Dream a Little Dream – and Make it Local

“See the world. It's more fantastic than any dream made or paid for in factories. Ask for no guarantees, ask for no security.” Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451

In the dystopian novel ‚Fahrenheit 451‘ (first published 1953), leading protagonist Guy Montag gets told he should go see the world with his own eyes, rather than passively consuming it through movies and organised entertainment. In the wake of the somewhat dystopian Coronavirus pandemic in the year 2020, the advice appears to no longer apply. Instead there is a new dictum stating: Stay at home, and if you absolutely do have to travel, make sure security measures are in place and you are guaranteed a repatriation flight. For many people, travel has become a virtual experience, ranging from video tours of museums and galleries to online safaris in the African wilderness. However, the dream of travelling the world for real still prevails.

Summer Holidays in Germany: A midsummer night’s dream of golden times right outside your doorstep

How strongly this dream affects real behaviour could be witnessed during the (European) summer of 2020. As soon as the first wave of the pandamic had abated, Germans started travelling again. This benefited a number of destinations in neighbouring countries. However, German holiday spots – from seaside towns on the shores of the Northern and Baltic Sea to the popular Alpine resorts in the south – were also more than booked out. Targeted marketing campaigns rushed to enhance the trend towards domestic travelling. For example, in June 2020 the Ministry of Economic Affairs of the federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate financed a nationwide online and print campaign, sporting the slogan “Save your summer!” – Golden times in Rhineland-Palatinate”. According to the agency commissioned with implementing the campaign, the aim was to position the state as a travel destination “in which the planned holiday turns out to be exactly what people had dreamed of: a very special, a golden time”. With the exception that the holiday is no longer taking place in Spain, Singapore or South Africa, but instead in the southwest of Germany. (1) (2)

The motif of 'you do not have to travel far to travel' was also taken up by the campaign „Next Door to Thuringia“. The first phase of the campaign commenced in June 2020 as well, focussing on individual travel and adventure stories of people taking a holiday in the East German federal state of Thuringia. Posters, a website and of course social media activities were targeted explicitly at a younger audience in order to entice them to visit the mountainous free state with its countless castles and historic towns. The second phase began in September 2020. It centred on a promotional video, which told the story of “a breakfast dream about a super vacation in Thuringia." (3) (4)

The end of the year brings an end to the dream of travelling, even within one’s own country

Not dreams, but ‘places of longing’ are at the heart of the third campaign considered here by way of example. The destination campaign of the federal capital Berlin started – little surprise here – in June 2020. Greenery, water, culture, museums, history – all of these and more is promised in the aptly named campaign “Berlin. This too.” The aim was of course to attract people from all over Germany and other countries to come visit the capital. (5) (6) In the wake of increasing infection numbers, the campaign was suspended in November 2020.

The dream of carefree travelling within Germany did not last for long. The second wave of Coronavirus infections saw a reintroduction of travel and meeting restrictions. The domestic wanderlust ended as quickly as it had begun. Germans are spending Christmas 2020 in a hard lockdown. Most Christmas travels are suspended. The annual trip to visit one's family is oftentimes replaced with a Zoom meeting.

Summer Holidays in South Africa: Postponed, not cancelled

In March 2020 South Africa imposed one of the strictest Corona lockdowns worldwide. All ports, airports and inland border crossings were closed. International travel came to a complete halt. Travelling within the country required a special permit.

The national tourism authority South African Tourism took immediate action. Already in March 2020, the campaign “Don’t Travel Now So You Can Travel Later” was initiated. It combined the two key messages “Stay at Home” and “Dream of Travelling” and was executed through a series of three television spots together with digital content. The highly emotional spots, combining prompts of perseverance with an optimistic outlook, gained a lot of attention and popularity, both nationally and internationally. While targeting mainly a domestic audience, according to Themba Khumalo, Chief Marketing Officer of South African Tourism, the campaign also intended to turn local people into brand ambassadors for South Africa as an international travelling destination. (8)

The guest as ambassador, the user as marketer, reality as selling point

This approach was promoted further with regard to the follow-up campaign #ShareSouthAfrica that took off in August 2020. It turns the classic storytelling pattern of the touristic narrative completely upside down. Instead of showcasing the country from a tourist perspective focussed on eternal dream destinations like Table Mountain, the Garden Route or Kruger National Park the campaign centres on local identities and experiences of South Africans. They adopt a twin role, acting both as guest and host, as tourists and marketers. (9)

The main channels of the campaign are Twitter and Facebook. Here South Africans present their own holiday destinations as well as their hometowns and individual neighbourhoods as travel destinations. The goal is to build up a massive library of user generated content to inspire national and international travellers alike. Since the beginning of the campaign an eclectic mix of travel stories, pictures and videos has been compiled. In addition to authentic user stories, provincial and regional tourism authorises and individual operators also use the campaign as a platform to present themselves.

