Some of the Funniest Tourism Campaigns from Past and Present

Recently we stumbled upon a commercial for Berlin City tourism. The video promoting the German capital has a young Indian fellow at the heart of it. Fresh off the dock, strictly in a manner of speaking, with the expression of a boy on Christmas morning the traveler trapezes around Berlin armed with a compact camera and enough enthusiasm to launch a thousand clicks.
Through his lens, this trigger happy tourist happens to spot a young maiden perched on a Berlin bridge. Too distracted by this picture of Teutonic perfection the man crashes into a cycletaxi and drops his passport. But as preoccupied as he is he fails to notice the loss. And he loses both, passport and lady. After a long journey across the metropolis, with helpful Berliners to guide him, he finds the Indian embassy. Alas, the embassy is closed. By now our young traveler has the expression of a boy on Christmas morning with no presents. But just when all hope is lost the young maiden reappears with the passport once thought lost forever and rescues the one in peril. And they lived happily ever after....or at least till his visa ran out. Berlin 'The Place To Be' is the line this commercial ends with.Now we aren't quite sure who Berlin's tourism board wants to invite to their fair city. Perhaps young 20-something Indians with their marriage bios all raging to go or is finding love under the Brandenburg Gate simply one of the unexpected perks when you visit Berlin, be it for business or leisure?While some tourism campaigns are funny not by design but rather a delightful coincidence, where lack in judgment meets lack of originality, there are a handful of others that are meant to be amusing. Here are some of the funniest, intentional or not, tourism campaigns from past and present.KeralaYour Moment Is Waiting Kerala hardly needs any introduction for the international traveler. It is in fact one the best branded states in the country and has been exceedingly successful at it for a while. But this campaign by Kerala Tourism had the potential to scare away prospective travellers not familiar with God's Own Country. Or maybe draw in the micro segment whose lifelong ambition is to have their lives directed by Mulholland Driveera David Lynch. Sure it's unlike any travel campaign we've ever seen, but that's not necessarily a good thing.Scattered among breathtaking images is some very disturbing footage. A woman meets her doppelganger on several occasions, seems afflicted by an unshakeable lassitude (except for the brief moment when she's channelling her inner Exorcist) and encounters a man with a painted face and silver eyes who furiously whispers in her ear. More art, less campaign.
RomaniaWhy Don't You Come OverNot only does Romania have the most beautiful road according to a top rated British auto show and better English than anywhere in France but half of its women look like the Duchess of Cambridge and the other half like her sister Pippa Middleton. And as if that wasn't enough to attract the British, who are particular disturbed by the influx of Romanian immigrants to their own rich land, the Romania tourism campaign was kind enough to point out that Romanian beer is cheaper than English bottled water and there are no naked Harrys to worry about.Furthermore, Prince Charles himself is a fan. Not only does the British monarch's eldest son own property in Transylvania (no where near Dracula's crib, of course) but he can trace his line back to Vlad The Impaler, the 15th century nobleman who was the inspiration for Bram Stoker's Dracula. Romania's cheeky advertising definitely has bite and two very sharp cuspids.AustraliaSo where the bloody hell are you?
The barbie may be all fired up down under. But clearly not everybody thinks that's reason enough for careless language in a global campaign. So the UK banned it and Singapore scratched out "bloody hell".Dear Tourism Australia, don't you worry though. We'll get there in time, before the beer goes warm, before your fetching lifeguards leave their posts, before the sun goes down on Bondi and before the shrimp goes cold.
Banff (Canada)
Crasher Squirrel
This is the story of a freak picture that led to travel campaign. A couple on vacation in Banff set up their camera to take a picture. Just before the automatic click goes off a local squirrel appears in front it to make this picture priceless and gives Banff country its very own tourismmascot. Soon all their tourism material featured the squirrel who is very fond of crashing unsuspecting tourists' photo moments. Beware the photobomber squirrel.
Israel
Size Doesn't MatterIt's an awkward moment when two people lie in bed in different states of undress and the woman tells the man "It's small. I don't think I can go there." But 'Israel Small Country, Big Paradise', reads the tag line to this campaign. Shalom Source: http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2013-02-20/news/37200194_1_kerala-tourism-traveller-tourism-campaigns