
“As the use of social media continues to gain momentum, it’s vital that tourism boards use the medium to interact with their communities and get people excited about what’s going on in their region.”
Fiona Errington, Marketing Manager at VisitWiltshire, said: “We are delighted to have been awarded this recognition for our social media activity. Social media is a very important part of our digital strategy and this award is a fantastic reflection of all the hard work our social media team, supported by tourism businesses across the county, have put into growing Wiltshire’s visitor economy through social channels.”
Of the 126 tourism bodies analysed, 32 are counties with VisitWiltshire again the winner, ahead of Visit Cornwall in second and Visit Norfolk third; a further 94 are towns, cities and regions within nine areas of England – the regional winners are:
· North East – Visit Northumberland
· North West – Visit Manchester
· Yorkshire & The Humber – Visit Leeds
· East Midlands – Visit Peak District & Derbyshire
· West Midlands – Visit Forest of Dean & Wye Valley
· East of England – Visit Norfolk
· London – Visit London
· South West – VisitWiltshire
· South East – Visit Thanet.
www.englishtourism.socialmediaindex.co.uk
Source: www.holidaylettings.co.uk