Two campaigns launched by the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT) for the markets of the United States and Canada were awarded this past week in the 2020 edition of the HSMAI Adrian Awards, in the United States. The HSMAI Adrian Adwards have been delivered for 63 years and seek to reward excellence generated in hotel hospitality, digital marketing and public relations.
The winners were “The Costa Rica Essential Tool Kit”, in the Recovery Strategy section, a category designed exclusively due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, with Gold, and “Only the Essentials”, in the Integrated Marketing category, upon receiving the Bronze award.
Both works were launched the previous year with the aim of inspiring people to connect with the essentials of life after the radical change in lives caused by the Pandemic and where tourism has been one of the most affected industries, as well as promotional messages before the gradual reopening that began to occur.
Always in the international traveler’s mind
“Keeping Costa Rica in the traveler’s mind has always been the objective of our strategies in priority markets such as the United States and Canada. The granting of these two awards to campaigns carried out in these countries confirms that the work done is correct and is the line that we must continue to promote the country as a sanctuary of sustainability and as the ideal place to heal after these difficult months”, indicated Carolina Trejos, ICT marketing director.
What did the promotional campaigns consist of?
“Only the Essentials”, a campaign launched by the ICT to promote Costa Rica in the United States and Canada on September 2nd, 2019, was adapted the year before to the events of 2020, at the beginning of the Pandemic, with a video reminding him to travelers that the country would be ready to receive them when the crisis passes. The audiovisual material was called “We’ll Be Here”, as well as another video for the opening of air borders called “Back to the Pura Vida” (Back to Pura Vida). This is the second award received by the campaign, as the previous year it won in the “Destination Marketing” category of the Travel Weekly Magellan Silver Award.
“Only the Essentials” was a work carried out by the North American advertising agency MMGY, where a personal connection with what is truly essential in life was proposed, this being what Costa Rica offers through a number of tourist and travel experiences.
For its part, “The Costa Rica Essential Tool Kit”, a project executed by the NJF public relations agency, consisted of Costa Rican elements that could be experienced from home, for example a wellness box with products such as Pura Vida caps, bilingual books for color, delivered to journalists from media that cover the family niche such as AFAR, Boston Globe, Calgary Herald, Elite Family Traveler, Condé Nast Traveler, Journal de Montreal, Outside, Elle Quebec, Today’s Parents, and Fodor’s Travel, among others, with the aim of offering travelers an escape and a memory of the country.
