Ecuador Ministry of Transport: Blind Trip
The Ecuador Ministry of Tourism faced the challenge of affluent citizens consistently choosing international vacations over local options. They aimed to persuade Ecuadorian travelers, who typically vacationed abroad, to discover and appreciate their own country's stunning destinations, thereby boosting domestic tourism and national pride.
Creative Idea
They tricked travelers into experiencing Ecuador's beauty, believing they were abroad.
Ecuador's Ministry of Tourism tricked citizens who only vacationed abroad into a "blind trip" to a fake Costa Rican destination. After a simulated international flight, passengers landed in a stunning local Ecuadorian spot, revealing hidden domestic beauty and proving paradise was at home.
The Fake Flight That Fooled a Nation
The Tech Behind the Illusion
To pull off the deception, Maruri Grey and Maruri Productions had to manipulate the travelers' digital reality. The production team utilized a location-based broadcaster to scramble mobile signals, forcing smartphones to display Costa Rican network providers and the local time in San José upon landing. To ensure the "international" flight felt authentic, passengers were kept in a windowless cabin during the short domestic hop to Jumandy Airport in Tena, preventing them from recognizing the Ecuadorian landscape from the air.
Transforming the Amazon into Costa Rica
The physical production required a total overhaul of local infrastructure. The small airport was redecorated with Costa Rican flags and branding, while road signs were repainted and local buses were wrapped in "Golfito" livery. Eduardo Maruri, CCO of Maruri Grey, noted that the goal was to prove the paradise travelers sought thousands of miles away was actually in their own backyard. The choice of "Golfito" was strategic; while it is a real place in Costa Rica, the agency "invented" a luxury version of it specifically to lure the high-end target audience.
National Pride and Sold Out Seasons
The activation served as a sequel to Ecuador’s 2015 Super Bowl ad - the first time a foreign country bought a Super Bowl spot for tourism. The "Blind Trip" achieved over 19 million impressions and sparked a massive shift in consumer behavior. By the following tourism season, trips to the featured Ecuadorian locations were completely sold out. This domestic push contributed to a 14% increase in tourism revenue, totaling $1.5 billion for the Ministry of Tourism.
Creative Strategy Deconstructed
Company
Ecuador Ministry of Tourism could credibly promote domestic travel, possessing stunning, yet overlooked, local destinations.
Category
The tourism category often glamorized exotic international destinations, making domestic travel seem less appealing or prestigious to locals.
Customer
Ecuadorian travelers sought exotic, high-status vacation experiences, believing these were only found abroad, thus overlooking their own country's beauty.
Culture
A cultural aspiration for international travel and its perceived prestige made locals overlook the beauty and value of domestic destinations.
Company
Ecuador Ministry of Tourism could credibly promote domestic travel, possessing stunning, yet overlooked, local destinations.
Category
The tourism category often glamorized exotic international destinations, making domestic travel seem less appealing or prestigious to locals.
Strategy:
Reframe domestic travel as exotic and prestigious by proving Ecuador's hidden gems rival international destinations.
Customer
Ecuadorian travelers sought exotic, high-status vacation experiences, believing these were only found abroad, thus overlooking their own country's beauty.
Culture
A cultural aspiration for international travel and its perceived prestige made locals overlook the beauty and value of domestic destinations.
Strategy:
Reframe domestic travel as exotic and prestigious by proving Ecuador's hidden gems rival international destinations.
Results
The campaign generated 19 million media impressions and achieved 1480 media placements globally. Following the campaign, plane tickets to main domestic tourism destinations in Ecuador were sold out for the next holiday.
19M
media impressions
1480
media placements
Sold out
domestic tourism plane tickets
Strategy Technique
Flip the Conventional Wisdom
The campaign directly challenged the common belief that only international travel offered exotic experiences. By revealing local beauty as "abroad," it flipped the perception that paradise must be far away.
Explore Technique
Creative Technique
Prank
The campaign deliberately tricked travelers into believing they were going abroad. This prank created a powerful, surprising reveal of Ecuador's domestic beauty, challenging their preconceived notions.
Explore Technique
Craft Breakdown
This campaign's craft is exceptional due to the meticulous and comprehensive production design that orchestrated an immersive, believable illusion, flawlessly supported by astute art direction and clever digital manipulation.
The physical transformation of a real Ecuadorian airport and a bus into a convincing 'Costa Rican' environment, along with the detailed staging of the entire trip, was executed with astonishing precision to create a believable false reality.
The consistent visual identity and branding applied to all fabricated elements—from custom migration stamps, forms, and souvenirs to road signs and billboards—ensured the illusion's authenticity and cohesion.
The ingenious manipulation of mobile phone signals and other digital elements to reinforce the 'international' experience added a crucial layer of modern authenticity, making the deception truly immersive.
The audacious and brilliant concept of creating such an elaborate, multi-sensory deception to highlight the beauty of domestic tourism required profound strategic and creative thought to orchestrate and execute.
The campaign's success is a direct result of the seamless synergy between the physical creation of the environment, the consistent visual branding, and the subtle digital trickery, all combining to create an unparalleled immersive experience.
