The victims behind these cries for help are not whom you'd expect

When the COVID-19 pandemic caused travel bans across the globe, economies that rely on tourism nose-dived. Destinations like the Philippines, Portugal and Greece experienced between 70 and 85% drops in yearly visitors from 2019 to 2020. Thailand lost more than $13 billion to its lack of tourism and 198,000 lost tourism-related jobs in Puerto Rico. Many countries still haven’t recovered according to a report from Next Vacay, a travel site that helps travelers pinpoint best prices for airline tickets. Basically, those countries are in need of serious help, so this new campaign from the brand spells it out clearly, as "S.O.S." and "help" messages carved into the sandy shores of once-popular tourist spots. Next Vacay and agency Rise at Seven partnered with locals and tourism boards from countries like Macau, Cyprus, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Mauritius, Portugal, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and Greece to create the campaign. The tagline “a great deal for you, means a great deal for them” appears across the campaign’s video, OOH and print assets. “What we have seen over the course of the pandemic is how reliant many countries’ economies are on the tourism industry, and how important it is that we support these communities once restrictions ease and we are able to book flights,” said Naveen Dittakavi, founder and CEO of Next Vacay, in a statement. “When some of the world’s top tourist destinations such as Thailand are seeing visitor numbers decline by 2.5 million below the monthly average, it is really concerning. It’s important that we support these communities to help them recover from such a huge economic loss.” The accompanying video ad plays like a horror movie trailer. What starts as a typical travel spot with cheery music and images of white beaches, blue oceans and happy vacationers quickly turns sinister. “Then COVID-19 struck,” says bold text as the soundtrack shifts to an eerie pulse. Empty beaches and barren tourist towns are cut into clips of former president Trump delivering news of the travel ban, headline clippings and deserted airports. “Now the locals are asking for help,” the ad continues as the “SOS” drone footage appears.

The victims behind these cries for help are not whom you'd expect

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