The Great Western Way has been awarded a share of the £1m VisitEngland  2022 ‘Escape The Everyday’ Destination Marketing Fund, established to support post-pandemic tourism recovery in England.

The funding will be used to launch a national digital and social media marketing campaign that will aim to promote urban short breaks on the Great West Way.

Great West Way is a destination organisation that is working in partnership with 27 destinations to promote the multi-modal touring route between Bristol and London.

Cities and towns including West London, Bristol, Bath, Reading, Salisbury, Windsor and Swindon, as well as a range of Great West Way ‘ambassadors’, such as tourism partners and businesses from across the visitor economy, will feature in the Great West Way campaign. 

Chief executive at Great West Way David Andrews said: "We’re delighted to have been selected by VisitEngland to receive this funding.

"The campaign is an important support for tourism businesses who have been hard hit by the pandemic across the last two years and we are aiming to replicate the success of last year’s Great West Way ‘Escape the Everyday’ campaign which generated an estimated £5m visitor spend in local economies across the route.

"We’ll be working closely with our town and city destinations to showcase the surprising, contemporary and high-quality urban experiences to be found along the Great West Way and encouraging visitors to explore these alongside our extraordinary heritage and countryside."