2012 Winners & Shortlists

Results and Effectiveness

18,000 fans with 0$ media budget! Our posts get shared on average 71 times! Despite Egypt's political turmoil and string of violent confrontations the country welcomed 10 million tourists reporting only 33% decrease YOY ( vs.14.8 million tourists in 2010). Tourism has made a partial come-back in the large Red Sea resorts, such as Hurghada and Sharm El-Sheikh. Mounir F.Abdel Nour, minister of tourism said "the year-end figures represented a strong achievement".Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism’s undersecretary Samy Mahmoud "by the end of 2012,we expect between 12 to 13 million tourists. The contribution to the economy will be around $11 bn."

Creative Execution

We decided to ride on the social media wave and engage with people locally and globally to generate and publish positive content about Egypt. “I am Egypt” is a movement for self expression and a stand in solidarity with a nation who showed the courage to stand for freedom and reform in hope of attaining civil democracy and prosperity.“I am Egypt” is for everyone who wants to be part of the rebirth and reform of the new Egypt by contributing & sharing their ideas for the new Egypt or by visiting the country to help bringing it back on the global tourism map. We used Twitter, Facebook , Blogs and Youtube.

Insights, Strategy and the Idea

As a result of the political situation in Egypt post 25th Jan,the country has temporarily come to an economic and touristic halt. Out of all affected economic sectors, tourism suffered the most. On the positive note, there was a growing sense of nationalism and pride among Egyptians –people more than ever wanted to see their country flourish. The objective was to counter the negative effects, manage the brand's (Egypt) reputation, restore trust in Egypt and increase future travel consideration. Egyptians had a strong nationalistic feeling and felt obliged to support their new country.Global audiences were becoming more supportive towards the Egyptian case because of their will to fight corruption and injustice. Many perceive Egyptians as the serious seekers of democracy –therefore progressive and courageous.