Shifting perceptions and generating interest in Qatar as a holiday destination in the lead up to the world cup

The 2022 world cup in Qatar generated a lot of media coverage of both the handling of the competition by FIFA, and also in the city state as a potential holiday spot. Travel Republic wanted to drive more awareness of Qatar as a desirable destination and shift the somewhat limited perception that people at home may have had of the region.

Platform 195 were tasked with developing a campaign to highlight the many different types of activities available to visitors in Qatar, so we developed a competition that centred around a custom itinerary planner. Users could put their interests and number of travellers into the planner and receive a personalised output of activities for a stay in Qatar. The prize? A 5-star stay at Banana Island Resort in Doha.

To promote the competition and generate engagement we developed a robust four-phase strategy, plus a set of 30 creative assets showcasing the best of the region to build hype, launch the competition, provide information and inspiration and create urgency as the competition ended. We leveraged a combination of posts, stories and reels across the main social media platforms to maximise engagement, drive reach and attract new followers.

All promotional activities linked through to the personal itinerary generator for deeper destination engagement, data capture and lead-gen. Working with a budget of less than £10,000 for the entire campaign we were able to drive significant interest in the competition, contributing to a 6% increase in followers for Travel Republic and educating thousands of people about the wide variety of activities on offer in Qatar.

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