Eurobest Trends Point to Future of Travel and Tourism

Reimagining Tourism

Work that won at Eurobest 2019 found subtle, often beautiful, ways of reframing how we understand tourism, as we continued to think consciously about how we move around the world. We saw winners innovating to help us travel in new ways and explore new places, virtually.

2019 Media Jury President and chief strategy officer, EMEA, OMD, Mark Murray Jones, reflects on the work. “I think last year’s entries, generally, pointed towards a more evolved approach to travel marketing. Brands have started to recognise the importance of carving out their role across the entire consumer journey in recent years, to complement distinctive AV communications, which remain a crucial part of the mix.”

Most of Europe took a break from tourism this year, with devastating effects on the industry and changing values around travel as a result of the pandemic. So, what’s next for creativity? We hear more from Mark Marry Jones as well as from chief content officer, Engine and 2019 Entertainment Jury President, Dave Roberts.

Exploring Virtual Worlds

“Immersive content experiences through the use of AR and VR technology have become a popular way to bring travel experiences to consumers before they book”, Mark tells us. In 2019, Entertainment Gold-winner Visit XBox: The Birth of Gaming Tourism from McCann London went one step further: bringing beautiful virtual experiences to travellers via guided tours of gaming worlds...without the need to then leave home.

Dave Roberts also sees technology driving work in this space, “...particularly in the VR/AR/ XR world, where ever more powerful smartphones and ever more advanced social platform functionality are enabling a whole new world of immersive experiences”.

Return to Localism

The pandemic has given rise to a new era of staycations and travel to domestic destinations. Work encouraging local travel back in 2019 came in the form of Media Grand Prix-winner No Need to Fly - Around the World in Germany. Ogilvy Frankfurt’s work showed travellers a real-time flight price from their current location to an international destination, in comparison to a look-alike location in Germany via targeted ads - an idea which is perhaps even more relevant in 2020.

What Comes Next?

Mark sees brands responding in a few key ways: “Inspiring future travel: Continuing to communicate, using messages focused on space, nature and safety to reassure potential travellers. Capitalising on new booking behaviours. Leaning in to the audience’s growing desire to get away and taking advantage of the shortened booking windows. And holding out. Some travel brands continue to put their paid spend on hold as lockdowns and quarantine lists remain uncertain, focusing on owned media for now.”