The current ERBID runs until the end of 2026. Next year, levy-paying businesses will vote on a potential third term (ERBID3).
Levy payers should now have received the ERBID3 Consultation Document by post and email, outlining our ERBID2 achievements and future proposals.
Now we need to hear from you – your feedback will help shape the final Business Plan that will be voted on by businesses in summer 2026.
We’re hosting informal consultations in October and November for levy-paying businesses and invited strategic partners. This is your chance to discuss proposals, ask questions, and share feedback. Click a link below for details and to reserve your place:
If demand requires, we will be happy to arrange further opportunities to meet. Carolyn Custerson will also be speaking at the Brixham Chamber of Commerce General Meeting on 25th November.
The new ERBID Brixham in Images Photo Competition is a fantastic opportunity for both amateur and professional photographers to showcase the beauty, charm, and character of Brixham through their own lens.
This is a brilliant way to engage your visitors and encourage them to explore Brixham in a fresh, creative way – with the added incentive of a £500 cash prize!
Why get involved? By promoting the competition to your guests, you’re giving them a chance to connect more deeply with Brixham, share their experiences, and become part of something that celebrates everything the town has to offer. It’s also a great opportunity for your business to attract social media engagement, and help showcase Brixham to a wider audience.
How you can help:
Display the attached A4 poster in a prominent place for guests to see
Share the competition on your website, social media channels, or in guest newsletters
Encourage your visitors to get involved and capture their favourite views of Brixham
Our CEO Carolyn sums it up perfectly: “This competition is a great opportunity for people to capture what makes Brixham unique – from its harbour and marina to its welcoming community and stunning coastline. We’re excited to see images that reflect the town’s true spirit.”
This initiative is part of our wider Marketing Recovery campaign, supported by funding from South West Water.
Let’s show off Brixham at its best – through the eyes of your guests!
On May 14, the ERBID held its annual industry update, bringing together tourism partners to share insights and outline strategic plans.
In his opening remarks, ERBID chair Chris Hart addressed the fallout from the cryptosporidium outbreak in Brixham last year.
“The coverage was alarmist, it was inaccurate, and it had a devastating effect,” said Mr Hart. “It set not only the businesses in Brixham and Kingswear back but also businesses right across the Bay and wider Devon.”
A media audit revealed the global reach of coverage on the incident was an estimated 38 billion views. “There are only eight billion people on Earth,” Mr Hart said.
In response, the ERBID Company secured a £1.2 million settlement from South West Water — believed to be a UK first for a destination marketing organisation. It has since launched a new national recovery marketing campaign, including two television adverts.
Ms Custerson said the ERBID’s key strategic aims now include:
rebuilding visitor confidence following the water crisis;
attracting new audiences while retaining loyal ones;
positioning the English Riviera as a year-round destination;
recovering visitor spend, which has been affected by economic pressures;
and expanding the Agatha Christie legacy and UNESCO Global Geopark brand.
“Visitor growth is starting to show through again. Confidence leads to recommendations, and that’s critical,” Ms Custerson said. “We also need to continue extending the season. February used to be very quiet but is now so much busier. You can see the extension happening in October, November, and December too.”
The ERBID’s current marketing strategy is a recovery-focused plan targeting the English Riviera’s two core market audiences: families and couples, particularly couples over the age of 50. But these traditional markets are evolving.
Ms Custerson said: “We’re seeing more multicultural, extended families and ‘cultural couples’ who want to get underneath the skin of a place.’’
Accessibility also emerged as a growing issue, as the 2024 English Riviera Visitor Survey identified 16 per cent of respondents as having access needs – up from nine per cent in the Devon-wide data. If the English Riviera doesn’t meet accessibility requirements, entire groups may choose to holiday elsewhere.
Ms Custerson emphasised how well positioned the English Riviera is to serve a diverse range of additional markets. The ERBID is also targeting groups, business events, cruise tourism and international audiences.
She said: “Covid cost us £420 million in lost business, which combined with the loss from crypto means we’ve lost £460 million worth of visitor economy in the last five years.
“It’s a lot to claw back but we are doing it. We are making inroads and we are being seen at all the major meeting exhibitions and conference events.”
A new business tourism forum, led by Becky Davies of Torbay Council, is also working with Torbay’s hotel operators to develop the area as a conference destination.
The ERBID is also part of an exciting new Visit Britain campaign called Starring GB. There is huge growth in domestic and international tourists wanting to visit media, film, and TV locations. With the English Riviera’s connection to Agatha Christie and the major film The Salt Path coming out at the end of May, the ERBID sees huge opportunity.
Ms Custerson also described the international student market as “the young actives of the future” and said the ERBID is in discussions with language school operators to encourage more students to come to the Bay.
The ERBID’s television marketing campaign — developed with Chalk and Ward — is already seeing results. The “Escape Your Everyday” campaign contrasts visitors’ daily monotony with the excitement of the English Riviera.
Pippa Craddock, chair of the ERBID marketing focus group, said: “We have really developed a great working relationship in a short space of time, but most importantly, we are seeing some great results.”
The families campaign, launched on February 17, focuses on mid to lower-affluence families from Birmingham and the West Midlands — areas identified as key target geographies. It has already generated 10.5 million impressions and a 5.6 per cent increase in consideration for an English Riviera holiday.
