Cooperation of cities - mutual promotion under common slogans #CityWillWait #CityIsReady
As city LOTs, we have been cooperating for a long time, but this is the first time we have joined forces so strongly. What is most important in this campaign is the support we give each other, but also the act of solidarity with everyone who finds themselves in this situation. Warsaw as a city has been through a lot over the years and we wanted to remind everyone of its magical power of rebirth with our message and give motivation to others to act.
#CityWillWait is a common slogan under which four metropolitan tourism organizations in Gdańsk, Warsaw, Poznań and Łódź are actively working to counter the negative effects of the crisis caused by the current coronavirus pandemic. Activities under the slogan #CityWillWait focus on promoting cities in the online sphere.
The World Tourism Organization estimates that the global tourism industry could lose between 30 and 50 billion dollars due to the health and economic crisis caused by the SARS-CoV 2 coronavirus pandemic. This tourist earthquake has not spared Poland, which is why four tourism organizations operating in the largest cities (Gdańsk, Warsaw, Poznań, Łódź) have taken joint actions to counteract the effects of the ongoing crisis. One of the initiatives is a joint campaign of four cities, which is implemented through the online channels of tourism organizations (social media and tourist portals) and member entities of individual organizations. The assumption of the campaign activities is to maintain interest in travel among the recipients of websites and fanpages and to invite them to Gdańsk, Warsaw, Poznań and Łódź after the current travel restrictions are lifted. The campaign primarily promotes products and attractions associated with local city tourism organizations, such as museums, cultural institutions, hotels and accommodation facilities, amusement parks, shopping centers, art galleries and events. However, there was also no shortage of incentives to discover cities online using virtual walks, panoramas, city games.
The campaign was launched in mid-March by the Gdańsk Tourist Organisation under the slogan #GdanskWillWait. The initiative and slogan were then extended to other cities. This resulted in organisations in Warsaw, Poznań and Łódź joining the campaign. So far, the four cities have published 56 posts on Facebook and Instagram, which have reached 700,000 recipients. The #CityWillWait campaign is an open formula, which means that the activities can be extended to other Polish cities at any time. The city of Lublin is now joining, and Toruń has also declared its participation.
The campaign is also a kind of promise to tourists that cities will be prepared to host them after the epidemic. The reopening of tourist and catering facilities, as well as museums and cultural institutions in social media will be informed by mentions with the new slogan #CityIsReady. This is the next planned stage of the campaign, aimed at promoting tourist products available again after the restrictions are lifted. The power of the message may be evidenced by the fact that four tourist organizations bring together a total of about 500 entities operating in the tourism industry.
The coronavirus and the related economic crisis are certainly a huge challenge for the Polish tourism industry, perhaps the biggest in the history of Polish tourism. What can we do as residents of Poland to help the industry survive this difficult period? Let's plan this year's holidays within our country. For short, weekend trips, let's choose the offer of Polish cities. Let's add participation in events that will take place in Poland to our travel calendar. In this way, we will help domestic tourism to "bounce back" after the current crisis. After every crisis comes stabilization, and then modernization, development and progress. The period after the epidemic can therefore be an excellent opportunity to rediscover the beauty of our country, including the beauty of Polish cities. For this purpose, as the culmination of the campaign, a series of weekend guides "Safe city break" was created, the Warsaw edition of which can be downloaded here. It contains suggestions of tourist attractions and cultural institutions associated with WOT that are worth visiting during a short stay in the capital, as well as a handful of practical information – including links to member restaurants and accommodation facilities.
More details on the websites of individual tourist organizations:
#GdanskWillWait
www.facebook.com/visitgdansk.official
www.instagram.com/visit_gdansk_official
#WarsawWillWait
www.facebook.com/WarszawskaOrganizacjaTurystyczna
#PoznWillWait
www.facebook.com/Poznan.travel
www.instagram.com/poznan.travel
#LodźWillWait
Open graphic materials are available for use by WOT members after logging in to member zone in the "Tools" tab
The key to the campaign is cooperation, both locally, with the tourism industry, which is going through a crisis, but also with other cities. #WeWillWait is not only an image campaign, but also a pretext for exchanging experiences, as well as initiating joint activities in the future. Finally, it is the way in which we communicate new dates of postponed conferences and congresses today, which is well received by organizers and participants, because in this difficult time it gives hope for a return to enjoying meetings.