Our Work
Launching Wales’ first ever THE POLAR EXPRESS™ Train Ride
Brecon Mountain Railway x THE POLAR EXPRESS™
The Challenge
Launching THE POLAR EXPRESS™ Train Ride required:
- Full compliance with Warner Bros licensing
- Coordination with US rights holders Rail Events
- Management of extremely high anticipated demand
- A conversion-focused digital sales strategy
- A campaign capable of positioning Brecon Mountain Railway as a national Christmas destination
With only 21,000 tickets available across the season, the launch window was commercially critical.
Bringing THE POLAR EXPRESS™ Train Ride to Wales for the first time was a major milestone for Brecon Mountain Railway and the response has been beyond anything we anticipated. The level of demand from launch day demonstrated just how strong the appetite is for world-class family experiences here in Wales.
Destination played a key role in helping us plan, launch and manage the campaign from start to finish, working alongside Rail Events and Warner Bros to deliver a launch that not only generated exceptional sales results, but also positioned Brecon Mountain Railway firmly on the national Christmas destination map.
— Stuart Williams | Brecon Mountain Railway
What Destination Delivered
Destination delivered the full end-to-end campaign, including:
- Launch strategy and campaign planning
- Website and ticketing journey support
- Paid Meta and Google advertising
- Social media strategy and rollout
- Email marketing campaigns
- PR and communications strategy
- Creative production and approvals management
- Queue-managed online launch coordination
The campaign was designed to build anticipation before launch, convert demand rapidly once tickets went live and then transition into scarcity-led messaging to complete the sell-out.
The Build-Up
Ahead of tickets going on sale, Destination developed and delivered a strategic pre-launch audience growth campaign designed to maximise anticipation and drive early registration demand.
The objective was to build a highly engaged audience before launch day and create a strong sense of urgency and exclusivity around first access to tickets.
Using a combination of:
- Teaser social media campaigns
- Countdown messaging
- PR outreach
- First-access email sign-up activity
- FOMO-led creative and messaging
the campaign generated significant momentum ahead of launch.
This resulted in:
- Over 13,000 pre-sale registrations before tickets went live
- A substantial first-access database ready for launch day
- High levels of engagement and social sharing prior to launch
- Strong national and regional interest ahead of sales opening
The pre-launch strategy played a major role in the scale of launch day demand and helped establish THE POLAR EXPRESS™ Train Ride as one of the most anticipated family Christmas experiences in Wales.
The Outcome
The Launch
Tickets officially launched at 12pm on Wednesday 15th April.
Demand immediately exceeded expectations, requiring a managed queueing system through FareHarbour ticketing system and the dedicated POLAR EXPRESS™ website built by Destination
Within just 6 hours:
- Over 13,000 tickets had been sold
- 63% of total ticket inventory was gone
- Website traffic surged beyond standard launch expectations
Within 3 weeks, the event was over 90% sold out.
The campaign then shifted into tactical conversion activity focused on specific remaining train times and dates.
Marketing Strategy
The campaign combined:
- Teaser campaigns
- First-access database sign-ups
- Launch countdown activity
- Paid social and Google advertising
- Email marketing
- Regional and national PR
- Urgency and FOMO-led messaging
Messaging evolved throughout the campaign, moving from:
- “First time ever in Wales” to:
- “Over 85% sold”
- “Limited remaining availability”
- “Preferred dates selling fast”
This allowed the campaign to maintain momentum well beyond launch day.
The launch of THE POLAR EXPRESS™ Train Ride positioned Brecon Mountain Railway as a major UK Christmas destination and became one of the strongest-performing launches within the heritage railway sector.
The project demonstrated the commercial impact of combining:
- Experience-led attraction strategy
- High-converting digital marketing
- Structured launch campaigns
- PR-led destination positioning
- Strong customer journey management
Moving Forward
Following the success of the launch campaign, the focus has now shifted from awareness and launch activity into long-term optimisation and retention strategy.
With the majority of journeys already sold, Destination is now supporting Brecon Mountain Railway with:
- Tactical sales activity for remaining train times
- Conversion-focused digital advertising
- Ongoing scarcity and availability messaging
- Customer communications and pre-event engagement
- Maximising secondary spend opportunities
- Audience retention and future database growth
The success of THE POLAR EXPRESS™ Train Ride has also created a significant platform for Brecon Mountain Railway’s wider commercial growth, positioning the railway in front of a substantially expanded family audience and introducing the brand to thousands of first-time visitors.
For Destination, the project further strengthens its growing reputation within the heritage railway and visitor attraction sector, delivering large-scale commercial campaigns that combine strategy, digital marketing, PR and high-volume ticket sales performance.
Want to talk about what more we could do? Want to become our next big thing?
Call Us:
+44 (0) 1392 757450
Email Us:
hello@wearedestination.com
