UK Tourism Campaign Brutally Mocked For Comparing Bournemouth To LA

Travelling seems to be the one thing that's on everyone's mind with summer soon approaching, and all the time off and tanning that comes with it.

But it seems like some are so desperate to get up and go that they're simply making do with what they already have in the UK.

Coast With The Most, a tourism agency based in Dorset, recently put out a slightly cantankerous campaign comparing the southern British coastline of Bournemouth to the sunny vistas of none other than Los Angeles.

Known for its gruelling satire, relentless mockery, and hilarious social commentary, the Archbishop of Banterbury - a social media meme page with a whopping 3.7 million Instagram followers - recently took to the platform to set the record straight.

The meme page totally ripped into the Dorset tourist campaign poster which shows a snapshot of Bournemouth pier in one of the UK's sunnier days with the text 'Feels like L.A' branded over it.

With a simple but effective response of, 'Said no one ever', the Archbishop of Banterbury definitely summed up perfectly what we were all thinking.

The account captioned the post: "Who they trying to fool with this sh*te," and has since been supported by a flood of Instagram commenters chiming in with their similar views on the matter.

While the comment section is mostly saturated with laughing emojis and inside knowledge about the seaside town from Bournemouth natives, one person wrote: "They're fooling themselves at this point."

"I'm sure by LA they meant Lancaster," commented another.

One of the most liked comments, receiving over 350 likes, reads: "Has anyone actually been to LA? It’s dire. Bournemouth is definitely nicer."

The meme follows a hefty £175,000 campaign named 'Feels like' which is geared around comparing British towns and locations to your more go-to and popular destinations abroad.

Some include Southbourne being likened to party island Ibiza or Poole Bay being compared to Greece.

The President of the Destination Management Board who helped create the campaign, David Bailey, emphasised: "We want to change people’s mindsets with this campaign and encourage them to look at the area differently."

Bailey went on to add: "We want them to see that you can get that Spanish feeling here."

While it's clear that this tourism campaign hasn't fooled anyone, it's nice to see the optimism for British tourist agencies defiantly remaining faithful to their 'staycations'.

Featured Image Credit: Alamy

Topics: UK News, Travel, Viral

Rhiannon Ingle

Rhiannon Ingle is a Journalist at LADbible Group. She graduated from the University of Manchester in 2021 in English Literature. Alongside her studies, she was the Lifestyle Editor of The Mancunian, the largest student newspaper in the United Kingdom. Her favourite topics to write about include sex and relationships, bizarre lifestyle trends and all things travel.