UK TV programme, Good Morning Britain, is holding a competition to win a cash prize, giving one viewer the chance to spend it on a trip to Zambia, in order to further promote the county as a preferred tourist destination in the UK.
ITV is using the trip of a lifetime idea to front up a competition, for which viewers can win a cash prize of £250 000, which is fully funded by the broadcaster.
British television presenter, producer and journalist, Andi Peters, currently employed by ITV, conducted a live broadcast in a helicopter over Victoria Falls on Monday (June 25) on Good Morning Britain and Lorraine.
Further episodes are set for Tuesday (June 26), Thursday (June 28) and Friday (June 29), and will showcase everything else Zambia has to offer, including game drives, wildlife sightings, boat cruises and water activities.
Inserts will be appearing over 80 times across the ten days of the campaign on these two programmes, plus the entraining mid-morning show, Loose Women.
Tim Henshall, Chief Executive of Kamageo, a UK-based African destination marketing agency, representing Uganda, Malawi, Zambia and eSwatini (Swaziland), says the competition and live filming was organised by the Kamageo team: “We’ve been able to make a great idea become reality. Seeing Zambia on prime time TV will no doubt increase interest for this amazing destination.”
Kamageo created the ‘Zambia Marketing Group’ (ZMG) in 2017, which sees more than 20 of the country’s leading tourism companies working together, along with the Zambian Tourism Authority, to jointly fund marketing activities in the UK. According to Kamageo, after 12 months, media coverage has increased by 65%, while spontaneous desirability for Zambia amongst UK travellers has improved by 40%.
The UK is the second-biggest source market for Zambia tourism, according to Henshall, hence the launch of ZMG’s first campaign in the country, using the tagline ‘Everyone Falls for Zambia’.
In addition to the TV exposure, Zambia has been present at the largest consumer travel shows in the UK, run advertisements in leading consumer travel magazines and significantly increased trade support, as well as claimed over one million hits for its 3D Victoria Falls artwork, all of which led to a well attended UK trade roadshow.
Henshall adds: “Zambia had bizarrely fallen off the radar, but creative thinking and hard work are paying dividends for this premier destination, which simply needed to shout louder.”
According to Kamageo, almost all Zambia’s major players have shown commitment to the shared cause and, in 2018, ZMG’s membership increased further, with two more safari operators joining.
Henshall explains: “Membership requires companies to put aside their own brands, with the focus almost exclusively on the destination. With no guarantees of specific exposure for any individual member, that’s a major commitment. So we have real admiration for all those who have done so, and with 100% retention, we sense that is a measure of its (ZMG) overall success.”
