FOR Cardiff launches Christmas campaign to attract more visitors to the Welsh capital
Today (6 November), FOR Cardiff has announced a £50,000 Christmas campaign that will reach five million people and position the capital as a top destination for shopping, dining, nightlife and family entertainment this festive season, including brand-new Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) experiences, created by Orchard 360.
FOR Cardiff hopes the planned promotion and entertainment programme will encourage visitors to explore new parts of the city, while increasing spend and dwell time in the 900 plus Cardiff businesses that fall within the city’s Business Improvement District.
A television, radio and online advertising campaign is being targeted at families across South Wales, Gloucester, Herefordshire and Bristol. The advert uses illustrations by local Cardiff artist, Jessica Draws and positions Cardiff as the perfect family destination, whether it’s for Christmas shopping, seasonal entertainment or just a chance to soak up the festive atmosphere.
To support the many independent businesses, nestled in the side streets or the arcades of the city, FOR Cardiff has also created a FOR Cardiff gift card. Available in different values from five to five hundred pounds, the card can be spent in many independent businesses across the city, from record stores to Victorian cafés, specialist bookshops or vintage clothing boutiques.
Throughout December, a new entertainment attraction will take visitors of all ages on a sleigh ride with Father Christmas, to the top of Snowdon or a picture-perfect winter wonderland snowball fight in the three exciting adventures of The Capital VR experience, FOR Cardiff, FOR Christmas.
Running alongside the VR attraction, supported by Capital FM, Cardiff Present Hunt will challenge smartphone owners to explore Cardiff in a race to find twelve presents to win gifts and be entered into a prize draw to have their Christmas transformed. Using the app, present hunters must follow
clues to each gift, capturing them with their camera using augmented reality technology.
Executive Director of FOR Cardiff Adrian Field, said: “Christmas is the perfect time of year for us to make a significant investment to encourage people to visit Cardiff. We want to ensure that the city is seen as one of the top Christmas shopping destinations and that we can offer a unique experience to other cities.
“We’re really excited to share Cardiff’s first ever VR and AR experiences with people, nothing like this has been tried in the capital before and we hope it will give visitors something else to look forward to when visiting the city. More people, spending longer amounts of time in the city isn’t just great for shops; restaurants, hotels, bars and all of the other businesses in our area will benefit and we hope it will give them an extra boost over Christmas.”
For more information on what FOR Cardiff has planned for the festive season and when you will be able to get your hands-on tickets for The Capital VR Experience FOR Cardiff, FOR Christmas visit: forcardiff.com