Much of The Alnwick Garden's early exploration of China as a market for visitors has been initiated by the Duchess of Northumberland herself, the Garden's visionary and the driving force behind the project.
The Duchess continues to build awareness of the Garden by writing a monthly column in a Chinese magazine, "Modern", and by hosting Miss China in July this year at the Garden, a programme viewed by 1.6 billion people. She also has a visit to China planned for February 2008.
Since opening to the public in 2001, The Alnwick Garden has steadily built a strong overseas profile, benefiting from UK Trade & Investment's Passport to Export programme, which equips new exporters with the training, planning and on-going support and advice needed to compete successfully in overseas markets.
Now that The Alnwick Garden is starting to establish itself as a "must see" attraction for Chinese visitors to Britain, UK Trade & Investment have been able to offer its expertise and advice once again. UK Trade & Investment's China business development manager Dr Zhengming Yang has specialist knowledge of the country's business culture and International Trade Advisers Tom Burnham and Melanie Thompson-Glen, who have been assisting in the Garden's overseas marketing strategy since the early days, have a wealth of knowledge and experience of both the organisation itself and the markets.
Rachel Johnston, Head of Marketing and Events at The Alnwick Garden, said: "UK Trade & Investment has been very helpful to us in the past and have part-funded some of our market visits to Northern Europe."
Tom Burnham said: "Last year UK Trade & Investment hosted a visit by the head of a major tour operator in China to the UK and he was extremely impressed by what The Alnwick Garden had to offer Chinese tourists who may like to visit the Garden while travelling up to Edinburgh. Although direct marketing to Chinese consumers was only made legal earlier this year, the tour operating company said the Garden was firmly on the list for future visits."
For more information about the range of support services available through UK Trade & Investment to help your company succeed overseas call the North East International Trade Hotline on 0845 05 05 054 or email: enquiries@ukti.rito.co.uk.
