A prestigious PR contract for one of the region’s best-known tourist attractions has been brought back to the Midlands by Willoughby Public Relations (WPR).

Warwick Castle has appointed WPR to handle its national and regional consumer PR activity.

The award-winning, 30-strong consultancy was handed the 2009 account on the back of a successful campaign to promote Warwick Castle’s Christmas events programme.

WPR takes over from incumbent Freerange Communications, a London-based agency specialising in travel and tourism who had held the account for five years.

Georgina Kelly, head of sales and marketing for Warwick Castle, said: “2009 is a huge year for us. At Easter we are launching what will be our biggest and most ambitious new attraction to date, the Castle Dungeons, and PR will form a critical element of our awareness strategy.

“We needed to appoint an agency who could deliver the whole package, with exactly the right mix of local expertise and national know-how.”

Jane Ainsworth, managing director of WPR, said: “Being able to add Warwick Castle to our growing leisure client roster is the fulfilment of a career-long ambition for me.

“As one of the Midlands’ best-loved attractions and a national treasure, Warwick Castle is a fantastic name to be working with by anyone’s standards.”

WPR currently holds the title of CIPR (Chartered Institute of Public Relations) Midlands Consultancy of the Year and has just been voted PR agency of the year in The Drum magazine’s New Year Honours List.

Warwick Castle is part of Merlin Entertainments Group, the world’s second largest visitor attraction operator. Merlin also numbers Madame Tussauds, LEGOLAND, the Dungeons brand and Alton Towers among its UK attractions.