London for Londoners, A Local Tourism Marketing Toolkit for London Boroughs



We were asked to prepare a marketing toolkit for London Boroughs
seeking to exploit local (and VFR) markets for the wide range of local
activities and facilities that are available in the capital.

Definition of Local Tourism

Local tourism is a convenient umbrella term to describe a number of distinct groups. All the groups have something in common – they all are connected in one way or another to a local area. The working definition we used in this Toolkit includes the following groups. Those who:

  • live in your borough (i.e. residents)
  • work in your borough (these may or may not be residents of your borough
  • live outside your borough but who have friends or relatives in the borough (commonly referred to as those Visiting Friends & Family or VFR)
  • live elsewhere in London but are close enough to be potential visitors

In some instances in the Toolkit we shorten the definition to “Londoners and those who live, work or have friends/ relatives in your borough”.

The toolkit, which is split into six steps, is designed to be used by authorities with limited funds and/or marketing skills. The contents of the Toolkit includes: 

  • Understanding the market
  • Assess your tourism offer
  • Review your current marketing
  • Identify your borough’s tourism strengths (SWOT with a twist!)
  • Select your target markets (tourism segmentation)
  • Plan your local tourism campaign

The Toolkit also includes a host of practical information on developing local tourism, including:

  • Joint marketing with Visit London
  • Events
  • Pricing and promotions
  • Publicity
  • Guides, brochures and advertising
  • e-marketing
  • Managing word of mouth
  • Using existing facilities
  • Monitoring and evaluation
  • Developing civic pride