A £5 million international marketing campaign has been announced by Tourist chiefs to help lure foreign visitors back to Britain.

In the wake of terrorist attacks, the numbers from America alone plunged about 60 percent in September.

From Dailymail.co.uk:

“Timing is critical if we are to maintain and raise Britain’s profile as a desirable tourism destination,” said the BTA’s chief executive Jeff Hamblin.

He went on: “Our recent visit to New York proved to us that there is still a strong market for international travel when the time is right.”

The authority’s campaign centres on what are perceived to be Britain’s four key strengths – great countryside, great heritage, great cities and great sport.

The other countries being targeted are Germany, France, Belgium, Ireland, The Netherlands and Canada.

Key tourism companies, including airlines and hotels, have pledged to work in partnership with the BTA to address the challenges now faced by the UK inbound industry.

The announcement of the initiative follows the publication yesterday of the BTA’s 2000-01 annual report, in which the authority said that the terrorist attacks and the effect of the foot-and-mouth crisis would result in a £2.5 billion dip in overseas tourist revenue in 2001.

The United States of America is one of the seven international markets that the British Tourist Authority is targeting in the campaign.

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If you, as an entrepreneur, have been blessed with a Family Business and want to make a loud statement about the business name you need to think twice. This is because there is no point in shouting it loud if the name does not gives a hint about what your business deals in, to the customers. However, things would have been different if the business name was Apple, Microsoft, or Wal-Mart but that’s not the case, so why insist?

You will be surprised to know that 76 percent of potential customers on the web will be entering keywords not for you, but in relevance with what your business does. This means that if you are a business ABC Ltd. and dealing in perfumes, you can expect customers to search with the words “perfumes”, “cheap perfumes”, or “best perfume seller” unless you are the number one perfume seller in the world and every one knows about this fact.

In addition to that, do make sure that your business website is updated on a regular basis with appealing, unique, fresh, and relevant content so that your business helps customers make informed decisions. This will help customers trust you more than ever and you will be reaping the true benefits of online marketing.

Furthermore, promote your business website in both online and offline ways. This may include banner promotion, email marketing, bookmark tools, corporate blogging, free gifts and contests, newsletters, and even press releases so that the world knows that you are running a business with which they can do business.

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A web site can do many things at a single time; it is like a Swiss Knife that can perform more than one task at the same time. In its simplest form, a website could just be a single page advertisement like a magazine ad. However, the only difference is that an online ad can be bigger than an offline ad and still comes at a very low price. Moreover, this ad can be available for viewing at all times of day and night and from geographical location as per the comfort and convenience of the Internet users.

A business website, usually, has all the information that a customer may expect or seek from the business. It has basic information about the business such as the working hours, contact address and communication options (email ID, phone or fax number etc.) and road maps so as to help a prospective customer to easily access the business as per his comfort and convenience. Customers prefer such friendly businesses as they can easily request more information from them as and when they need it.

It is thus important that your small business must act now if it is still in second thoughts whether to opt or stay away from online marketing.

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Effective online presence is an essential factor to regulate the prospects of a business these days. This is the reason why more and more business entrepreneurs are looking at the Internet as an amicable option to boost their sales and prospects. A website acts as an effective medium in this regard and has the capabilities to become one of the best revenue-generating mediums for every business, whether small or big.

Let us have a look at three of the biggest reasons why a business, whether small or big, needs a web presence of its own.

A website says so much more!

A business can say so much more on its website than it could on any traditional advertising platform. This is because there are no space limitations on a website and an online business can use as many web pages as it wants on its business website.

Available at all times

A business website is accessible at all times of the day or night. It acts as a business representative and does takes any vacation or a break. It’s a robot at work, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Saves valuable time and money

A viable web presence allows a business and its customers to save their valuable time and money by acting as a one-point platform to buy or sell products and services from any part of the world and at any given time.

With these three reasons and many more, a business just cannot ignore the usefulness of a website when it comes to exploring new avenues and moving forward to gain success.

Tags: business website, Effective online presence, web presence, website