Summer Campaign Drives Strong Engagement and Showcases York to Key Visitor Audiences

This year’s summer marketing activity delivered a strong, integrated campaign that showcased York’s experiences to families and day-trippers across the region and beyond. Designed to inspire easy, enjoyable day trips into the city, the campaign positioned York’s attractions, hospitality and cultural offer at the heart of a “Dream Days Out” summer narrative.

Anchored by fresh creative video content, the campaign ran across Visit York’s social channels, a refreshed Summer Hub on visityork.org, targeted email newsletters and streaming platforms including ITVX and YouTube. Activity was strengthened by a partnership with the Yorkshire Mumbler network, helping reach family audiences actively planning days out. Social media and video content continued to perform particularly strongly, demonstrating clear demand for inspirational, short-form destination storytelling.

Key Partners benefitted from premium visibility throughout the campaign, including:

• Inclusion in the national summer film and regional Dream Day Out videos
• Targeted social and digital advertising
• A Summer Hub advert driving traffic from the main campaign page
• A bespoke 30-second reel and up to two giveaways
• Visibility on the Visit Information Centre digital screens
• Dedicated eNewsletter features and weekly 7 Days newsletter placements 

Across the summer, Visit York delivered more than 450 social posts, generating almost 900,000 reach and over 694,000 video views. The Summer Hub attracted 12,700 views, and eNewsletters reached 284,500 recipients with a 41% open rate. Campaign video in the Visit Information Centre window was seen by an estimated 1.37 million passers-by.

Streaming platforms amplified the message further, with 626,000 completed ad views on ITVX and 493,000 YouTube viewers, while the Mumbler partnership reached over 93,000 parents across Yorkshire. Together, these touchpoints ensured York remained front-of-mind for day-trippers throughout the peak summer period.

This coordinated activity strengthened York’s positioning as a vibrant, family-friendly and accessible destination, while giving partners meaningful exposure across high-engagement channels. The approach will continue to evolve in future seasons to ensure Members benefit from wide-reaching, strategic promotional activity that supports footfall and visitor engagement.