Adventure is out there.
5 travel ads that'll get you out of your seat and ready to see the world.
These advertising campaigns transport travellers to the destination before they even arrive.
Travel is a multi-trillion dollar industry. These ads are part of the reason why.
Strap in and get ready to be taken on a journey you won't soon forget. Here are five of the best tourism campaigns the world has ever seen.
A shared experience in Iceland
Iceland has become a hot destination over the past decade or so. Cheap flights started the trend and beautiful pictures of majestic waterfalls amid desolate fantasy lands perpetuated the myth.
The recent pandemic has stifled worldwide travel, but the Iceland tourism board knows the importance of staying top-of-mind. Their latest campaign invites people from around the world to let out their frustrations.
Looks like You Need to Let It Out is an interactive website where users can record their screams, which are then broadcast over a series of speakers set up in the vast Icelandic wilderness:
You’ve been through a lot this year and it looks like you need the perfect place to let your frustrations out. Somewhere big, vast and untouched. It looks like you need Iceland. Record your scream and we’ll release it in Iceland’s beautiful, wide-open spaces. And when you’re ready, come let it out for real. You’ll feel better, we promise.
A trip to a place beyond time
David Oglivy was a master at transporting people to another place through the power of copywriting.
Ads like "Girl by a gate" are a prime example of his skill.
The two-page spread is a timeless work of art, featuring an artsy photo with a headline to match. The copy, like the image, is rich and alluring, inviting its readers on a trip to Puerto Rico that will take them far away, back to a better time.
An invitation to explore the great outdoors
Canada ran a little digital media and direct mail campaign that invited people from all over the world to travel to the land of maple leaves and mooses.
For their 150th anniversary, they were giving free access to their national parks to anyone who wanted to sign up. Enter your name, email, and address, and before you knew it a package just like the one above arrived at your doorstep and beckoned you to the great white north.
Something extra under the tree
You've heard the phrase, "sex sells?" Well, Virgin Airlines has never been too shy to live by it.
This cheeky ad let travellers know that Virgin was striping their prices down to the bare minimum for this holiday season.
AirBnB
AirBnB started as an unconventional alternative to hotels. Why would you expect their advertising to be any different?
Though they've run many clever campaigns over the years, the launch of their Experiences product is perhaps the best example of giving travellers exactly what they want — an unforgettable story they can tell their friends about.