Tunisia

What Revolution? Tunisia’s New Tourism Campaign

In a bold attempt to attract tourists back to the country and revive its fortunes from the post-revolutionary torpor, Tunisia unveiled in June a new tourism campaign that has divided opinions. In wry but direct references to the recent turmoil in the country billboards in Europe are showing Roman ruins with the tagline “they say Tunisia is nothing but ruins.”

A bus in London carrying a showing an advert of a woman receiving a massage, next to the words: "They say that in Tunisia, some people receive heavy-handed treatment"

Another shows a sultry woman enjoying a massage whilst the line below read ”They say that in Tunisia, some people receive heavy-handed treatment.” Opinion is sharply divided on the ads. Defending the campaign, Syrine Cherif, managing director of the Tunis office of Memac Ogilvy, said that peoples fear of visiting a post-revolutionary Tunisia was the most obvious issue so “we decided to face the issue directly”.

The ads are currently running in Britain and France but are due to be rolled out across Europe soon.

Source: dailynewstoyou.com

Celebrities star in British Tourism Campaign

Dame Judi Dench, Twiggy and Jamie Oliver are among the celebrities in a new television advert promoting Britain internationally.

The globally-recognised figures invite viewers to join the “national mood of celebration” surrounding April’s Royal wedding, the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and the London 2012 Olympics. As well as appearing in the commercial, each celebrity has made a personal invitation to Britain from a location of choice in a series of short films to be posted on YouTube.

Rupert Everett and Slumdog Millionaire star Dev Patel also feature in the campaign, by tourism agency VisitBritain. The national architecture is praised by Dame Judi, 76, while television chef Oliver, 36, celebrates Britain’s diversity and “magpie culture” of “taking the world’s best bits”.

The adverts will be shown in key countries for potential visitors, ranging from established markets such as the United States to emerging economies including China and India.

Fashion icon Twiggy, filmed on location at Tate Modern and the Millennium Bridge in London, says: “I think we’ve got such an amazing stable of designers now that all the world looks to … and we are brave … we go for it and there are always new things … it’s brilliant. Britain is in my heart and soul.”

Dev Patel extols the “buzzing, energetic, boisterous” Leicester Square in London, while Everett hails the capital’s theatre experience as “sharp, exciting and engaging”.

Dame Judi is filmed at Hever Castle in Kent, her favourite visitor attraction and the childhood home of Anne Boleyn. “We have such an abundance of stately homes in Britain,” she says, adding: “We’re incredibly lucky – we retain our history.”

Sandie Dawe, chief executive of VisitBritain, said: “With the eyes of the world on us, we have an unprecedented opportunity to showcase Britain. “This campaign aims to inspire visitors to come and explore for themselves. Over four years, we aim to attract 4 million extra overseas visitors, who will spend £2 billion across Britain.”

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

‘No Leave No Life’ for Australians

The latest in the Australian Tourism campaigns has opened – this time for hard working Australians to be part of the third series of “No Leave No Life“.

The idea behind the campaign and the show is to encourage Australians to take time off – as the nation has 300,000 years or 123 million days of holidays stacked up in accrued leave and for some reason they just don’t take it.

Ever since 2009 and the global financial economic crisis the government has been trying to encourage people to take time off – both for their own health and also to get people spending their money at home on holidays to help local industry. And apparently Australians tend to holiday in New Zealand and the Gold Coast when they do.

Research showed that the Key Barriers to Taking Leave are the following:

57% of stockpilers consider work related barriers prevent them from taking leave, including concerns about work load before and after the event, lack of resources to cover and scheduling leave when desired.
80% cited personal barriers as the cause including lack of available funds, partner’s availability and deliberate accrual for emergencies.

While the reasons Why People Stock Leave are:

Insurance Policy – “What if” worriers.
Workaholic – Too much going on at work to prioritise taking leave.
Golden Goal – Saving for the ‘big trip’ or ‘one day’ type travel plans.
Martyr – ‘No one else could do my job’.
Victim – Lack of immediate support from management in their absence.

Sources: www.noleavenolife.com, asiancorrespondent.com

Mexico Launches Mayan Tourism Campaign Through 2012

Mexican President Felipe Calderon announced the launch of “Mundo Maya 2012” (Mayan World 2012), a program to increase tourism and promote the Mayan Culture Legacy in Mexico through 2012.

“Today we are the 10th power for tourism in the world, and we are working hard to be in the top five,” Calderon said at the announcement of the campaign. “We want the world to know the splendors of the Mayan civilization, with the end goal of positioning Mexico as a privileged and unique touristic destination.”

Between now and Dec. 21, 2012, when the Mayan calendar officially ends, the Mexican government will promote a variety of events in southeastern Mexico’s “Mayan World,” made up of the states Campeche, Chiapas, Tabasco, Quintana Roo andYucatan. This region is home to six of Mexico’s 27 UNESCO World Heritage sites, the most found in any one country.

