Work

Quito Tourism Board - Destination Marketing Campaign 2016-2017

Newlink became the global agency of record for Quito, Ecuador in May 2016 just after the country was hit by the catastrophic 7.8 magnitude earthquake. With the goal of igniting transformation for a destination that had just been devastated, the agency developed a 20-month program that spanned across nine countries in North America, South America and Europe.

After developing a strategic planning using our proprietary Orbital Strategy methodology, the team of more than 20 professionals planned and executed a comprehensive, integrated destination marketing and communications program to position Quito as a rising world-class city destination in Latin America. A time when main competitors such as Lima, Mexico City, and Bogota were becoming well-established names - Newlink had the opportunity to bring Quito to the forefront, establishing its placement on the global tourism radar.

OBJECTIVEs

• Position the city and its brand “Quito, the City of the Middle of the World” as an attractive destination for North American, South American and European travelers.
• Educate consumers and industry members of Quito’s diverse tourism offering highlighting its culture, gastronomy, history, nature and adventure.
• Position Quito as a metropolitan destination for the meetings, incentive, conventions and events segment.
• Increase interest from industry professionals (travel agents and tour operators) to sell the destination.
• Generate continuous top-tier media coverage for Quito, maximizing exposure to key audiences.

insights

In 1978, Quito became the first city designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site due to it’s impeccable preservation of its Historical Center. Since then, the metropolitan city has made continuous efforts in preserving, enhancing and showcasing it’s visually stunning city that lies between the Andes and volcanoes. Most recently, Quito has made substantial investments to improve its infrastructure and tourism offerings for international tourists. In 2013, the brand new Mariscal Sucre International Airport opened and new airlines have established routes to the destination including Jet Blue and Air Europa. Currently underway is also Ecuador’s first Metro line, part of the city’s Integrated Mass Passenger Transportation System and in 2018, the Quito Metropolitan Convention Center is slated to open.

There has also been an immense focus on positioning the city for meeting and conventions. In 2016, the city hosted 24 important international events, including the United Nations World Conference on Housing and Urban Development, Habitat III; the 10th World Summit of Political Communication; and the 7th Latin American Congress of Tourism Research (CLAIT). These events helped Quito secure the #10 spot in the 2016 ranking of best tourism destinations for South American meetings, according to the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA). The destination maintained the ICCA ranking in 2017.

Transformation

Quito has long been under exposed on the global tourism radar. As Quito’s marketing and communications agency, Newlink successfully implemented a global marketing and communications campaign, as well as a targeted industry relations effort, towards key audiences including both leisure and business travelers, and the trade.

Using Newlink’s Destination Marketing Program, we developed strategic media relations efforts that combined press visits and compelling story angles that achieved media coverage equivalent to more than $12.7 million in advertising value. The top-tier broadcast, print and online media coverage included features in outlets such as CNN en Espanol, Men’s Journal, Calgary Herald, Canadian Travel Press, El Universal (MX), National Geographic (Argentina), O Globo, El Nuevo Siglo (Colombia), Weser Report (Germany), El Pais (Spain) and The Telegraph (UK).

Industry members were also reached through numerous efforts, including curated content, campaigns, virtual and in-person trainings and liaison during participation in tradeshows. Newlink developed and distributed a monthly e-newsletter to a proprietary list of industry members with interesting content to boost sales.

The agency also supported the Tourism Board in the presence of top trade shows around the world such as FITUR (Spain), WTM (U.K.), ITB and IMEX Berlin (Germany), TravelMart Latin America, USTOA and Adventure Travel World Summit, among others. Specialized FAM Trips were also coordinated as well as webinars and in-person trainings in every market.

In total the global team of 20 members executed 80+ media and industry fam trips, trained nearly 500 industry professionals on Quito, supported the participation of Quito Tourism executives in eight tourism trade shows and events, executed 12 cooperative campaigns with renowned companies such as Collette, Best Day, Logitravel, Abercombie & Kent and Cox & Kings. Digital campaigns were also done with Expedia to generate more web traffic to the Quito Tourism Board website.

Over the course of 20 months, Newlink successfully positioned the destination as a must-visit, rising city star of Latin America. Attractions were well showcased including being the city with the best preserved Historic Center, a rising gastronomy and artisanal beer scene, a lively art and entertainment destination, and a nature haven for those who enjoy the outdoors, bird watching and exploration. To culminate the agency’s work, in December 2017, Quito was listed in both Conde Nast Traveler and Fodors as top places to visit in 2018. Additionally, the city was recognized as South America’s Leading Destination by the World Travel Awards (WTA) for the fifth consecutive year and South America's Leading Meetings & Conference Destination for the first time in 2017.

The Team

The Quito Tourism Board account was serviced by a highly experienced team of 20 tourism professionals across the nine markets, who were committed to the success of the destination marketing program. Below is the Account Team that lead the strategy and aligned all members for the success of the destination program.

Teresa Villareal

Senior Vice President

With over 15 years of experience in tourism and industry relations, Teresa was an important strategic consultant who oversaw the successful execution of the destination marketing program for the Quito Tourism Board.

Sabrina Lacle

Senior Account Manager

With more than 10 years of experience as a PR & Communications consultant, Sabrina was the Client lead and served a key role in research, planning and execution of the integrated marketing campaign.

Victoria Hernaiz Valera

Account Executive

As the AE in the account, Victoria managed the strategic media relations served as the day-to-day client contact handling various activities including media relations, industry relations, content development and securing top tier opportunities for the destination.

Lara Henriquez

Account Coordinator

Lara contributed to the development of an effective marketing strategy for the Quito Tourism Board by securing exposure for the destination in trade and mainstream media and assisted with reporting.