Bowood Hotel, Spa & Golf Resort, located on a 2,000-acre estate in rural Wiltshire, wanted to raise its profile to attract visitors to its off-the-beaten-track location. Pic PR was tasked with enhancing Bowood's visibility, with a focus on driving website traffic and boosting bookings across its hotel, spa, and golf offerings, as well as increasing visits to its house and gardens (a stately home at the heart of the estate).
Working to a limited budget, a comprehensive communication strategy was developed, targeting ideal demographics, such as couples and female friendship groups for the hotel and spa, golf enthusiasts of all ages, and families and history enthusiasts for the house and gardens. This plan involved organising press stay reviews, creative event promotions, and using the hotel’s natural news to ensure consistent press coverage.
Innovative events such as Night Golf, a Salute the Sun summer solstice tee-off time, and eco-friendly initiatives offering rewards for more carbon conscious guests helped attract diverse audiences. These were supplemented by seasonal influencer campaigns to promote the gardens, as well as targeted media engagements for the hotel, spa, and golf offerings. Press stays from various publications included Conde Nast Traveller, The Times, and Golf Monthly while Good Morning Britain also did a live weather report from the gardens.
The campaign achieved more than 150 pieces of press coverage, with significant increases in web traffic: 182% for the homepage, 176% for the spa page, 187% for the golf page, and 493% for the dedicated house and gardens page. Influencer engagement led to substantial social media reach, further boosting Bowood's visibility and generating big budget outcomes on a conservative campaign budget.