'See the delights of Broadchurch for yourself' (From Dorset Echo)

Tourism chiefs hope to cash in on Broadchurch popularity

1:36pm Friday 8th March 2013 in News By James Tourgout

TOURISM leaders hope the Broadchurch factor will draw visitors to west Dorset.

The Visit Dorset’s tourism team have been working to maximise the exposure of the new ITV1 drama.

The prime time thriller was shot at West Bay and the surrounding area.

The Visit Dorset team has been working closely with ITV’s press office, the production company and Bridport-based writer Chris Chibnall to ensure that promotional material is in place to make the The team has also worked with local accommodation providers to offer people the chance to win breaks in Dorset as well as exclusive props used in the filming of the series.

Robert Gould, leader of West Dorset District Council, said: “Broadchurch represents a unique opportunity for Dorset’s fantastic Jurassic coastline to gain national media coverage and it’s promising to see that the initial response to the series is generating a large amount of interest in the area.”

Dedicated Broadchurch pages have been set up on Visit-dorset.com and the team has carried out web marketing campaigns, including social media and an email campaign to 50,000 contacts. The first episode of the eight-part drama was screened on Monday March 4.

The first episode attracted nearly 7 million viewers. The Visit-dorset.com website received a significant spike in traffic at 10pm after the programme was aired and has continued to receive a high volume of visitors, with the website ranking highly for popular search terms on search engines.

The Visit Dorset Tourism Team is a partnership made up of the district and borough councils from West Dorset, Christchurch, Purbeck, East Dorset and Weymouth and Portland. The West Dorset District Council tourism team leads on the marketing of rural Dorset on behalf of the partnership.