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New BBC drama boosts visitors to South Devon website

November 23, 2015 | News

Visit South Devon, the official tourism body for the South Hams and Teignbridge, has reported a remarkable 44% rise in traffic to its website following the airing of the new daytime television drama, The Coroner, which was filmed in South Devon and is being broadcast daily on BBC1 at 2.15pm over the next two weeks.

Listen to our interview with David Fitzgerald on BBC Radio Devon in which we discuss the impact that film and TV filming locations can have on tourism.

Starring Claire Goose – best known for her roles in Casualty and Waking the Dead – the series follows Jane (Claire Goose), a high-flying solicitor who, after the failure of her marriage, returns to the small seaside town that she left as a teenager to take up the post of Coroner.  She finds herself forced to work with Davey (Matt Bardock), her childhood sweetheart, who broke her heart when she was a girl and is now the local Detective Sergeant.

Monday’s first episode (16 November) featured views of South Devon’s coastline, Hope Cove, Blackpool Sands and Dartmouth, and over the coming weeks the series, which takes place in the fictional world of Lighthaven, based on Salcombe, South Devon, will also include footage of Salcombe, Bantham, Totnes and Brixham.

Commenting on the rise in visitors to its website Stephanie Cherrett, General Manager for Visit South Devon, said: “The Coroner was filmed in South Devon in the Spring of 2015 and shows off the raw and dramatic beauty of our coastline, countryside, towns and villages.

“Airing during the daytime, the series has huge potential to attract visitors such as pre-school parents and retirees who are not limited to travelling during the school holidays.  Yesterday alone we saw our landing page on the series leap to the second most viewed page on the website and we’ll be watching closely to see if it takes the number one spot.  That would be great news for South Devon and for our advertisers as our landing page carries links to many of the featured locations with details of places to stay, attractions to visit and things to do.   That enhances the likelihood of off-peak visits and early bookings for holidays during the peak periods.”

Ten episodes of the series were filmed in South Devon.  More details can be found on Visit South Devon’s webpage on the series: http://www.visitsouthdevon.co.uk/lots-to-do/outdoors-activities/filming-locations/the-coroner

Visit South Devon is funded through money raised from adverts taken on the site by tourist attractions, activity based businesses, accommodation providers, and providers of hospitality.  The site, which appears as the top search result for places to visit, things to do and places to stay in South Devon, provides an affordable portal through which visitors can book B&B, hotel, guesthouse and self catering accommodation.  It also provides comprehensive information on destinations to explore as well as places to dine, eat and drink, enabling visitors to build up an itinerary of things to do while on holiday in South Devon. In 2014 www.visitsouthdevon.co.uk had more than 670,000 visits to its site.

For more information on Visit South Devon visit: www.visitsouthdevon.co.uk