To counter the economic impact of COVID-19, Iceland’s government has hired two advertising agencies to create a campaign promoting the country as a travel destination. The country will invest ISK 1.5 billion ($10.3 million/€9.5 million) towards the initiative. Iceland’s Prime Minister announced yesterday that the country would reopen its borders no later than June 15 and provide coronavirus tests to arriving travellers.
The campaign is titled “Ísland – saman í sókn,” loosely translated as “Iceland – onward together.” According to a notice on Promote Iceland’s website, the aim of the campaign is to “strengthen Iceland’s image, increase demand, and maintain Icelandic tourism’s competitiveness” in select foreign markets.
A team of two advertising agencies, the UK-based international M&C Saatchi and Icelandic agency Peel presented the winning bid for the project. Notably, M&C Saatchi made headlines last year due to an accounting scandal that led to the resignation of four executives at the company, as reported by mbl.is. Fifteen bids were received for the project, which was advertised across the European Economic Area.
