Now that the tourism sector is pretty much flying freely again, pun intended, we’re taking a look at how the industry has changed and recovered from the pandemic, and also looking ahead to any opportunities tourism campaign trends.

Now that people are being vaccinated, travel is tentatively starting again this summer. With the UK government’s ever changing traffic light system for countries, booking a holiday this year has been a race to get somewhere whilst it’s still green. This meant the tourism sector leaped at the chance to help some recovery for the industry this year; there were and still are a myriad of campaigns nationally and internationally, which we’ll be taking a look at.

International Monetary Fund research found that tourist arrivals fell globally by more than 65% in the first half of 2020. But even as travel started to rebound, tourism orgs are rethinking their short-term and long-term marketing strategies as they attempt to lure back visitors. Staycations have taken the industry by storm this year- with many places pushing people to travel responsibly and stay local (which works if people weren’t able to travel abroad), and this in turn would help a local tourism economy.

TOURISM CAMPAIGNS:

One of our own campaigns for Swiss Tourism took off in the UK in April, with a creative featuring tennis player, Roger Federer.  And whilst people couldn’t travel just yet, we planted the seed that Switzerland would be waiting for them.

A quirky campaign way down south- whilst New Zealand and Australia have shut themselves off to the rest of the world, back in April it announced plans for a 'Trans-Tasman bubble' between the two countries. And so, to encourage movement on this quarantine-free travel route, respective tourist boards got to work, on this campaign.

Then in May, Malta Tourism Authority partnered with selected travel agents as part of its new ‘Feel Free Again’ marketing campaign. The campaign included a travel agent call-to-action message and is running for six months at The Moor shopping district in Sheffield; Drake Circus shopping centre in Plymouth; and various locations in London, Manchester, and Liverpool, including Wembley Box Park and Manchester Victoria Station.

The stand out part here is that Natalie Swinburne, trade marketing manager for the UK & Ireland, said: “We have deliberately chosen a broad range of the types of travel agents we work with, including the self-employed and smaller agencies within these key regions to help support our regional flight routes into Malta.”

The tourism campaign for Malta is generating money for itself, whilst also helping some smaller businesses or self-employed businesses that would have been hit really hard by the pandemic.

Across the Atlantic, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a $30 million tourism marketing blitz to start in June, the city’s largest-ever campaign to recharge a industry that at one time employed 400,000 workers and injected $70 billion into the local economy.

The campaign will be called “NYC Reawakens” and aims to bring both domestic and international visitors to the city. The funds will come from federal stimulus programs and go toward television ads and social media campaigns, including a “Wish You Were Here at NYC” campaign, in which New Yorkers may invite friends to visit the city.

In London, “Let’s Do London,” a £6 million campaign was unveiled in May. TMW Unlimited and London & Partners delivered the  recovery marketing campaign to drive consumer spend and footfall across London's tourism, retail, hospitality and cultural sectors. London & Partners, the business growth and destination agency for London,. It is the biggest domestic tourism campaign in London's history and will reinvigorate central London with a curated programme of seasonal events and cultural activities designed to suit a range of age groups.

With the creative developed by TMW Unlimited, the Let’s Do London campaign encourages people from across the UK to visit the capital for day trips and city breaks as the gradual easing of the lockdown allows the reopening of cultural, hospitality and entertainment venues. TMW Unlimited is the marketing division of Unlimited - a global network comprising of four divisions.

Running across TV, radio, OOH, digital advertising, and social media, the flagship campaign has been designed to deliver an economic boost for retailers, attractions, restaurants, transport providers and the wider tourism ecosystem, to help London’s economy get back on its feet.

Another recent campaign we had a hand in was  the UK side of Visit Dubai. Dubai Tourism launched their new global campaign called Dubai Presents, which features Hollywood stars Jessica Alba and Zac Efron.  The campaign invites global travellers and experience-seekers, storytellers and artistic creators to put themselves in the picture, write their own script and appear in their very own theatrical adventure, with Dubai’s breathtaking locations staging the perfect backdrop.

With the ultimate vision of positioning Dubai as the world’s leading tourism destination and commercial hub, Dubai Tourism’s mission is to increase the awareness of Dubai among global audiences and to attract tourists and inward investment into the emirate.

OPPORTUNITIES AND NEW TRENDS:

Aside the global campaigns, tourist boards and travel brands have also  turned to innovative uses of media and technology in order to remain prominent in the minds of travellers.

For instance, there were multiple examples of virtual tours, including The Rough Guide working in partnership with Xbox to provide in-game “digital tourism”, and Singapore Tourism launching live streams from taxis on the Twitch platform.

To look at this innovation in greater detail, Braze, the customer engagement platform, hosted a panel session as part of The Drum’s Creative Transformation Festival, ‘The big travel and tourism transformation’, highlighting the major challenges and creative solutions that lie ahead for travel and tourism organisations and brands as they focus on future growth.

The need for brands to be flexible in their reactions to unfolding events was a key issue raised by Reid - especially in light of TripAdvisor’s own research that suggests a rebound for international travel in the latter part of 2021, driven by millennials and affluent travellers: “The one thing we've learned over the past 18 months is that you cannot predict what's going to happen. Therefore, be ready to be reactive. Don't lock yourself into a 12-month strategy because the chances are you're probably going to have to change it.”

 The pandemic had left a gap with a need for travel brands to seize this opportunity to rebuild relationships and trust with consumers by delivering insightful and personalised information that cuts through the noise and confusion around  changing travel guidance  to give them the confidence they need to book trips away.

An example of this in practice was UK-based Skyscanner; they launched a ‘Where Can I Go’ map that sought to help travellers answer questions about Covid-19 guidelines and border restrictions. The supporting email campaign used AI triggers to deliver personalised emails to customers when there was a relevant change in border restrictions or quarantine information. The rich experience and timely nature of the message led to open and click-through rates that were three-to-four times higher than average, per the report.

Staycations is one of the biggest new travel trends to have cropped up. Staycations alone have helped the tourism, hotel and hospitality industry generate more business in a time of global health crisis. Because of travel bans, and wariness over travelling itself, hotel and the like were pushed to think of new ways to keep their businesses afloat.

And so, the widespread trend of Staycations was born. it started as a mini getaway for those who don’t want to be stuck at home all day but didn’t want to leave the comfort of their city. They are a great way to spend a weekend to experience the feeling of traveling to another destination. Guests also avoid costly flights and can enjoy hotel perks through the affordable packages offered. It’s  a well thought out marketing strategy to reboot the hotel industry, and one that’s likely to last.