Sensational marketing campaign to bring tourists to Budapest – VIDEO

The Hungarian Tourism Agency shared a short film about Budapest as part of its new international marketing campaign. The 1-minute video called the “Spice of Europe” (Európa fűszere) has already reached 6 countries. Guller Zoltán, CEO of the Hungarian Tourism Agency, says that they plan on reaching millions of internet users and hundreds of millions of TV viewers with this film. According to magyaridok.hu two other short films will be presented during the fall and winter.

The campaign will reach several Western European countries, especially those that already send a lot of tourists to Budapest, like Germany, the United Kingdom, Spain, France and Italy. They are also reaching out to the United States. What the short film wants to convey is that Budapest is like the spice of Europe, where you can get the traditional tourist attractions, a glimpse of a vibrant, colourful lifestyle, abuzz with excitement and creativity.

We want to show the world that Budapest is a city that is strong and proud, full of life, but at the same time, it is safe to walk around at night.

Zoltán Guller emphasised that this film is only the first part of the campaign. They plan at least two other films for later this year to promote the city. Every short film aims to convince a different type of visitor, which is why they will have different styles, and be made by different directors.

The short film – Spice of Europe

The video is about a young couple coming to visit Budapest. The man has fond memories of being in Hungary in the 90s when he was a child, and now he wishes to taste the famous Hungarian goulash again. They step off the plane and find themselves on the stage of the Palace of Arts (Művészetek palotája), then in a ruin bar in downtown Budapest, later they visit a local market with fresh foods. The couple goes to the Széchenyi thermal bath, the Gellért spa, the Castle Garden Bazaar and the Vasarely museum. They walk along the banks of the River Danube, visit the Parliament, travel on the Millennium Underground Railway, take the tram by the river bank and finally get to taste a typical Hungarian dish, the goulash.

The video shows snippets of Budapest through personal experience, pictures of the most iconic attractions and it presents our culture and nightlife. The message is that Budapest is both authentic with a strong history and innovative and vibrant. The campaign also has some new, creative content, a new logo, and a new web page to share information and entice tourists.

Costs and targeting

The campaign is targeting those cities where most of our tourists come from. The total cost of the project is estimated at 1,3 billion HUF, 65 percent of which will be used for online marketing.

The CNN will play the video more than 800 times, reaching 250 million households.

They are also using Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and Google to spread the short film. Our partners like CNN, Lufthansa and American Airlines will create their own ads, articles and videos about Budapest, in cooperation with us. They are going to direct visitors onto our web page, where the campaign will have other information readily available about Budapest.

Tourists say that in comparison with Prague and Vienna, the Hungarian capital’s uniqueness lies in its lively atmosphere and vibrancy. Which is why the video shows local people on the market or on the tram: Budapest without its people is just a nice city with impressive buildings, but this way they can show the energy and vigour of the capital.

Source: magyaridok.hu