“Revenge travel” — that is, travelling to make up for time lost because of Covid lockdowns — is the hottest trend this year, as markets opened up and competed to entice valuable tourism currency. 

The numbers already suggest the travel bug is biting hard: World Tourism Organisation’s latest Tourism Barometer, which monitors short-term tourism trends, believes international tourism is on track to reach 65% of pre-pandemic levels by the end of this month.

About 700 million tourists travelled internationally between January and September — around 133% more than the number recorded in the same period of 2021.

The agency said results were boosted by strong pent-up demand, improved confidence levels and the lifting of pandemic restrictions.

Monthly arrivals climbed from -64% in January 2022 (versus 2019) to -27% in September, confirming the rapid and sustained recovery of international travel throughout the year.

Tourism performance was particularly strong in Q3 2022 when an estimated 340 million international arrivals were recorded around the world — almost 50% of the nine-month total.

Europe (up 126%) continued to lead the rebound of international tourism through to September, reaching 81% of pre-pandemic levels. The Middle East saw international arrivals more than triple year-on-year between January and September 2022, climbing to 71% of 2019 levels.

Africa (up 166%) and the Americas (up 106%) reached 63% and 66% of 2019 levels respectively. In Asia and the Pacific (up 230%), arrivals more than tripled in the first nine months of 2022, although they remained 83% below 2019 levels.

To increase awareness and carve out space in this crowded sector, marketers are laying on the FOMO with fun, quirky campaigns that position countries or regions as desirable destinations. 

Here’s a look at some of the marketing masterstrokes this year, to inspire wanderlust in 2023:

Live Again: 

Joe Public United’s work with South African Tourism, “Live Again”, tugged at the heartstrings as it reminded travellers — especially Saffas — that the pastures are not greener, or more fun, abroad.

Inviting travellers to “live again”, the campaign showcased SA’s diverse landscapes, cultures and other offerings as bucket-list destinations, adventures and experiences are just a flight away. 

“Live Again” features a woman leaving a gloomy London for a dream holiday in South Africa, filled with game parks, the Drakensberg, water sports, parties and horseback rides on the beach.

Gorilla marketing

The “Land of the Thousand Hills”, Rwanda has cleverly used its association with sport to build its tourism industry. 

“Visit Rwanda” is already Arsenal Football Club’s official Tourism Partner. With Arsenal one of the most watched teams in the world, the partnership gives Visit Rwanda exposure to football-loving nations and supports its drive to be a tourism and investment destination.

“Tee off your next adventure in Rwanda” sees Lionel Messi, Sergio Ramos, Jérôme Alonzo and other Paris Saint-Germain stars playing golf in a promo that follows the ball from the Parc des Princes stadium, where it is swung off to Rwanda, travelling over the country’s breathtaking attractions including magnificent lakes, forests and, of course, gorillas. It ends up at Kigali Golf Course, with a little girl pulling off a hole-in-one.

Pony up for Iceland

Exploding Topics, an SEO trend detection platform, has released its Average Screen Time Stats for 2022 — and it paints a worrying picture of device use. Globally, we are spending six hours and 58 minutes of screen time per day, with the average American putting in seven hours and four minutes on a device daily, and South Africans a whopping 10 hours and 46 minutes.

To grab some of that attention, Iceland says it wants to “OutHorse your Inbox and free up your vacation”, in an off-centre campaign released in May, in which it claims Icelandic ponies have been trained to write out-of-office messages so you don’t have to touch your phone.

“Nothing ruins your vacation like work,” says the video. “Thankfully, Iceland has created the perfect solution: OutHorse your email — a revolutionary service where Icelandic horses write real out-of-office replies, so you can relax.”

It then shows horses tramping over a giant keyboard, typing out gobbledygook, despite apparently being trained in “corporate buzzwords”. Your boss will never know the difference. It’s silly fun, and ends with 15 seconds of scenes of magnificent black rock formations, architectural landmarks and … more typing horses.

The cooler alternative

Not only does it want to OutHorse your inbox, but Iceland arguably has the world’s coolest president and it’s like Mars — with hot tubs. “Visit Iceland” says that with its otherworldly experiences, a trip to Iceland will take your breath away. Not literally, though, because they have oxygen. 

It’s another cheeky idea from Iceland’s tourism board, which says space tourists don’t need to spend gazillions to fly in a spaceship for otherworldly sights and alien light sources, when they could travel to Iceland!

It’s bloody worth it

Australia is known for its slick destination marketing efforts, which include strategising by both government and the private sector. Its campaign for 2022 is G’day, a short film by Tourism Australia, produced in partnership with M&C Saatchi. 

The nine-minute short opens with the wistful voice of “Ruby”, a souvenir kangaroo who dreams of travelling around Australia to see it in real life. 

“There’s more to life than being stuck on a fridge. Magnets shame us,” she tells toy unicorn, Louie, with whom she forms an unlikely friendship. 

Ruby takes Louie on an adventure around Australia, visiting iconic sites including Melbourne’s laneways and stunning natural landscapes.

They discover new experiences, connect with indigenous cultures, and “learn the true meaning of an Aussie welcome”.

Hello darkness, my friend

Sweden — home of the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, IKEA, ABBA and ice hotels — has a wicked sense of humour, inviting visitors into its heart of darkness.

In a new campaign for “Spellbound in Sweden”, a captivating travel initiative released in September, Sweden welcomes visitors through a two-minute, chilling audio story by author John Ajvide Lindqvist, which can only be heard to its conclusion in the Swedish forest.

“We’d like to invite you to experience our country’s nature in a way you’ve never done before. Sweden’s nature has always been an integral part of our culture and played a central role in Swedish folklore.” 

The video, narrated by “Sweden” herself, takes place in a forest, which at first appears idyllic. But then it’s not. 

‘No drama’

It’s fair to say that, after the pandemic, crises of war, economic and environmental collapse, and Chief Twits, we’ve all had enough of the drama. 

Switzerland’s “No Drama” — the precursor to “Road tripping with Anne and Roger” (i.e. Hathaway and Federer) — is a classic, in which the tennis legend once again tries to lure a Hollywood star to film an advert for Switzerland Tourism.

Last year’s campaign was gold, starring a stony-faced Robert De Niro declining a pitch by Switzerland Tourism’s ambassador, Federer. The legendary actor agrees with the tennis great that the destination is pure, impressive and utterly exquisite – but there’s no drama in Switzerland, which is what De Niro is famous for, so the film is hopeless.

Greece is the word

It might be known as the land of endless summer, sea and the islands, but it has news for you: Greece has winter, too, and it’s a magnificent time of year to explore the mainland.

Inviting visitors to “come and explore the Greek winter and discover breathtaking mountains, charming lakes and rivers, picturesque villages and delicious local treats”, “Visit Greece” offers a simple and to-the-point message: Greece, in fact, does have a winter. And it’s astounding. BM/DM