The best destination marketing campaigns sell a place with one idea held for years: a slogan, a stunt, a celebrity, a brand mark or an honest flaw. The 25 campaigns below, from New York State's "I Love New York" in 1977 to Nebraska's "Honestly, it's not for everyone" in 2018, are grouped by that idea, with the year and lead organization named for each.
What do destination marketing campaigns sell?
Destination marketing campaigns sell one of five ideas, and the table below pairs each idea with a campaign from this list.
| Idea | Example | What it did |
|---|
| A slogan | Virginia, "Virginia is for Lovers" (1969) | Gave the state one line to repeat for decades |
| A stunt | Tourism Queensland, "Best Job in the World" (2009) | Turned a job posting into global news coverage |
| A celebrity | Switzerland Tourism, Roger Federer (2021) | Borrowed trust from a native son |
| A brand mark | Amsterdam, "I amsterdam" letters (2004) | Created a landmark visitors photographed |
| An honest flaw | Nebraska, "Honestly, it's not for everyone" (2018) | Won attention by refusing to oversell |
Which destination campaigns were built on a slogan?
The destination campaigns built on a slogan picked one line that a tourism office could run for years without changing it.
1. New York State: "I Love New York" (1977)
New York State launched "I Love New York" in 1977 with a heart logo designed by Milton Glaser. The mark is now licensed by the state and appears on products far beyond tourism advertising. It is one of the best-known place marks in marketing.
2. Virginia: "Virginia is for Lovers" (1969)
The Virginia State Travel Service introduced "Virginia is for Lovers" in 1969, with the line written by the Richmond agency Martin & Woltz, later The Martin Agency. Virginia Tourism Corporation still uses it today.
3. Las Vegas: "What Happens Here, Stays Here" (2003)
The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority launched "What Happens Here, Stays Here" in 2003 with the agency R&R Partners. The line sold permission instead of attractions, and it entered everyday speech.
4. Pure Michigan (2006)
Travel Michigan launched "Pure Michigan" in 2006, with actor Tim Allen narrating the radio and television spots. The campaign built a state brand on tone and landscape instead of a list of attractions.
5. Incredible India (2002)
India's Ministry of Tourism launched "Incredible India" in 2002 to present the country as one destination brand to overseas visitors. The name also serves as the ministry's consumer website.
6. 100% Pure New Zealand (1999)
Tourism New Zealand launched "100% Pure New Zealand" in 1999, built on landscape and the promise of an unspoiled country. The line is a standard example of a national tourism brand built on one claim.
7. Great Britain: the GREAT campaign (2011)
The UK government launched the GREAT Britain campaign in 2011, with VisitBritain running the tourism strand. One word, GREAT, carries trade, education and tourism messages in a single visual system.
8. Colombia: "The Only Risk Is Wanting to Stay"
ProColombia, then called Proexport, ran "Colombia, the only risk is wanting to stay" to answer the country's safety reputation directly. The line names the fear instead of avoiding it, which makes it an early example of the honest-flaw approach.
Which destination campaigns were built on a stunt?
The destination campaigns built on a stunt created one event that newsrooms would cover without a media buy.
9. Tourism Queensland: "Best Job in the World" (2009)
In January 2009, Tourism Queensland advertised a six-month island caretaker job on Hamilton Island paying AUD 150,000. The Queensland government reported 34,684 applications from more than 200 countries when applications closed on February 23, 2009.
A government statement dated June 23, 2009 said the campaign won two Grand Prix awards at Cannes Lions, in direct marketing and public relations.
10. Visit Sweden: "The Swedish Number" (2016)
The Swedish Tourist Association launched "The Swedish Number" in 2016, a phone line that connected callers anywhere in the world to a random Swedish volunteer. The agency was INGO Stockholm.
11. Faroe Islands: "Sheep View 360" (2016)
Visit Faroe Islands attached 360-degree cameras to sheep in 2016 to map islands that Google Street View had not covered, and asked Google to send its own cameras. It is the standard case of a small destination using a public request to a large company as its media plan.
12. Inspired by Iceland (2010)
Promote Iceland launched "Inspired by Iceland" in 2010 after the Eyjafjallajokull eruption grounded European flights and threatened the summer tourism season. The campaign asked Icelanders to share their own stories and video, and it became the umbrella for later Iceland stunts.
