Best of California Digital Campaign
The Situation
According to visitor data, Chinese visitors traveling to San Francisco stay longer and spend more money while in the market compared to all other leisure visitor markets. To increase awareness and grow incremental hotel room nights for San Francisco among potential Chinese visitors, San Francisco Travel needed to create a digital marketing program that formed sponsorships and generated revenue.
The Solution
Based on the insight that Chinese travelers visit 2.5 places in the U.S. per trip, San Francisco Travel Association sought to partner with another destination. Looking within California, San Diego presented itself as an ideal partner due to a lack of awareness beyond the beaches and a lack of air service.
Under the “Best of California” theme, San Francisco Travel and the San Diego Tourism Authority linked the two destinations together under one cohesive theme where visitors started their journey in San Francisco, experiencing it’s breathtaking scenic land spaces, world-class shopping, superb restaurants, and diverse cultures and then made their way south on one of the 55 flights each day to San Diego, where beachside attitude meets big city excitement. The campaign was leveraged even further with co-op participation from Hilton Hotels and Brand USA.
Advertising was distributed on Ctrip, China’s leading online travel agency, and WeChat, utilizing a blend of awareness-building and performance-based booking placements. Users were inspired through engaging landing page content, and custom travel products that packaged airfare and multiple-night hotel stays in each destination.
The Creative
The Results
54.47 million advertising impressions
260,863 clicks (0.48% click-through rate)
50% year-over-year increase in total room nights across both destinations.
$420,000 raised in private revenue