KAFFEINE / Arts & Culture, Travel & Tourism

TOWER BRIDGE MARKS 125 YEARS WITH RECORD BREAKING VISITOR FIGURES

12 August 2019

Kallaway raised a toast to Tower Bridge, London’s best-loved landmark, by driving record-breaking visitors on its 125^th anniversary weekend over 29-30 June 2019. 

The media relations campaign was part of our five year long relationship with the iconic landmark, which has seen us generate over 550 stories since we partnered with Tower Bridge in 2014. Our ongoing challenge is to re-engage cool-hunting adults and tourists to the famous river crossing, operating in a competitive London destinations climate.  Our Step Inside campaign influencing younger audiences, cool hunters and inbound tourists to London to step inside the Bridge has increased footfall by over 30% and the attraction is now in the top 20 paid for visitor attractions in the UK. 

Our comprehensive media strategy aimed to reach all major touch points, guaranteeing unmissable coverage landed every day in the week leading up to, and on, the celebratory weekend. Bespoke packages ensured every London news outlet each had their own unique take on the anniversary – from BBC London TV presenter Wendy Hurrell doing her very own bridge lift to ‘hidden hero’ stories of historic workers at the Bridge for ITV London.

The 125^th anniversary campaign helped to change perceptions of the visitor offering available. Footfall targets were ultimately smashed, with a direct correlation between visitor figures and quantity and type of coverage.

To achieve global attention, we secured over 20 global journalists to attend our international press briefing, including China Daily, Agence France Presse, and Deutsche Presse-Agenteur. Each one wrote a positive piece ahead of the anniversary weekend, ensuring we reached overseas holidaymakers and key international short haul markets to help maximise the legacy of the campaign.

Josephine Noti, Marketing and Education Manager, said "the anniversary went fantastically and the atmosphere was buzzing. We had steady queues throughout – the earliest visitors even queued from 7am on Saturday!” she went on to praise the Kallaway team for "helping us do justice in celebrating ‘London’s defining landmark’.”