13. Iceland: "Icelandverse" (2021)
Promote Iceland released "Icelandverse" in 2021, days after Meta's rebrand announcement, as a parody of that presentation filmed in real Icelandic landscapes. It borrowed a news moment the destination had no part in.
14. Tourism Australia: the "Dundee" Super Bowl ad (2018)
Tourism Australia ran a 2018 Super Bowl ad that posed as a trailer for a new "Crocodile Dundee" film with Danny McBride and Chris Hemsworth, then revealed itself as a tourism ad. The agency was Droga5. See the Tourism Australia profile for the agency's wider work.
15. Travel Oregon: "Only Slightly Exaggerated" (2018)
Travel Oregon released an animated film in 2018 that showed the state's landscapes with fantasy creatures. The title admitted the exaggeration, which is the joke and the pitch.
Which destination campaigns used a celebrity or a franchise?
The destination campaigns that used a celebrity or a franchise borrowed an audience the destination could not buy directly.
16. Switzerland: Federer and De Niro (2021)
Switzerland Tourism released a 2021 film in which Roger Federer pitches Robert De Niro on a film set in Switzerland, and De Niro turns it down because the country has no drama. The joke sells the country as too calm for a plot.
17. Visit Dubai: Hollywood mock trailers (2019 and 2021)
Dubai's tourism department used Hollywood actors in mock film trailers in 2019 and again in 2021, buying familiarity for a destination many viewers had not visited. See the Visit Dubai profile for the organization behind them.
18. Saudi Arabia: Lionel Messi as ambassador (2022)
The Saudi Tourism Authority named Lionel Messi a tourism ambassador in 2022, three years after the country opened tourist visas. The deal placed Saudi Arabia on his social channels ahead of the 2022 World Cup. The best Saudi PR campaigns page covers the wider push.
19. VisitBritain: "Bond is GREAT Britain" (2012)
VisitBritain tied a 2012 tourism campaign to the James Bond film "Skyfall," using the franchise to promote British locations. It shows a national tourism agency borrowing a film release as its campaign calendar.
20. Ireland: "Game of Thrones" locations (2016 onward)
Tourism Ireland and its Northern Ireland partners promoted the filming locations of HBO's "Game of Thrones," including the carved "Doors of Thrones" made from fallen trees. It is the model for a destination borrowing a television franchise instead of a star.
Which destination campaigns were built on a mark or a flaw?
The destination campaigns built on a mark or a flaw gave visitors either a place to photograph or a reason to trust the claim.
21. Amsterdam: "I amsterdam" letters (2004)
Amsterdam's city marketing introduced the "I amsterdam" brand in 2004, and large letters outside the Rijksmuseum became a photo spot. The city removed the main Museumplein installation in 2018 to ease crowding, so the campaign was retired for working too well.
22. Peru: "Peru Nebraska" (2011)
PromPeru launched the Marca Peru brand in 2011 with a film in which Peruvians visit Peru, Nebraska, to bring the country's culture to its namesake town. The brand introduced the country to its own citizens before it went overseas.
23. Tourism Australia: "Bloody Hell" ad (2006)
Tourism Australia launched "So where the bloody hell are you?" in 2006 with model Lara Bingle. The word "bloody" drew restrictions in the UK, and the resulting coverage added to the campaign's reach.
24. Nebraska: "Honestly, it's not for everyone" (2018)
The Nebraska Tourism Commission unveiled "Honestly, it's not for everyone" in October 2018 at the state tourism conference, with the Colorado agency Vladimir Jones. Officials told the Omaha World-Herald the campaign cost about $450,000 to develop, and CNN Travel reported that a 2017 MMGY survey had named Nebraska the least visited US state.
The campaign admitted the flat landscape and sold it to travelers who wanted quiet.
25. Newfoundland and Labrador: "Find Yourself" (2006)
Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism launched "Find Yourself" in 2006, using long, quiet films of coastline and towns. It is the model for a destination selling remoteness as the product.
What do the 25 destination campaigns have in common?
The 25 destination campaigns that lasted each held one idea long enough for visitors to repeat it: a heart, a slogan, a sheep, a kangaroo. The stunts earned the press, and the slogans and marks kept the attention between stunts. A destination choosing a model should decide first whether it needs a slogan to keep or a stunt to launch one.
Where can you read more about destination marketing?
The destination marketing coverage on Everything-PR runs from agency selection to single-country case studies.
