However you define it — however you perceive it — EMEA Summit 2025 in Brighton was rooted in pride. From 30 September to 2 October, we were proud to facilitate a gathering of some of the industry’s most diverse destinations and its most dynamic thought leaders. Presented on Brighton’s famous pier on Wednesday 1 October, our EMEA Summit Client Awards 2025 were presided over by our distinguished panel of judges — each of whom we thank for offering us their time and professional insight — to recognise those who have made outstanding contributions to the field of destination marketing this year.
But if you couldn’t join us in Brighton — and if you want a glimpse of what EMEA Summit 2026 could hold in store for you — you’ve come to the right place. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be meeting each of the night’s eight winners, all of whom will have the opportunity to tell their individual stories of success. With that in mind — and without further preamble — let’s shine the spotlight on our first category, “Digital Marketing Mastery,” an accolade that recognises excellence within the field of digital marketing, awarded to a destination whose tactics have not only driven outstanding innovation, but delivered truly tangible results.
Finalists: Visit West, Great Sussex Way, and Cumbria Tourism
Winner: Great Sussex Way
A goal of growth and engagement
Over the last 12 months, Great Sussex Way has made a concerted effort to widen its digital footprint, to increase its site traffic, and to build truly meaningful engagement with visitors to this corner of England, a region that stretches from the South Downs to the English Channel. The team at this destination marketing organisation (DMO) explained that their goal over the past year was to strengthen “our role at the heart of the visitor economy in West Sussex.”
Seeking success through smart tactics
Great Sussex Way operates as a compact, tightly-knit team, but — when it came to elevating its marketing activities — it was able to leverage the agility inherent in its size to deploy data-led strategies across multiple channels with ease and efficiency. As part of its overarching strategy to raise the profile of the DMO, Great Sussex Way combined in-house Meta advertising, compelling content creation, and the full power of strategic SEO. On this note, its partnership with Simpleview’s SEO services team proved to be particularly helpful, allowing the organisation to implement enhancements to its SEO structure, thus improving accessibility and optimising its high-potential pages.
Commenting on this element of their strategy in their award submission, the team said, “By refining key content and optimising landing pages, we've improved visibility, user experience, and organic reach.”
Alongside this, the DMO also took care to enrich its visitor experience by offering themed curated guides such as, "Top 10 Afternoon Teas," "Best Pubs with Scenic Walks," and "Family Fun in Chichester." While these not only proved to be highly shareable and ultimately boosted organic engagement across the DMO’s site and its social media channels, Great Sussex Way also relied upon competitions to drive traffic and generate broad appeal — either run with partners offering high-value prizes or rolled out as a collaborative effort as part of a wider campaign.
From the perspective of the team at Great Sussex Way,
“A major strength lies in our in-house Meta advertising, which gives us control, flexibility, and precision targeting while keeping costs low. We ran 23 destination campaigns in 2024 alone, using tailored assets to connect with key audience segments. By combining internal analytics with partner ticketing data, we've homed in on high-value demographics, ensuring campaigns are both creative and commercially effective.”
As we’ll see, by combining performance, creativity, and impact, Great Sussex Way has not only delivered tangible outcomes for the area it represents but accomplished its overarching goal of strengthening the local visitor economy across the region of West Sussex.
Growth through agility
Indeed, the results of Great Sussex Way’s strategy speak for themselves. In comparison to the previous 12 months — from February 2024 to February 2025 — its website performance saw a 244% increase in active users as well as a 197% increase in engaged sessions plus a 213% growth in page views. During this period, the DMO not only launched its official TikTok account, but also observed tremendous growth across its social channels, with views of its YouTube channel up by a whopping 5,846%.
Alongside this growth, the 23 precisely targeted Meta campaigns reached 1.3 million people while generating 2.9 million unique impressions. This, in turn, drove traffic to some of the site’s key pieces of content, with its "48 Hours In…" itineraries attracting a particularly strong audience. Even better, the team was able to maintain creative control over its own content by creating all of its own media assets in-house, a point that proved not only to be cost-effective for the DMO, but something that helped to bolster Great Sussex Way in terms of overall brand consistency.
A winning mindset
Describing the organisation’s mindset in their submission entry for this category, the DMO said, “We are a small, dedicated team driven by a passion for continuous improvement and innovation. Despite our size, we consistently punch above our weight, embracing change and experimentation to push boundaries and deliver exceptional outcomes.”
“Our website's performance is a testament to this mindset … Through strategic optimisation, data-led decision making, and a relentless focus on user experience, we've elevated our digital presence to new heights. What sets us apart is our agility and deep collaboration … We take pride in our ability to move quickly, learn fast, and adapt to ensure our platforms not only meet but exceed user expectations,”
This mindset impressed the judging panel, who offered their comments upon announcing their chosen winner. “The campaign appears to be executed very well with a clear strategy in place before activity was undertaken. Considering they are a small team, the results are very impressive,” said one judge, with another adding, “A really solid approach to strategic digital destination marketing, following tried and tested methods of content marketing and paid Meta ads. Excellent growth which will no doubt continue incrementally.”
Congratulations to Great Sussex Way on their win! If you want to keep the good vibes rolling, be sure to check back in with us next to see who took home the award in our next category, “Most Creative Content Collaboration.”
See you next time!