Contrary to both, the German ‘dream-campaigns’ and the emotional approach of the first “Don’t Travel Now” campaign, #ShareSouthAfrica builds on reality as a selling point. Of course, the usual displays of nature, wildlife, wine culture and refined cuisine are all there. Yet in addition the campaign also presents places far off the beaten tourist track. This includes for example Bona Tsotlhe, a mobile kitchen located in the small town of Christiana in the North West province. The image of fried sausages, served out of food truck surrounded by a formalised settlement, which is clean and orderly but obviously not particularly well-off or scenic, is one rarely found in tourism marketing. But it perfectly fits the key idea of the campaign to consciously address population groups, who – for cultural or economic reasons – are usually less prone to travel.

Corona remains a part of the new travel normal – and therefore a part of the new travel marketing

As a part of the campaign, posts and hashtags, reminding people to disinfect their hands, wear a mask and remain aware of the risks of a second Corona surge, are continuously on display. As of December 2020, these displays have increased in frequency and urgency. The infection rate in South Africa is on the rise again. Therefore, there is an increasing risk of a re-introduction of travel restrictions – in fact, some areas of the countries have already been made subject to a range of limitations. This poses a threat to (domestic) tourism – especially in December, which is the South African holiday month per se, in which Christmas and the summer holidays coincide.

Travel dreams become dreams of security – and Corona acts as reality check

The campaigns presented here stand as examples for many other tourism and destination marketing activities worldwide. Corona has not only changed the way we travel, but also the way travel marketing is conducted. Or rather it has accelerated a shift in holidaying preferences and marketing approaches that had already been under way even before the pandemic. This includes trends such as domestic destination marketing, the activation of new, mainly young target groups, new narrative patters and user generated content. Their orgins lie in changed travel expectations due to an increasing awareness of environmental issues and climate change, the progression of the (not so) new media, new and varying lifestyle choices as well as global and local economic developments. Corona has provided an impetus so these changes, which will most likely continue to gain momentum even once the pandemic is under control.

At the same time, travel marketing is under a lot of pressure. The competition between destinations is tougher than ever bevor, based on the massive slump in the travel industry worldwide as well as in the downturn of most economies. The winners and losers of the competition will be decided not only along the lines of who is most successful in (re-)awakening travel dreams and make them come true. To come back to the introductory quote: security and guarantees will also become important criteria of success – also with a view to marketing.

In this regard, Tourism South Africa is already collating a Covid 19 Management Case Study. According to Chief Marketing Officer Khumalo, the results of the study will be at the heart of one of the next campaigns. The aim is to enhance the reputation of South Africa, which had suffered already pre-Covid due to perceptions of crime and mismanagement. The way South Africa has managed the Corona pandemic is meant to accentuate “the positive proof points of destination efficacy”. (9) Now there is a campaign that will be interesting to see.

References:

(1) Wirtschaftsministerium Rheinland-Pfalz, Juni 2020

(2) Rheinland-Pfalz Tourismus GmbH, Campaign Website

(3) Tourismusnetzwerk Thüringen, September 2020

(4) Thüringer Tourismus GmbH, Campaign Website

(5) Berliner Abendblatt, 11. Juni 2020: Neue Tourismus Kampagne - Berlin wirbt mit seinem Grün

(6) visitBerlin, ‚Berlin.This too‘. Campaign Website

(7) RBB 24, 5. Oktober 2020: Risikogebiet Innenstadt - Berlin stoppt wegen Corona Tourismus-Kampagnen

(8) www.getaway.co.za

(9) The Place Brand Oberserver, 7. Juli 2020: Themba Khumalo on South Africa’s Destination Marketing Strategy and Response to the Corona Crisis



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Photo by Ali Abdul Rahman on Unsplash