THE NEVERENDING TOURISTS
During lockdown tourism - the Western Cape’s biggest industry - was suffering. Wesgro wanted to stay top of mind with international travellers. While we didn't know how long the pandemic would last - spoiler alert, 3 years - we knew we needed a campaign that would keep our audience's attention until they were able to travel again.
The Neverending Tourists are international travellers who came to the Western Cape - and liked it so much, they stayed. They've turned their life into an extended holiday, working to live, and taking advantage of everything the Western Cape has to offer. They’re also part of the expat network – the friend of a friend who tells where the cool places are when you visit a foreign country.
We created and wrote a Facebook Messenger bot campaign where future travellers can connect with fellow countrymen: each person has their own branch/tree populated with real interviews, SFX collected from our holiday (jokes, the shoots), videos and conversations. We interviewed our NETs, then wrote new phrases in their style, plotted the scripts and mapped the UX journey. We then went on holiday (every year!) and documented their experiences. All the content informed a Messenger campaign supported by beautiful films showcasing everyone in their happy space. I really love this campaign as I got to use all my experience, from scriptwriting, to journalism and documentary skills, drawing on a decade and a half of digital and a love for good film, TVCs and sorytelling.
AWARDS
2023 Silver Trophy in the Tourism Film Category at New York Festivals TV & Film Awards
2023 Silver Trophy for a Series at New York Festivals TV & Film Awards
2023 Gold Japan World Tourism Film Festival: Film Series
2022 Gold Pitcher Digital: Social Media campaigns
2022 Silver Loerie Social Media campaign (a nice win in a tough year)
2022 Bronze Bookmark Social Media
2022 Silver Loerie Social Media campaign (a nice win in a tough year)
2022 Bronze Bookmark Social Media
Case study.
Neverending Tourists Netherlands & Germany (2020): 2.2 million views
Also includes 8 cutdowns with new content
Neverending Tourists USA (2022): 3.3 million views
Also includes 6 cutdowns with new content
Neverending Tourists UK (2021): 1.2 million views
Also includes 6 cutdowns with new content
The Neverending Tourists chatbot -
To access: open https://www.facebook.com/discoverctwc
Type in hello
and you'll get to chat to Neverending Tourists from Germany, the Netherlands, the UK, and America to find out what you can get up to in the Western Cape.
