Kerala, Gujarat tourism promos target different segments: Piyush Pandey

NEW DELHI - Two promotion campaigns capturing the spiritual essence of Kerala and the vibrant colours of Gujarat are proving to be major draws for footloose itinerants worldwide for whom India has become one of the top 10 tourism destinations.

The campaigns, both high-profile, target different tourist segments, ad film-maker Piyush Pandey of Ogilvy & Mathar, the man who designed the capsule for Gujarat, told IANS on phone from Mumbai.

While Your Moment is Waiting, a three-minute capsule on Kerala, targets the high-ticket visitors, Khushboo Gujarat ki featuring Bollywood icon Amitabh Bachchan is promoting the state for beginners, Pandey said.

Conceived by Stark Communication, Your Moment is Waiting has been directed by Prakash Varma of the Vodafone ZooZoo fame. The movie was the first visual campaign from India to premiere in London at a social do graced by the glitterati.

Kerala is an evolved state and attracts foreign tourists. It had to adopt a new strategy to woo big-ticket tourists. Showing the regular green Kerala would not have helped, they have done it enough. The film had to capture the mental experience in a shift of things, Pandey said.

It is one of the most fabulous movies made conceptually, he said.

The Gujarat movie on the other hand cuts across segments, Pandey said.

We required a celebrity to promote Gujarat as this is the first time the state is promoting itself as a tourist destination with a movie, he said.

Big B visited places like Somnath, Rann of Kutch, Dwarka and Gandhinagar, Pandey said.

Tourism promo films hawking India as a global destination shot to the centre stage last year when an Incredible India campaign, Atithi Devo Bhava featuring Aamir Khan bagged an international award in Vienna in 2009.

I don’t think there is any new pattern in tourism promotion campaigns. Anything that is visually appealing influences people, Pandey said.