February 23rd, 2025
Tourism PR Campaign Creating a ‘Poster Boy’
During the pandemic lockdown, Catapult PR created an extraordinary tourism PR campaign for a Northumberland castle hotel, using its skill in travel and tourism media relations so as to work around what was possible, not impossible, under lockdown restrictions.
In full lockdown, Catapult PR recognised that finding various means to stay in the public eye was phenomenally important, even if visitors were unable to actual visit. Its tourism PR campaign was wholly focused on positivity.
On this basis, it delved into the history books and explored, in depth, the history of the castle in the broadest sense. This encompassed researching general Anglo-Scottish history across the centuries that the castle has stood (from 1350). This diligent research was the cornerstone of a phenomenal story.
A case of mistaken ghostly identity
During the course of its research, it struck Catapult PR that the castle’s ghostly legend was deeply flawed. For decades, a weeping woman, whom guests had claimed to see walking around the castle, had been said to be Maud de Lucy. It was claimed she was heartbroken because her husband had been killed on the battlefield. She had thrown herself off the castle battlements in her anguish. Instantly, Catapult realised this made no sense. Its research showed Maud de Lucy had indeed been widowed but had remarried – her second husband being one of the Percy family at Alnwick and her home then becoming Alnwick Castle. There, she actually passed away before her second husband, so was not a suicidal widow.
Digging deeper, Catapult uncovered something that had never been revealed – that Thomas de Lucy, who first built the castle, had a second wife, Agnes. And therein lay a mystery. There was nothing whatsoever to be found about the death of Agnes, a cousin of the king. The more Catapult discovered, the more it became convinced that the only person the ‘grey lady’ could be, would be Agnes, if anything about the story were true.
This provided the opportunity to create a fantastic story. We highlighted how the Langley ghostly apparition had free run of the castle during lockdown, but could not possibly be Maud de Lucy. We pitched this travel PR story to some key journalists and instantly had a request from the Sunday Times for an exclusive. This generated fantastic exposure and the story was then picked up by other titles.
Hairy History
Utilising the research it had conducted, Catapult PR then went on to create the first ‘edu-staycation’ experience for children, backed by a unique download called ‘Hairy History’. This booklet was written and created in a Horrible Histories style but focused solely on the history of the castle. It brought that to life for kids in a fun and engaging way, whilst also referencing parts of the National Curriculum syllabus for history. This provided outreach material for kids and parents, as the first lockdown restrictions started to lift. It was another great element within our tourism PR campaign.
Tale of Langley Bear
To reach out further to kids during full lockdown, Catapult PR wrote a children’s story based around Langley Bear. This is the teddy bear knight who is the castle’s mascot and the one who always ensures guests have a good ‘knight’s’ sleep. The story was recorded as a podcast and the underlying theme was that of Langley Bear’s deep upset that children could not currently visit him. The story also offered an uplifting vision of the time when that could again happen.
All Defences in Place
As it started to become possible for venues to open their doors once more, Catapult PR’s tourism PR campaign evolved. We created a bold statement of intent, issuing a press release that highlighted the castle’s resilience and determination to carry on thrilling visitors. The messaging conveyed that a castle, known for its fortifications and authenticity, had “all defences in place”, as it prepared to welcome guests once more. A photograph was arranged of the general manager, sword in hand and armoured knight by their side, defiantly battling the pandemic challenges head on.
The World’s first Bubble Wedding
In a similar vein, when the castle started to work within pandemic wedding number restrictions, the tourism PR campaign encompassed wedding elements. Catapult PR branded the castle’s compliant wedding offering as the ‘World’s First Bubble Wedding’. Materials were issued to wedding titles still continuing to trade at this difficult time, plus other media.
Pooch Smooches
Another fantastic lockdown story was created when it became possible for guests to visit under tight restrictions. Catapult PR’s tourism campaign sought to convey the dog-friendliness of the castle, and the desire to still welcome dogs as much as possible, albeit from behind screens. To do this, Catapult PR put a spin on the fact that soap opera stars were having to kiss through Perspex screens too. It targeted national media with a story about the castle offering ‘Pooch Smooches’. An accompanying appealing photo of a dog being welcomed by the receptionist in this way soon grabbed media attention.
Results
The results of this tourism PR campaign were phenomenal.
The big news was that the ‘defences in place’ story caught the eye of the Government. Before we knew it, they had made Langley Castle the ‘poster boy’ for their official tourism staycation campaign. Our PR story was placed at the centre of hundreds of advertorial features within titles across the country. Guests actually arrived in reception waving the ‘defences in place’ article, with some travelling from as far away as Hampstead in North London.
That was not all. The Press Association (PA) also issued a syndicated staycation story the moment restrictions lifted and Langley Castle was one of the few British venues included. Again, our pro-active tourism PR campaign paid off.
Our ghostly story was picked up by other titles, once the Sunday Times had run it as an exclusive and we even managed to get it placed in the leading genealogy magazines such as ‘Who Do You Think You Are?’
The Pooch Smooch was used big in the Daily Star and other titles, whilst news of the Bubble Wedding was publicised as far afield as South Africa.
Although we had to stop the cuttings service twice, due to the volume of coverage coming through, we generated 290 pieces of print editorial, with a print reach alone of 23.1m and 762 brand mentions.
There was 90% image inclusion in the editorials – important for such a photogenic castle – and coverage included 249 website mentions, with 40 of these being valuable back links. Website traffic peaks coincided with exposure.
23 Bubble Weddings were booked in a short space of time. Most importantly, an occupancy rate of 96% was achieved between July and September and this continued to rise in subsequent months. 2021’s occupancy rate continued to be phenomenal. It all added up to one success tourism PR campaign.
Conclusion
By being bold, creative and thinking outside the box, the client became not just the staycation poster boy but the number one castle hotel in the visiting public’s mind. It emerged from lockdown with a huge amount of business and the opportunity to build family visits around the download collaterals created. As importantly, thanks to this tourism PR campaign, the ‘ghost’ no longer had to be bored with being called Maud!
