Digital ads promoting Saipan, Tinian and Rota are placed in apartment building elevators throughout Seoul, Korea, during Winter 2023.
Digital ads promoting Saipan, Tinian and Rota are placed in 16 subway stations in Seoul, Korea, during Winter 2023.
Anamorphic ads featuring the Marianas are on display in Seoul this month as part of a nationwide media campaign by the Marianas Visitors Authority.
(MVA) — With the goal of increasing awareness of the Marianas and increase airline ticket sales and load factors, the Marianas Visitors Authority is conducted a media blitz nationwide in its primary source market of Korea.
The blitz, commenced three months ago, contributed to 73% recovery of visitor arrivals from Korea in 2023 compared to pre-pandemic levels, including higher than average bookings of the destination late last year. As a result, by mid-December T’way had already sold 98% of their available seats for the month, while Jeju Air had sold 94%.
The nationwide promo emphasizes the unique attractions of Saipan, Tinian, and Rota and utilized various platforms, including ads on popular social media platforms NAVER, Google, Kakao, Skyscanner, and Meta. The outreach resulting in 50 million impressions in the first three months of the campaign and a significant 18% conversion rate as users clicked to enter a sweepstakes for a chance to win a roundtrip ticket from Seoul to Saipan by learning about and voting for their favorite island, “Fantastic Saipan,” “Energetic Tinian,” or “Romantic Rota.”
The campaign also included the placement of digital banners in 16 subway stations and the elevators of apartment buildings in Seoul. In addition, huge anamorphic ads are now running on popular Gangnam Street, hot spot Hongik University Street, and near city hall.
“The ongoing media blitz in Korea is leveraging the most effective promotions our team can conceptualize, and the results have been exceptional,” said MVA Managing Director Christopher A. Concepcion. “We are working strategically under funding through the Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery to maximize our exposure and keep the Marianas top-of-mind for today’s traveler in Korea, especially during these cold winter months.”
The campaign has also focused on promotion of the destination through major social media platforms, search engine optimization, and driving traffic to the official MVA website in Korea. As a result, the website has gained 74,000 new users — 945% higher than last year and 1,511% more visitors than last year.
On going ads through the end of January are encouraging viewers to choose the Marianas as their winter travel destination using enticing destination photos and articles.
