The marketing campaign called “Now vs. Later” conducted by the International Office of the Polish Tourism Organisation in London has been nominated for the TravMedia 2021 Award in the Best Online Campaign category. It was among the top 5 advertising campaigns carried out in the UK by national tourist organisations in 2020. The TravMedia Awards is one of the most prestigious competitions in the tourist industry.

The “Now vs. Later” campaign was carried out between 25 May and 22 June 2020. Its aim was to maintain the interest in travelling to Poland after the first lockdown had been introduced, i.e. when any kind of mobility was not physically possible. POT ran the marketing campaign in social media, using, among others, images posted by actual users. The goal was to promote active tourism. The campaign was based on the British sense of humour and perfectly matched the mood which was prevalent in society at that time.

The ads were created with photos taken by UK residents which were then juxtaposed with the ones from the POT library. This resulted in high-quality creations that yielded nearly 1 million views and an engagement rate of 20 thousand. This was the first campaign run during the first stage of the lockdown by any national tourist organisation operating in the UK.

The winner will be announced at a gala dinner in London on 5 April.

The TravMedia Awards celebrate the best achievements of journalists, influencers and PR professionals in the field of tourism. They set a new standard in recognising projects in each of these sectors. The awards are given out to top talent in 24 categories, including: Travel Writer of the Year, Influencer of the Year and PR Professional of the Year. This year, the awards are also granted in new categories: Exclusive of the Year, Specialist Travel Writer of the Year and Sustainability Writer of the Year (these belong in the journalism section), and the best Digital PR Campaign. It is the last category in which the campaign of the Polish Tourism Organisation was nominated.