Tourism

Tourism campaign “O Norte Lá em Cima”: second phase will address foreign tourists

  • Dulce Pereira Abrantes

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Miguel Nogueira

Porto Tourism Association (ATP) and Tourism of Porto and Northern Portugal (TPNP) launch a joint campaign with the goal of promoting Porto, Douro, Minho and Trás-os-Montes, as memorable tourism destinations in the country, among foreign tourists, to show the relevance of connecting to Porto and the Northern Region on a deeper level.

In life, as in art, there are some places that add new meaning to the expression “must-visit places”, and one of such places is Porto and the Northern Region of Portugal.

Porto Tourism Association (ATP) and Tourism of Porto and Northern Portugal (TPNP) launched a joint campaign with the goal of promoting Porto, Douro, Minho and Trás-os-Montes, as memorable tourism destinations in the country, during the pandemic first months, and the campaign was targeted at national tourists. The second phase of this initiative is to share it alike with foreign tourists, to show the relevance of connecting to the Northern Region on a deeper level.

The motto is quite telling: “Lá em Cima” [“Up There”, free translation], both evoking the geographic location of the city of Porto and the Northern Region in the country’s landscape, and raising awareness on where to look for unique and genuine life experiences tourism wise, in Portugal and in Europe.

Tourists from Spain, Germany, France, Belgium, Holland and the United Kingdom are the potential target tourists of this initiative that not only marks a step in the cooperation between both entities, but also returns to promoting the national market, namely the entire Northern Region, as a preferred tourist destination of choice.

“Now is the time to think about the “Day-after” in the framework of this pandemic. We are aware that there are still significant constraints and that we will all have to live under certain restrictions for some time, but we also know that if we prepare in advance, the better it will turn out”, Luís Pedro Martins affirmed , cited by the Pporto. platform.

The “O Norte está lá em cima” campaign will rely heavily on digital advertising strategies and will last for three months; it will be available in Spanish, English and in French. Visitors will be able to interact in real time in a live chat and in a customised way, suggestions and activities will be provided and it will be possible to make reservations, as in the first phase of this campaign, where users can access a live chat to experience suggestions on a given destination or activities, or even to relive tourism experiences, in real time display and in a personalised way.

The campaign officially launched on 8th July 2020, at the Porto Palácio Hotel, where the Mayor of Porto, Rui Moreira emphasized the quick deployment of such “ambitious project”. This investment amounts to between 60 and 70 thousand euros, and the campaign is set in a strong digital bet, as is the case of the webpage "O Norte lá em cima", [North Up There”, free translation].

This campaign, launched in July 2020, by the Porto Tourism Association (ATP) and the Tourism of Porto and Northern Portugal (TPNP), was granted awards in three categories of the Prémios Lusófonos da Criatividade (Lusophone Creativity Awards, free translation]: a Silver award for the copy, in the Production Category, and two Bronze awards in the Digital Category, for the efficacy, both for the digital campaign and the web video.

Following this second phase, a third phase in on the pipeline, and it will happen when tourists regain confidence to travel and as soon as flight connections resume routes, namely long distance flights. The goal is that tourists from the other side of the Atlantic, namely from Brazil, The United States and Canada, become aware of the harmony and the “it-really-has-it-hall” that defines Porto and the entire Northern Region of Portugal.

In addition, several promotional videos will be released to stimulate tourism areas in the region. The invitation is addressed to foreign tourists, this time, who have a great opportunity to (re)discover the vast territory in the Northern area of Portugal, the only one to have been granted 5 thousand "Clean & Safe" certification labels regarding restaurants and tourism establishments.

The “Lá em Cima” campaign features "City & Short Breaks", the “Gastronomy and Wine Tourism”, “Health and Well Being”, "Religious Tourism", “Cultural and Landscape Tourism”, and "Nautical", just to mention a few. And yes, it is as good as it sounds!