A couples campaign, launching on May 26, will focus on scenery, walks and delicious food — targeting mid to higher-affluence couples. It includes coverage on Sky and other platforms and will feature the South West in its planning.
Additional projects include a new promotional video of Brixham and its Pirate Festival, a photography competition and some influencer-led content for social media. Chalk and Ward is also working on a specific campaign targeting TripAdvisor. Postcode analysis has already shown increased bookings from areas including Wolverhampton and Nottingham. The English Riviera website is seeing longer dwell time, and visitor information centre footfall is at a three-year high.
Ms Custerson said: “One of my proudest moments in this job was when we won gold in the tourism awards for the best visitor information service. It’s a huge achievement.”
The ERBID invests £100,000 each year to assist in event development, including the English Riviera Airshow and Bay of Lights, and newer additions like the South West Sardine Festival and 2026 ICF Stand Up Paddling World Cup. The company also has a contingency for seed funding.
The ERBID has also seen national PR success through its collaboration with Four Marketing Agency, aiming to arrest negative media coverage. Over the past year, the English Riviera has achieved nearly 180 pieces of high-impact media coverage, including features in The Guardian and The Sun.
Four has launched a new ambassador programme, encouraging local businesses to share unique, newsworthy stories — including the UK’s first solar-heated caravan and new accessible tourism offers. The programme is open to tourism and hospitality BID levy payers.
The ERBID has also co-founded the South West Visitor Economy Data Hub (www.swvehub.co.uk), giving businesses access to real-time insights on tourism performance and visitor behaviour.
Social media engagement has increased by 15 per cent since January, with a record 1.2 million views in one week on a single post about Splashdown.
The current ERBID term — its second — will run until December 31, 2026. A recent mid-term survey indicated that there is currently strong support for a third BID term.
Ms Custerson said: “We’ve got your interests at heart. All of us unanimously as a board and company absolutely believe in the English Riviera brand. I am feeling as much positivity as I’ve ever felt in the 15 years I’ve been associated in my different roles.”
Tourism plays a vital part in the economy of Brixham and the Chamber believes it has role to play in supporting businesses within this sector by encouraging staying and day visitors and helping to promote events and attractions that increase footfall so that the town as a whole benefits.
The chamber promotes the town under the love brixham brand in a number of ways, including trade exhibitions, paper publications with both a national and local tracked distribution, a large social media marketing presence via Facebook and Instagram and with paid campaigns at certain times of the year such as Christmas.
Liz Pippett, who manages tourism on behalf of the chamber says “One of the most popular promotional activities we do is the Brixham Guide, a 16 page, full colour, 1/3 A4 size publication. The 2025 Guide is now available and the 30,000 print run will be distributed locally and nationally focusing on areas which we know offer a good source of day visitors and staying visitors. We will be delivering copies of the guides plus our maps to the usual local businesses in early May. If you are not on our regular distribution list, copies are available from our distribution agent, Westwood Marketing Services, 01364 649000 Email : office@westwardmarketing.co.uk“
A social media campaign will also start in May to encouage more downloads of our guide from our Love Brixham web site: https://lovebrixham.uk/
Monday 17th February saw the launch of a major new destination marketing campaign aimed at attracting families to holiday in the English Riviera.
Following the appointment of Exeter-based marketing agency, Chalk & Ward, The ERBID Company has developed a multi-channel advertising campaign – ‘escape your everyday’.
The campaign is aimed specifically at low to medium-income families with young children who are looking for fun, and living in the Midlands, specifically Birmingham, Wolverhampton, and Coventry.
Chalk & Ward’s thinking behind the campaign is that these families do not go on multiple holidays, so their holiday needs to be special. They have created a campaign that is fun and engaging and speaks directly to the audience. The concept plays on the juxtaposition between people’s everyday lives and their holiday in the English Riviera. Whilst also showing the wealth of things to do and see in the area, it also highlights the stark difference by relating everyday chores and the monotony of everyday life with the fun and excitement of an English Riviera holiday.
The campaign will comprise:
TV advertising (live and on demand) on Sky AdSmart, ITVx and various other digital channels via ‘connected TV’
Digital out of home (video and static ads) in the central Birmingham area in shopping malls, transit hubs and bus shelters
Paid for digital advertising on Meta, Google, and Trip Advisor – display and video
Organic social media
Influencer marketing
PR
The campaign will run from Monday 17th February until the end of June with the digital out of home running from 17th – 24th February and 14th – 21st April.
There are various creative elements to the campaign:
3 x 30 seconds adverts – using digital TV we can deliver different versions of the advert, so we can really promote all there is to do and see in the area
A longer video
Digital adverts of varying lengths – both display and video – for use online or on digital out of home sites
Those of us located in the English Riviera are not the target audience (which is the Midlands), so we shouldn’t see the campaign on our own TVs or media channels. But you won’t miss out as you can view the adverts below:
The ERBID Company is currently working on a marketing tool kit for all BID Levy Payers which will allow you to use the creative assets of the campaign in your own marketing. Please do look out for an email soon which will give you all the details of how you can obtain these assets.
This new Marketing Recovery campaign is being part-funded by South West Water following lost bookings across Devon as a result of the cryptosporidium outbreak in Brixham last May.
