Allan Askov Christoffersen – Visit North Zealand

Growing a destination brand is fundamentally different from growing a conventional product brand. There is no single product or consumer experience to control. Instead, Visit North Zealand must bring together hundreds of attractions, hotels, restaurants and local businesses under one clear and compelling destination story.

For Allan Askov Christoffersen, Head of Marketing & Partnerships at Visit North Zealand, growth depends on creating awareness of the region, helping people understand what they can experience there and ensuring the organisation and its partners work towards the same priorities. Since joining after more than two decades in marketing, including senior roles at Momondo and KAYAK, Allan has introduced a more focused and data-driven approach designed to generate more impact from every marketing euro.

BUILDING ONE BRAND FROM MANY EXPERIENCES

Visit North Zealand is the official destination management organisation for the region, attracting both Danish and international visitors. Its priority markets include Sweden, Germany and the United Kingdom, alongside visitors already staying in Copenhagen.

Unlike a company selling one clearly defined product, Visit North Zealand markets an entire ecosystem. The destination includes cultural institutions, coastal areas, restaurants, hotels, local producers, shops and smaller attractions. Allan’s role is to connect these different ingredients and turn them into one recognisable proposition.

“I’m selling a destination,” he explains. “I’m doing that with two things. One is the emotional triggers: trying to make people feel that North Zealand is somewhere they should visit. The other is the functional triggers, such as showing them how easy it is to get here from Copenhagen.”

This combination is central to destination growth. Consumers need to feel inspired, but they also need practical reasons to act. It is therefore not enough for people simply to recognise North Zealand. They must also understand what the region offers and why it is relevant to them. “It’s not Visit North Zealand as an organisation that I’m trying to grow as a brand,” Allan says. “I’m growing North Zealand as a destination brand.”

“It’s not Visit North Zealand as an organisation that I’m trying to grow as a brand. I’m growing North Zealand as a destination brand.”

GETTING MORE FROM EVERY MARKETING EURO

Visit North Zealand measures success through overnight stays and tourism revenue, but Allan also sees opportunities in day visitors from Copenhagen and in attracting tourists outside the summer season. To support these priorities, he has introduced a more performance-driven digital strategy. “Brand growth isn’t only about spending more,” he says. “It’s about understanding what you are paying to reach your audience, whether those people are relevant and what they do afterwards.”

The organisation has lowered media costs while improving click-through rates and the quality of website visits. One important change was to direct people to content that matches the message they responded to, rather than sending everyone to a generic homepage.

“Even though we made the rules much stricter, meaningful visits increased significantly,” Allan explains. “That tells us that the people arriving are more relevant.” Visit North Zealand also tracks how effectively it sends visitors onwards to its partners, connecting marketing performance more closely to the wider tourism economy.

“Brand growth isn’t only about spending more; It’s about understanding what you are paying to reach your audience, whether those people are relevant and what they do afterwards.”

ALIGNMENT CREATES FOCUS

For Allan, stronger marketing performance begins inside the organisation. One of his first priorities was to establish a clear strategy connecting long-term goals with the team’s everyday work. The entire team was involved in developing the approach. Shared objectives, milestones and weekly performance reviews now help ensure that everyone works towards the same growth priorities.

“I think it is really important to involve the full team,” Allan says. “Then they take ownership. We can discuss whether we are on the right track, what we should change if something is not working, and whether we should do more when something performs well.”

This alignment is particularly important in a small organisation. Limited resources make it impossible to pursue every attractive opportunity. “Lack of focus is a big issue in many organisations,” Allan explains. “It is easy to hear about something interesting and decide to do it. But when you spread your resources too thinly, there is a real risk that none of it will have sufficient impact.” Visit North Zealand still reserves time and budget for experimentation, but testing is deliberate and connected to the strategic priorities rather than driven by isolated ideas.

“I think it is really important to involve the full team. We can discuss whether we are on the right track, what we should change if something is not working, and whether we should do more when something performs well.”

BALANCING BRAND AND PERFORMANCE

One of the biggest barriers to sustainable growth, according to Allan, is the tendency to focus too heavily on immediate returns. “I see a very strong focus in businesses on short-term investments,” he says. “That often means performance marketing, because people want the immediate gain. But it can come at the expense of long-term results.”

Visit North Zealand therefore combines long-term brand building with more immediate activation. Brand communication is designed to strengthen awareness, emotion and memory. The “Meet the Locals” concept, for example, uses passionate residents and business owners to share their favourite places and hidden gems.

Performance communication has a different role. It gives people a timely and concrete reason to act, such as what to do this weekend or where to go on a sunny day. “You need branding activities as well as performance activities,” Allan says.

“Branding drives the mid and long term, while performance gives people a clear short-term call to action. You need both.”

This balance also applies to the organisation’s partners. Individual attractions and businesses naturally want immediate results, but Allan stresses that they benefit from investing in the wider destination story. “If a partner gives one Danish crown to the destination story, it becomes worth much more because they become part of all the other stories and investments around them,” he explains.

TURNING DATA INTO BETTER DECISIONS

Despite improvements within its own digital environment, Visit North Zealand still faces limitations in visitor data. Market research provides valuable information about different traveller groups, but the industry lacks the detailed insight needed to connect marketing activity, visitor behaviour and economic outcomes with precision.

“One thing is to receive a report describing different types of German travellers,” Allan says. “But where do we reach them? What messaging should we use? When should we reach them and how often? Those are the insights you need to invest your money in the right way.” For Allan, the value of data does not lie in collecting more numbers. It lies in making better choices.

“The brands that win are the ones that understand how to use data and insights to do something meaningful,” he says. “Data should help you decide what to do differently.”

Better insight allows Visit North Zealand to prioritise audiences, improve communication and direct investment towards the activities most likely to create sustainable growth.

THE NEXT BATTLE IS AI SEARCH

Looking ahead, Allan believes the next major battle for brand visibility will take place in AI-powered search. As consumers increasingly use tools such as ChatGPT and Gemini for travel inspiration, brands need to understand how these systems find and recommend information. “If you are not found there, people may never get to your website,” Allan says. “They may never even know that you exist.”

Visit North Zealand is therefore exploring Generative Engine Optimisation, or GEO: improving content so it can be understood and surfaced by AI assistants, not just traditional search engines.

Allan compares the shift to the arrival of Google. AI may once again change how people discover and choose destinations. Brand building will remain essential, but visibility in AI-generated answers will become just as important. “You still need to drive awareness elsewhere,” he concludes. “But when people ask what they should do, you need to show up.”

“You still need to drive awareness elsewhere, but when people ask what they should do, you need to show up.”