Derby shoots up league tables

Derby's Tourism Team at Discover Derby is celebrating this week after rising up in the English Tourism Social Media Index League Table 2016.

Discover Derby came third in the East Midlands (up from sixth place last year) and 37th out of 129 destinations in the country for its digital engagement.

The league table methodology takes into account factors such as usage of various different social media platforms, community growth and engagement and amount of different types of media used (eg. images, video, official apps and external links). Each destination is also judged by a panel and there are penalties for bad practice such as spelling mistakes and duplicate content.

Stella Birks, Visitor Services and Development Manager at Discover Derby, said: “It's really good to see the improvement made in the tourism social media league table. Particularly as we operate with very little resource compared to some of the other destinations listed. We look forward to building on this success next year.”

In real world speak, all marketing activity carried out by Discover Derby affects the visitor economy in the city and surrounding areas. Derby saw a 9.5% increase in visitor numbers between 2009 and 2014 which resulted in a 37.5% increase in direct expenditure. The increased visitor numbers also helped support over 5,000 jobs in the city.

To view the league table, visit the English Tourism Social Media Index website.