2020, the first year of the pandemic, the shutdown of aviation and borders hit especially hard on countries which are more dependant on tourism than others. After many difficult months during which the airports in Malta were completely shut and the island was completely closed off to tourists or foreigners, Malta decided to open up its borders to salvage the summer season.
Challenge
Relaunch tourism arrivals from the Czech Republic to Malta at a time when traveling abroad and especially by plane was considered dangerous by many people due to the risk of coronavirus infection.
Solution
Integrated marketing campaign in cooperation with Pelikan.cz, one of the top OTAs in the Czech Republic and Pelipecky.cz, one of the most popular online travel magazines in the Central European region.
Campaign activities were rolled out in 3 rounds – first, to promote the relaunch of international flights to Malta in summer, second, to promote autumn city breaks and third, to highlight Malta as an ideal location for Christmas or New Year’s.
Attention was created through the partners’ most efficient marketing channels: social media, newsletters, Pelipecky.cz content marketing, Pelikan.cz homepage banners and push notifications.
The content focus of the campaign had to be also adjusted to the “new normal”. The focus was not only to put the spotlight on Malta as an ideal holiday destination as is usual in any standard pre-pandemic campaign, but also to rebuild client confidence in air travel by promoting hygiene and safety precautions onboard, and also to show that Malta was a safe destination in terms of the epidemiological situation.
Results
Over 500.000 overall impressions
The campaign resulted in significant increase in flight bookings to Malta through our partner OTA.
In the summer months June – August, bookings to Malta on Pelikan.cz increased by 70% compared to the same period in 2019. Looking at overall 2020 bookings, the numbers decreased by only 25% compared to overall bookings in 2019. This is in stark contrast to the reported 70% decrease in arrivals that Europe recorded in 2020 according to the UNWTO.
Despite the pandemic and continuing travel restrictions, effective campaign activities were successful at putting the spotlight on Malta as a safe destination.
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