Watch The New Tourism NS Video Designed To Inspire Your Staycation
HALIFAX – The advertisement opens by showing a beautiful lush forest, being viewed by a family of hikers. Over the gentle strum of an acoustic guitar, a woman sings the classic “Somewhere over the Rainbow,” as the scene shifts to a girl on a Nova Scotian beach, throwing a ball in the air that is caught by her excited dog. During the 60-second ad, we also see a couple holding hands, people biking, camping and whale watching, all while the iconic song plays.
The video, which was launched Thursday by Tourism Nova Scotia, is aimed at residents in the province, rather than some far off tourists. With Covid-19 restricting travel across the world, the tourism industry is aiming at locals having a staycation. With that in mind, the ad hits all the right notes. The scenes, along with the emotional song, gives off a sense of nostalgia, but also a hint of adventure.
“What you’re going to see on TV is a variety of travel-motivating and inspirational images,” says Joann Fitzgerald, Chief Marketing Officer for Tourism NS.
“’Somewhere over the Rainbow’ helps us drive that evocative emotional response that we want from people. We want people to connect emotionally and connect to that pride and love for the province. The lynchpin to that ad for Nova Scotia is that song.”
At the end of the video the tagline, “Rediscover Nova Scotia” appears. That’s exactly what the tourism industry is hoping for: that people will want to go out and rediscover something familiar, or experience something completely new.
“Within the Maritimes … everybody has their favourite part of Nova Scotia and they know that they love,” said Anna Moran, Director of Research & Policy at Tourism NS.
“We also know that Nova Scotia as a wealth of activities. So, there is no one place, one thing, one activity that is defining Nova Scotia for everybody.”
The $1.5-million campaign will be broadcast on tv, digital platforms, billboards, and radio across the province. A goal of the marketing will be highlighting the incredible variety of things to do in Nova Scotia, in both the rural and urban areas.
“We work really hard to make sure we’re demonstrating, not just the plethora of activities and experience, but the places you can visit as well,” said Fitzgerald.
“We tried to make sure we capture something from across the province. You’ll see the ads and the billboards throughout Nova Scotia, but we also balance that against the research that indicates what’s travel motivating for Nova Scotians.”
The tourism sector has been one of the hardest-hit industries in Nova Scotia due to the pandemic. With that in mind, Tourism NS is hoping people will stay as long as possible on their staycation because every extra day will make a huge difference.
“Every single aspect of the tourism industry in Nova Scotia has been impacted by Covid-19, particularly the accommodation sector…If we can get somebody to spend just an extra night in Nova Scotia, that’s going to have a positive impact on the sector” said Moran.
Now that the Atlantic Bubble has been announced, Tourism NS is getting ready to launch a $1-million marketing campaign on July 3 aimed at Atlantic Canada, using the tagline Nova Scotia: We’re Open. Tourism NS CEO Michele Saran says the bubble will be vital for the province’s tourism industry this summer.
“We’re very excited about that. This bubble is a great thing for Nova Scotia and the entire region,” she said. “We don’t have access for the markets we’re usually in like the USA and overseas. So, this is giving us a pool we can pull from to make 2020 as good a year as we possibly can for our suffering operators in the tourism industry.”