East Midlands Airport: Connecting Nottinghamshire to global growth
By Megan Powell Vreeswijk
CEO of Marketing Nottingham and Nottinghamshire
Connectivity is one of the foundations of a successful destination and economy. For Marketing Nottingham and Nottinghamshire, East Midlands Airport is an important part of the infrastructure that supports our work to attract visitors, investment, conferences and business to the region.
The scale of that opportunity is significant. Nottinghamshire’s visitor economy is worth £2.53 billion and supports around 22,500 jobs, while the work of Invest in Nottingham is helping bring new investment into the region. Over the past year, new investment projects attracted through Invest in Nottingham are expected to create 477 jobs, alongside the relocation of 100 existing jobs into Nottingham and Nottinghamshire.
Watch: Megan Powell Vreeswijk speaks about EMA's vital role in the region
International connectivity plays an important role in supporting this activity. Through Visit Nottinghamshire, we are reaching increasingly global audiences, with a record 4.82 million visits to the website over the past year, alongside more than 100,000 visitors to Nottingham Tourism Centre. International trade missions, destination marketing campaigns and partnerships are helping to raise the profile of Nottinghamshire as a place to visit – and being able to connect those audiences to the region is an important part of that proposition. We support East Midlands Airport’s efforts to increase the amount of inbound tourism from Europe to open up the region as a great destination choice.
The same applies to business and investment. For companies considering Nottingham and Nottinghamshire, access to international markets, customers, colleagues and supply chains is an important consideration. For us, connectivity is therefore not simply about getting people from A to B; it is part of the wider proposition we take to investors and businesses looking to grow. We’re fortunate to have the UK’s largest dedicated air cargo hub in our patch, with East Midlands Airport playing a pivotal role in connecting local businesses to the world and global businesses with the region.
It is also increasingly important to our work to attract conferences and business events. The launch of the Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Ambassadors Programme has brought together academics, researchers and business leaders to help attract national and international conferences to the region. Alongside this, FUTUREPROOF welcomed more than 370 delegates, 70 speakers and 45 sessions, strengthening Nottingham’s profile as a destination for business events and knowledge exchange.
Our wider destination marketing activity is designed to build that profile. Over the past year, MNN generated 134.3 million media reach and delivered 19 destination marketing campaigns, alongside supporting major events including UKREiiF and international sporting events.
One of the clearest examples of what can be achieved through collaboration was At the Centre of it All, the first regional tourism campaign commissioned by East Midlands Combined County Authority and delivered in partnership with Visit Peak District, Derbyshire & Visit Derby. The campaign generated more than 6.4 million impressions for Visit Nottinghamshire, increased website users by 114% year-on-year, and YouGov research recorded a 24.5% increase in booking intent.
Looking ahead, our ambition is to continue growing Nottinghamshire’s profile as a place to visit, invest, meet and do business. East Midlands Airport is an important part of that work – connecting the region to international markets and helping bring visitors, investors, delegates, talent and opportunity into the East Midlands.
For Marketing Nottingham and Nottinghamshire, that makes East Midlands Airport much more than a transport connection. It is an important economic asset and a key partner in our ambitions for the future.