Through hosting international expositions, conferences, and meetings with leading researchers and specialists, the government hopes to increase tourism to the region, which currently receives an average of 250,000 visitors a month. To improve the region’s cultural offerings, they will restore old archeological sites and open new ones, as well as promote dance festivals, concerts, theatrical performances and the region’s traditional gastronomy. The hope is that the increased tourism will create jobs and stimulate the region both economically and socially.

This focused campaign supports Mexico’s ambitious goal of becoming one of the top-five most visited countries in the world. It is estimated that 52 million tourists will visit southeastern Mexico through 2012, spending approximately $23 million.

“This effort looks to give an unprecedented boost to touristic activity in the country’s southeastern states, where this incredible civilization was established,” said Calderon. “We want tourists from Mexico and the world to know Mexico. We want them to explore the unrivaled riches that this magical region has to offer.”

Sources: www.prnewswire.com, www.visitmexico.com

During our mission to discover the best vintage tourism ads, we came across so many posters that were too good to ignore. So guess what! Here comes the second part of abouTourism’s series of vintage tourism ads, now renamed to Top 20!

The Art Deco style of vintage poster art had replaced Art Nouveau soon after World War I. Art Deco posters in the early 1900’s came into being with more organized geometrical shapes through the influence of the modern art movements of Cubism, Futurism and Constructivism. Geometric formality and simplicity would characterize this new style in vintage poster art of this period while poster artists conveyed their feelings of a new and modern future.

During the 1930’s there would be an explosion of advertising posters created to try to stimulate the depression era economy. Travel posters enjoyed considerable popularity as tourism begun emerging as an industry after WWII, destinations looked for a reinvented image and travelling was considered an antidote to the past economic depression. Enjoy!

#10. The Queen of Bermuda entering Hamilton Harbour, Adolph Treidler, 1930’s

This poster features the ‘Queen of Bermuda’ entering Hamilton Harbour with a couple taking a look in on her approach during their shoreline bike ride. Adolph Treidler took a risky trip to Paris during the Depression that led to the French Line account and that helped him get hired by the Bermuda Board of Trade in the 30s for campaigns and posters that put Bermuda on the tourist map.

#9. Prague, Rome of the North, 1935

#8. Visit Tunisia, the Land of Traditions, Elmekki, 1954

#7. Chicago, Leslie Darrell Ragan, 1929

Chicago was Leslie Ragan’s first poster for the New York Central Lines, the railroad for which he would produce many of his iconic Art Deco images. With its great depth and combination of shadowy and luminous areas, this timeless view of Michigan Avenue skyscrapers under a towering thunderhead contains all the romance and grandeur of Ragan’s mature style. He warmly embraced the skyscrapers of Chicago and New York as symbols of American progress. In Chicago, the City of the Big Shoulders is reborn as a Midwestern Athens.

#6. Hellas- Hydra, Yiannis Moralis, 1956

Yiannis Moralis was an important Greek visual artist and part of the so-called “Generation of the 30s”. The Greek National Tourism Organization commissioned this painting depicting a local scene in the island of Hydra in 1956. Over the years, Moralis was also involved with creating theatrical set and costume designs for the Greek National Theatre and the Greek National Ballet; illustrating poetic works by Odysseas Elytis and Giorgos Seferis; and decorating architectural works.

#5. Atlantic City – America’s Great Seashore Resort, Edward Eggleston, 1935

In the early 30s, Edward Eggleston produced what is often considered the best series of posters for the Pennsylvania Railroad, with the most spectacular ones featuring Atlantic City. The generally conservative rail line gave Eggleston the freedom to show off the famous Boardwalk with luscious scenes of aristocratic young ladies on the beach by day and night. Eggleston’s striking beauties are highlighted by a rich color palette and fabulous architectural settings which create an idyllic world somewhat akin to a Hollywood set. Indeed, Atlantic City was in its heyday during the Depression, when a weary public needed an escape to a more perfect world – either of celluloid or sunshine.

#4. Tokyo for Tourism, 1930’s

#3. Disneyland, Stan Galli, 1960

#2. Fly to South Sea Isles, Paul George Lawler, 1939

One of the most famous airline posters of all time, this great Pan Am poster brings to life the exotic adventure of luxury travel in the Thirties. A beautiful island native serenely watches a Boeing Super Clipper 314 land in the dramatic bay of Pago Pago, one of Pan Am’s string of seaplane bases across the Pacific. The 314 was the largest and most advanced flying boat of its era, capable of carrying 24 passengers over the unprecedented range of about 2800 miles. Like the zeppelins, this plane offered first class elegance plus the “legs” to handle intercontinental travel. It featured sleeping berths for all, a dining lounge and even a honeymoon suite. Indeed, the Boeing 314 enabled Pan Am to become the first airline to offer regularly scheduled routes across the Pacific, and shortly thereafter across the Atlantic, beginning service in June 1939.