VisitBritain has partnered with The Weinstein Company to promote Britain as a GREAT destination for family travelers with the new Paddington film in theaters January 16. The movie which follows the adventures of the beloved bear who arrives at London's Paddington Station from Peru, features Ben Whishaw as the voice of Paddington and stars Nicole Kidman, Hugh Bonneville (Downton Abbey), Sally Hawkins, Julie Walters, Jim Broadbent and Peter Capaldi (the new Doctor Who).

The lovable bear can be seen in the campaign with the tagline “See Britain through Paddington's eyes.” VisitBritain will run PR, digital and social media activity on Facebook and Yahoo and has also captured a cheeky selfie with Paddington Bear to inspire visitors to take their own selfies at locations around the country using the hashtag #PaddingtonsBritain.  VisitBritain GREAT branding is featured in the film, appearing in tube station scenes and on a red Routemaster bus. This is the first time the national tourism agency has placed advertising within an internationally released film.

Consumers can find ideas on how to plan their own Paddington adventure at www.visitbritain.com/paddington, including destination itineraries for towns across Britain reachable via Paddington station, highlighting how easy it is to travel across the country by train, and, of course, where to find the best marmalade. User-generated images from Instagram will appear on the site and members of the tourism industry across Britain have been sent Paddington Bear soft toys to feature in their own photos of local landmarks, the best being shared on social media. Paddington Bear products can also be purchased via VisitBritain's online shop platform.

This film tourism GREAT campaign is predicted to provide a return on investment of 7:1 and increase the incremental spend of overseas visitors by £1.75 million across Britain over a three-month period.

Joss Croft, Marketing Director at VisitBritain said: “This film is a huge opportunity that we really could not let slip through our paws! The power of set-jetting is an important element in driving incremental tourism with the right film acting as free advertising, so we do all we can to capitalise on that. The film demonstrates the warm welcome that Britain delivers to all our visitors.”

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Notes:

The value of film tourism

• Available evidence suggests around a tenth of the value of foreign tourism to the UK may be attributable to UK films. In 2011, this additional spending was estimated to be worth £1 billion to UK GDP and £230 million to the Exchequer. (BFI Economic Impact of the UK film industry 2012) While it's difficult to put a specific number on the amount of visitors who visit destinations ONLY because of the influence of a film or TV programme, VisitBritain research indicates that 40% of potential visitors would be “very likely” to visit places from films or TV

Success stories

Alice in Wonderland

18th Century Cornish Mansion Antony House, Torpoint saw visitors quadruple from 25,000 to 100,000

Pirates of the Caribbean:

Visitors to the Old Royal College at Greenwich increased by 13% last year to more than 1.27 million

Harry Potter:

Alnwick castle saw visitors increase by 230% with a benefit of up to £9million extra spend due to the 'Potter effect'

Da Vinci Code:

At Rosslyn Chapel in Midlothian, visitor numbers soared from 40,000 to peak at 175,000 a year after it featured in The Da Vinci Code.  It now attracts about 130,000, but is aiming for a "sustainable" 80,000 a year.

VisitBritain has worked on film tourism for over 15 years now with films such as 'Braveheart', 'Notting Hill', 'The Da Vinci Code' to more recent ones such as Sherlock Holmes and the James Bond film 'Skyfall'. Throughout the years we have produced movie- maps, dedicated micro-sites, costume displays, money can't buy movie experiences and smart phone apps dedicated to helping tourists explore destinations they have seen on film. Our history working on film tourism started when we launched Britain's first movie map in 1996. The map featured 60 years of British film and TV. Now all content is hosted on www.lovewall.visitbritain.com/film

The value of Paddington Bear

• Paddington was first created in 1958 in the books written by Michael Bond
• Paddington was voted Britain's Favourite Animated Character (British Animated Awards 2012)
• Sold over 35 million books to date - 70 titles across 40 languages
• Featured on 23 million jars of Robertson's Marmalade in the UK
• BBC & HBO TV series ran for nearly 20 years across multiple markets
• 25 million Paddington Bear plush toys sold
• 130 licensees – making over 1,000 products around the world, including a Paddington theme park in Japan

VisitBritain, the national tourism agency, is responsible for inspiring the world to explore Britain and for developing the UK's visitor economy.  Americans made 2.8 million visits to Britain in 2013 and spent $4.17 billion USD (£2.54 billion). The US remains in the top spot in terms of market value for inbound tourism and is one of the top three most important markets in terms of visitor numbers. Visitors traveling to Britain can find out more information from visitbritain.us plus purchase money and time saving local transport, sightseeing, attraction, theatre and tour tickets from visitbritainshop.us.  Follow us on Twitter @VisitBritain, Pinterest (Love GREAT Britain), Instagram: lovegreatbritain and Facebook: LoveGREATbritain.

ABOUT THE WEINSTEIN COMPANY

The Weinstein Company (TWC) is a multimedia production and distribution company launched in October 2005 by Bob and Harvey Weinstein, the brothers who founded Miramax Films in 1979. TWC also encompasses Dimension Films, the genre label founded in 1993 by Bob Weinstein. During Harvey and Bob's tenure at Miramax and TWC, they have received 331 Oscar nominations and won 79 Academy Awards.

Since 2005, TWC and Dimension Films have released such films as VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA; THE READER; INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS; SCRE4M; SPY KIDS: THE KING'S SPEECH; THE IRON LADY; UNDEFEATED; THE ARTIST; THE MASTER; SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK; DJANGO UNCHAINED; SCARY MOVIE 5; LEE DANIELS' THE BUTLER; PHILOMENA; THE GIVER; THE DISAPPEARANCE OF ELEANOR RIGBY, ST. VINCENT and THE IMITATION GAME. Upcoming releases include BIG EYES and PADDINGTON.

TWC boasts an active television production division which garnered nine Emmy nominations in 2013 and five in 2014. TWC Television produces the reality powerhouse Project Runway, with its spin-off series Project Runway All Stars and Under The Gunn.  Recent TWC television productions include Mob Wives, Million Dollar Shoppers, Rodeo Girls and Trailer Park: Welcome to Myrtle Manor. Scripted projects currently in production include John Fusco's Marco Polo. Scripted projects in development include Ten Commandments and Daniel Stashower's The Hour Of Peril.  TWC also developed Nanny Diaries and produced The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency.