(CNN) --
When they're good, they're iconic.
When they're bad, at least you can laugh.
We're talking about destination ad campaigns, when tourist hotspots bid you decide to spend your hard-earned vacation money producing wacky videos and entire web pages to grab your attention.
How have things been this year, the first year since the pandemic began with few restrictions for most travelers?
With destinations desperate for money after the covid-19 lockdowns, we've seen exorbitant amounts of money invested in landing celebrities, shooting the best pictures of places and, happily, some real ingenuity about how places want to present themselves. .
Colombia, Mexico and Peru join National Geographic's list of best destinations for 2023
From the bizarre (Icelandic horses typing on keyboards) to the wonderful (South Africa's emotional reopening), from the bad (Sweden recreated the "Blair Witch Project") to the controversial (David Beckham's pro-Qatar campaign), These are 15 of the videos that have caught our attention the most this year.
South Africa: The Renaissance
The three-minute video from South Africa released in March, when much of the world was still in lockdown, was a brilliant vision of what travel might look like when things started to open up after the surge of the omicron variant - a brave move, as that the variant was first detected in South Africa, and the country had faced immediate travel bans from many other (equally virus-ridden) places.
A bleak-looking young woman in dreary, dark and rainy London emerges into the light in Cape Town...and everything goes technicolor.
The young woman opts for classic South African experiences - a safari and a hike to the Drakensberg escarpment, with the country's natural beauty on full display - but she focuses on the human connections that everyone has missed during lockdown.
advertising
Get a massage, meet up with fellow surfers, stroll along a beach at sunset, and end the video at a party.
In other words, a dream vacation.
"Come as you are, leave as you will never be again. Live again," the video ends.
You may even shed a tear.
Sweden: Scandinavian Horror Film
Interested in a "Blair Witch"-style adventure in the woods?
Then Sweden awaits you.
Just in time for Halloween, Visit Sweden released a two-minute horror film to promote the country.
A brave bet to attract visitors, taking into account that the video, narrated by "Sweden" itself, takes place in a forest --the "soul" of the country-- that starts out idyllic but quickly turns into a horror movie .
In it, Sam, a man on vacation, meets a beautiful woman, or isn't he?
She's not;
she is actually a "huldra", a creepy forest nymph.
"What happened in the forest is something you will consider a dream, but it will not be," Sweden warns.
The catch: The short film ends by promoting "Kiln," a "chilling audio story" by John Ajvide Indqvist that can only be downloaded "in the Swedish forest."
In fact, the story, and not the video, is the axis of the campaign
“Spellbound by Sweden”.
Once there, you can listen to it, if you're brave enough.
The United Kingdom eliminates the tourist visa requirement for Colombians and Peruvians.
What you should know before traveling
Rwanda: play with Lionel Messi
Legendary Paris Saint-Germain stars like Lionel Messi and Sergio Ramos headed to southern Rwanda for Visit Rwanda 2022's "Kick off your next Rwandan adventure" campaign, which debuted just before the year new.
The 100-second video begins with former goalkeeper Jérôme Alonzo playing golf in retirement, and follows his golf ball as it lands at the Parc des Princes stadium, is kicked around by players, and then batted towards Rwanda. , where it towers over its most spectacular landscapes.
He ends up on a golf course with a girl who puts a hole in one, but not before, of course, making a cameo with some gorillas.
A good bet for this year's World Cup.
Vilnius: happy birthday to... who?
"Nobody knows where Vilnius is," admits this inspired video from the Lithuanian capital.
Previous campaigns have dubbed the city "Europe's G-spot" and rewritten a Christmas carol (last year's campaign was titled "Christmas in Vilnius: Surprising Wherever You Think It Is").
This time, the campaign revolves around the city's 700th anniversary, in 2023. "After most of the world forgot Vilnius' last 699 birthday, we came up with a solution for its 700th," the retro video reads.
Such a solution: a "belated birthday e-card collection."
The cheeky 80s-style video goes through several hilarious cards before telling you to send your own.
You may forget the date, but the celebration will be unforgettable, he ends, calling Vilnius "700 years young."
Uganda: open your eyes
Uganda's tourism board kicked off 2022 with a two-minute video showcasing the beauty of the country, from snowy peaks to lush forested hills, calm lakes, waterfalls and rivers that seem made for rafting.
But attention quickly turned to its people: eating ugali, sitting down for a drink, dancing and going out on the town in Kampala's nightclubs.
The best?
Instead of being in the foreground, the animals (including the classics: a chimpanzee, a gorilla, and a giraffe) only make fleeting cameos.
"All we have to do is open our senses and enjoy what is uniquely ours," says the narrator.
Without a doubt, it will open your senses by realizing that there is something more than safari tourism.
Colombia: literary power
Ministry of Tourism of Colombia
Colombia goes old school with the "Book of Warmth", a 212-page ebook beautifully adorned with photographs dedicated to its welcoming inhabitants.
In Spanish and English, it includes different forms of "warmth", from beekeeper Humberto Narváez's love for sustainability to María Eugenia Clavijo's excellent treatment of her hotel guests.
These are the holidays and bridges in Colombia for 2023
"Although we can feel it in each greeting, in each smile, in each welcome and in each cup of coffee we share, we wanted to understand it better. That is why we set out in search of Colombian Warmth, and we went directly to its source: our people, who they carry in their hearts," said the tourist office, which also produced a one-minute video, although the latter is a little reminiscent of the traditional "smiling locals" style for our tastes.
The Philippines: The Big (Not) Revelation
It's a brave country not to feature a single destination in its expensive marketing campaign, but that's what the Philippines did with its June video, "People Make Destination."
"To make an ad you won't skip, we've skipped the ordinary...the sun, the sand, the actors, the drone shots, the pop songs, the special effects," the video states.
They have disappeared in favor of "the people who have always made our destinations more memorable and fun";
in other words, the two-minute video only shows people.
Not people on the spot, as in the Ugandan ad, but people dressed in overalls and doing Cirque du Soleil-style stunts to form representations of famous places.
The group turns into hills, waterfalls, mountains, an old building, and even a giant bird of prey before transforming into the ocean as a surfer rides the waves.
"People make destiny: it's more fun with you", reads the slogan.
The soundtrack, recorded in 23 locations in the Philippines, features the waves of Samar and the t'boli instruments of South Cotobato.
There are two videos: one stereo and one binaural and surround, which is best listened to with headphones.
Switzerland: Road Trip with Anne and Roger
Tennis champion Roger Federer has been promoting his native Switzerland for several years, but in April he was joined by Anne Hathaway in a comedic two-minute video.
"Anne and Roger learned the hard way that no one can shadow the Grand Tour of Switzerland," the tagline read, after the two became angry at watching footage of their alleged announcement of the country.
In the sketch, close-ups of their activities -- from jumping over a glacier to synchronized swimming in a frozen lake -- had been replaced with wide shots, because the director considered Switzerland to be more impressive than even Federer's abs. .
Why did Switzerland build a two kilometer long train?
"When you need a road trip that's second to none, you need Switzerland," he concluded.
Celebrities who are self-deprecating get a thumbs up from us.
United Kingdom: beyond the plaid
Royalty, the Cotswolds and now Brexit are probably what most people think of when they think of the UK, but the Visit Britain 2022 campaign, which launched in February, eschewed the classics to showcase what else can be offered.
“Welcome to Another Side of Britain” focused on British cities, which suffered a huge drop in international visitors due to both the pandemic and Brexit.
According to one analyst, the UK is “bearing the costs of Brexit”
They went big on an urban summer trip, illuminated unlikely tourist destinations like Birmingham and the West Midlands, and showed a different side of London, like Tottenham Hotspur's Dare Skywalk and the floating hot tubs that hang around the docks of Canary Wharf.
Shaky 30-second videos that bet on something completely different... we approve.
Morocco: the light of the trip
People usually go to Morocco for tradition, but this video, released in May, takes those traditions (tajines, souks, Badi Palace in Marrakech) and combines them with modern Morocco: golf in the dunes, modern dance at Badi Palace and spectacular art installations in the desert.
It cleverly includes moments of everything people go to Morocco for, but infuses it with a contemporary twist.
Good job and good soundtrack.
Iceland: ponies as personal assistants
Do you feel compelled to check your email during the holidays?
Not to worry if you choose Iceland, which promises to do "horse outsourcing" for your email.
The ad, published in May, claims that Icelandic ponies have been trained to write “out of office” messages so you don't even have to touch the phone.
"Nothing spoils a vacation like work," the minute-long video begins, before showing seven horses stomping on a giant keyboard and typing gibberish responses.
An additional behind-the-scenes video is available on the campaign website, as well as the ability to choose one of three horses to write your own (wacky) “out of office” message on.
Silly, but very nice.
Vienna: let yourself go
Traveling should be a time when you relax those norms of everyday life... and to cheer you up, the Vienna Tourist Board produced a short film showing a walking (if not talking) belly getting carried away on its October campaign.
It's a nearly six-minute short film in which a bulging belly abandons Harry, his exercise-obsessed human, because he no longer feels welcome.
The tummy heads off to Vienna, where it wanders the streets, gazes at sublime works of art, and enjoys a Sachertorte in bed at the hotel.
In the end, Harry finds "Belly" and the two have a delicious date in a Viennese restaurant.
"The most beautiful way to love yourself is to treat yourself," he ends.
It seems a bit polarizing: it either tells you something or it doesn't, but it's a cinematic spectacle, regardless of what you think of the message.
Australia: Visit Australia with Rose Byrne
The nine-minute Australian film "G'day" amassed 19 million views on YouTube in its first month alone.
To promote the new "Come and say g'day" campaign, the "Toy Story"-style film stars Rose Byrne as Ruby, a toy kangaroo. and Will Arnett as Louie, a toy unicorn.
The couple sneak out of a Great Barrier Reef gift shop and travel to Nitmiluk Gorge, Uluru, the Great Barrier Reef, and the Sydney Opera House.
"In Australia, 'g'day' is the start of every good adventure," Byrne says at the end, in person.
"It's our way of saying, 'If you're not a friend yet, you will be.'"
Contradictory?
Sure, but the viewing figures speak for themselves.
Korea: Playtime
“Shall we play Korea,” which premiered in November, is a fun and fast-paced look at the country, with something for everyone, from family fun, to teen dreams and adult groups, to silver-haired couples going on hikes.
There are road trips, golf, paragliding, and K-pop dancing.
See you there.
Qatar: conquering David Beckham
When David Beckham's mammoth 30-minute video for Qatar premiered (a one-minute version above) in August, it was second only to the furore it caused.
The footballer filmed "Stopover in Qatar" coinciding with the World Cup.
In it, he doles out pearls of wisdom as he travels across Qatar: going to the market ("One of the best spice markets I've ever been to"), learning about pearl diving ("Maybe someday you can take me diving." ) and train falcons ("I love being in the middle of nowhere, talking and eating"), visit cultural places like the Qatar National Museum, as well as ride a motorbike around an artificial island ("That's what I love, the culture of the motorcycle, because there is one everywhere and that is what I love").
He also played soccer with a Qatari woman ("Women's soccer is something I've always supported, and more so now, especially for me, that I have a daughter").
A comedian would have shredded £10,000 for David Beckham's role as Qatar World Cup ambassador
But criticism was immediate, with many pointing to Qatar's alleged human rights problems.
Amnesty International urged him to "speak up" about the treatment of migrant workers who make the World Cup possible, while British comedian Joe Lycett pulled off a stunt by pretending to burn (but ultimately donating to LGBT charities) almost US$ 12,000 in protest of Beckham's rumored $184 million, 10-year contract.
Beckham responded to the criticism by saying that it is "positive that the debate on key issues has been directly stimulated by hosting the first World Cup in the region."
Destinations
