In 2020, Canada, like many countries around the world, decided to close its borders due to the pandemic. Tourists everywhere had to give up on their dream vacation to a far-off destination and instead choose an alternative closer to home.

Québec City, a top destination visited by 4.6 million international tourists each year, had to attract for the first time a niche clientele from local markets if it was to fill some of the void. The target group, however, was a challenging segment to win over in a pandemic context given that, for them, taking a break from their daily routine meant getting away to an idealized faraway location. They were frustrated and confused by travel restrictions. They were concerned about health measures. Some may have been hit financially by the pandemic. And they had most likely already visited the city.

The agency had to successfully sell the city as a sought-after, attractive international destination while reminding the target it was geographically and financially accessible. In other words, they had to work around the perception that exists in the world of travel that the more accessible something is the less desirable it is.

By definition, desire arises out of not having something and increases with the difficulty of obtaining it. Accessibility, on the other hand, refers to ease of access. In the tourism industry, when selecting destinations, these notions often don’t mix well. People tend to fantasize about remote, exotic destinations.

To reconcile these notions, they had to draw inspiration from the use of social networks in the travel context. Ordinary people typically share vacation experiences on social media in order to have the extraordinary nature of these moments validated by their peers.

The “Enjoy Québec City while they can’t” concept hinges on this insight: realizing how envious others are makes us conscious of the fact that we have something special that others don’t.

“Enjoy Québec City while they can’t” is an invitation for locals to see Québec City through the eyes of disappointed foreigners who had to cancel their trip. By turning the viewpoint around, locals realized just how lucky they are to have this incredible destination in their own backyard.

Testimonials by tourists from 10 countries were captured in a 3-minute documentary video. Speaking in their own language, these tourists share their disappointment, the amazing attractions they were about to discover and then urge Quebecers to take advantage of what they couldn’t.

Requiring 10 foreign film crews, who were managed remotely due to the pandemic, the “Enjoy Québec City while they still can’t” initiative was produced and deployed in three weeks to the general public. A true tour de force involving multidisciplinary partner teams.

15- and 30-second ads were produced and broadcast on TV and the Web (on social platforms such as YouTube, Facebook and Instagram, and other Québec media platforms with wide reach). All of the assets redirected local viewers to the Québec City Tourism website to begin the planning stage.

Positioning Québec City as a top international destination to attract local customers?
“Mission accomplished,” according to the local press.

The campaign generated more than 75 million views, with one-third of viewers watching the video to the end. Over 1 million pages of content were viewed on the website. During and after the broadcast period, thanks exclusively to the local segment, Québec City experienced a 40% increase in searches related to the destination (vs. 2020), according to Google Canada Trends. They enjoyed a 65% jump in hotel bookings (vs. ROC), and doubled their occupancy rate vs. previous year. They recorded a 41% increase in length of stay, with an average of 2.4 nights booked per visit. They also saw a 199% increase in conversions to partner sites.