Visit Manchester and Avanti Destinations have launched a joint campaign to educate advisors about the appeal of Manchester and how convenient it is to use the northern English city as a hub for multi-destination British vacations to the Lake District, York, Liverpool, Chester, Wales, Scotland and other UK locations. As part of the campaign, Avanti has just added three new customizable vacations, eight hotels, and 20 new experiences and excursions in and around Manchester.
For this campaign they have launched a new 36-page downloadable e-brochure, Manchester: Gateway to Northern England, available on Avanti’s travel advisor portal. There will also be a webinar on held April 20, and travel advisors will earn a $25 gift card for each passenger booked to Manchester in 2021 and 2022 (details of the incentive available on the advisor portal). As with all Avanti vacations, there are no fees for changes made 15 or more days prior to departure.
“Partnering with Visit Manchester fits in with a multi-year trend Avanti has been encouraging—of FITs wanting to spend time in multiple destinations within the same country,” said Paul Barry, Avanti’s CEO, in a press statement. “Traditionally England’s second city, Manchester has an international airport ideally suited for open-jaw FIT vacations for your clients who have already been to London several times and want to explore more of the UK in the north and west.
“From Manchester you can drive in just 90 minutes to reach North Wales, the Lake District and Yorkshire. But besides its central location, it is an amazing place itself. As a cosmopolitan forward-thinking city, Manchester was the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution and free trade. It has a long history of technological and transportation innovation, political and social reforms, and progressive causes like women’s suffrage, workers’ rights…and of course it has world-class football—soccer to Americans,” added Barry.
Barry recommends summer as the best time to visit Manchester and surrounding areas. Not only because the weather is best, but because accommodations are even more affordable and available then. With a compact center, Manchester is walkable and easy for tourists to navigate, although renting a car is recommended for daytrips to other nearby cities and regions.
“Manchester is looking ahead to the future with exciting developments on the horizon offering visitors a plethora of reasons to visit in 2021 and beyond,” said Sheona southern, managing director of marketing Manchester, in press materials. “We’re looking forward to new outdoor experiences, rich new cultural offerings, refreshed and refurbished hotels, a diverse choice of food and drink, and some truly outstanding events; all of this emphasizes and expands Manchester’s reputation as a world-class city of culture, sport and music.
“As the Gateway to Northern England, Manchester makes the perfect hub for exploring nearby destinations like The Lake District, York or Liverpool, which are all easily accessible on a range of day trips”, added Southern. “Wherever your clients visit, you can be confident they will be safe and they will receive our famous warm Northern welcome.”
3 New Customizable Vacations, 20 New Experiences
Designed to be shared with clients, the new e-brochure includes background information on Manchester, points out some of the main city sights, provides direct air travel times from several U.S. gateways, and lists upcoming 2021-2022 events, such as the opening of the first craft beer hotel and a new Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Garden in Bridgewater.
Avanti’s three new customizable itineraries include one that combines Manchester and Liverpool—Best of Northern England—and could easily include the Lake District or York, and two that are focused on food and drink—British Bites—one that pairs Manchester with London, the second Manchester with Edinburgh. The three vacations include a wide choice of accommodations, sightseeing tours, transfers, and experiences. Clients can choose how long they stay in each city and whether other destinations are added to their unique vacation.
Among the 20 new experiences and excursions: a walking tour of street art, for which Manchester is renowned; a walking tour of Salford Quays—a former industrial area filled with ships, warehouses and cranes, today redeveloped to reflect the city’s reinvention as a media, theater, film, and football powerhouse; river sightseeing cruise from the heart of the city; three different football-focused tours, including the National Football Museum and a behind-the-scenes tour of Manchester City stadium; the Ancoats Taster walking tour of the city’s hottest, eclectic gastronomic neighborhood, formerly a gritty industrial area, with samples along the way; a craft beer tour with tastings at the city’s finest breweries and microbreweries; a Spirit of Manchester gin distillery tour with guided tastings; private daytrips to other nearby destinations including the Lake District, Peak District, Northern Wales, and the heritage city of Chester, founded by the Romans.
For more information, visit book.avantidestinations.com.
