Destination Marketing Strategies to Boost UK Tourism in 2025

If you think marketing a £20 product is complex, try selling a six-figure service that takes six+ months to close. That’s a different beast entirely – and many agencies either fluff it or run scared. We don’t do either.

At Reech, we work with growing businesses offering high-value services – from commercial construction projects and SaaS solutions to managed IT services and homebuilders. And here’s the brutal truth: if you’re relying on ad-hoc campaigns, social ‘likes’, or a glossy brochure to convert leads, you’re already on the back foot. 

Long Sales Cycles Demand Long-Term Thinking

When your clients are dealing with multiple stakeholders, layers of compliance, and months of internal sign-off, impulse doesn’t exist. So, stop treating your audience like they’re clicking ‘add to basket’.

You need to build trust, educate and inform, and stay relentlessly visible across every stage of the buying journey. That means you can’t just ‘switch’ marketing on when the pipeline dips – it must be a constant stream.

In 2025, VisitBritain forecasted record figures of 43.4 million visitors with a £33.7 billion spend. But while everyone’s celebrating, here’s the uncomfortable truth: we’re still significantly underperforming against our European and American counterparts. Meaning there’s huge scope for further growth and development.

As someone who’s spent over 15 years transforming how tourism brands get seen, booked, and talked about, I know that the UK isn’t short of brilliant destinations. It’s short of bold marketing. The opportunities are there for the taking, but to win, businesses need to stop playing it safe and start thinking (and acting) like modern marketers.

It’s time to start pushing boundaries, building brands, and putting destinations firmly on the map.

Brand First, Always

Too many tourism businesses still rely on tired visuals and templated copy. But in 2025, your brand is your first booking tool.

You need a constant identity. And that doesn’t just mean a nice logo, but a clear tone of voice, messaging hierarchy, and visual language across every touchpoint. Inject personality, build relationships, and become a reliable and familiar name to your audiences.

Take Williams Leisure, for example. We supported with a complete brand refresh, giving the company a visual overhaul to better represent its strong community feel and rural relaxation, as well as providing each of its five parks with an individual but cohesive identity too.

And we designed and developed a multi-site solution that supports new launches and futureproofs the business’ growth, accompanied by updated on-location imagery and video. Complemented with a digital strategy, consisting of SEO, email, and social media, it saw a 47% increase in bookings, 13% growth in social media audience, and a 45% rise in organic search traffic.  

Tactics to try:

• Build a brand kit – outlining your colours, fonts, tone, logos, imagery, key messaging, and soundbites
• Apply it to every asset, creating total consistency and alignment
• And, most importantly, ensure your entire team understands and adopts this.   

Stop Guessing. Start Tracking.

There’s no one-size-fits-all. What works for one brand might not be right for the next. Likewise, what worked for your business last month, might fall flat on its face next time.

It’s about being smart and strategic, making informed choices based on the information available to you. So, if you’re not using data to drive decisions, you’re throwing money away. Simple.

Because every digital campaign, website visit, and booking journey holds clues to what’s working (and what isn’t).

For Hillandale, we delivered a 406% increase in paid search traffic, 62% increase in social CTR, and 27% increase in leads by stripping it back to what matters: intent, conversion rate, and optimisation. No bigger budget, just sharper targeting.

Tactics to try:

• Understand your audience demographic, interests, and online behaviours
• Using this, establish your objectives and set realistic goals
• Arrange regular intervals (i.e. monthly) to review performance, identify wins and challenges, and pivot as necessary.

Websites Are Booking Engines

Your website is your most powerful marketing tool. It’s essentially your digital shop window – you want people to come inside, browse for a while, and then complete the purchase.

However, too many look great but convert terribly. Meaning those customers walk straight back out of that hypothetical door and don’t look back. They go to your competitor down the street instead.

The modern tourism site must be fast, mobile-first, SEO-strong, and built for action: bookings, sign-ups, referrals.

As Visit Shropshire’s Official Marketing Partner, we worked with them to design and develop two bespoke sites – one for consumers, and the other for businesses. It’s a model of what local destination marketing should be: collaborative, connected, and built around shared growth. And the results? 25% rise in new website users and a 58% increase in form submissions.

Tactics to try:

• Add clear CTAs on every page
• Optimise load speed
• Make your mobile UX seamless.

Build Community, Not Just Campaigns

Tourism thrives on trust, recommendations, and storytelling. Regular workshops, email newsletters, user-generated content, local collaborations… these aren’t ‘nice-to-haves’. They’re what build loyalty and advocacy.

Recognising this, as part of our partnership, we host workshops and upskilling sessions for Visit Shropshire members. Because when the local ecosystem wins, the whole county thrives. It’s the ultimate win:win.

Tactics to try:

• Schedule a ‘Local Voices’ or ‘Behind the Business’ series on social media, involving real people and real stories
• Work with other businesses (in a non-competitive manner) to advocate and affiliate the local area / activities / destination
• Share advice and guidance via email newsletters and website blog posts – for example: ‘Dog-Friendly Walking Routes’, ‘What’s On This Summer’, or even ‘Best Places to Park in X’.

Above All: Be Brave

Tourism marketing in 2025 requires bravery. The businesses that grow will be those who invest in brand, lead with data, and build relationships that last. The days of set-and-forget campaigns are long gone.

From strategy to execution, we partner with ambitious tourism brands to create unforgettable digital journeys that convert. Because your visitors are out there, and we’ll help them find you.