Travel adverts ‘too simplistic’

THE multiples need to raise their game in TV advertising to appeal to a sophisticated public, according to ABTA president John Harding.

Adverts from travel agents appealed to the “lowest common denominator” and were “too simplistic” in their approach claimed Harding, who was one of a panel of judges at the Chartered Institute of Marketing Travel Industry Group Television Advertising Showcase. “The public are more sophisticated,” he said.

Agent campaigns shown included the Lunn Poly ‘getaway’ advert which was dismissed as bland and too complicated by the panel, which included senior advertising and marketing executives.

Going Places’ ‘clever booker’ campaign could have been an advert for Ebookers, according to EasyJet marketing director David Magliano and was also dismissed as bland by Tiger Savage, head of art at London-based advertising agency M and C Saatchi.

Harding also criticised the new British Tourist Authority’s Enjoy England campaign which features a range of people arguing about which type of holiday was best in the country.

“The advert is a caricature of English regionalism,” he said. “The message that came across was that no-one was agreeing with each other, which makes you think ‘don’t bother’,” he said.

An advert from the Jamaica Tourist Board was singled out for praise by Harding for including details of operators Virgin Holidays, Thomson and Kuoni and advising viewers to contact a travel agent. “Tourist offices often present tremendous images and then leave people in the air about where to go next,” he said. Using premium rate numbers for tourist offices was another bad habit which should be addressed, he added.

The British Airways’ flatbed campaign – featuring a man going to sleep in New York’s Times Square and waking in London’s Piccadilly Circus  – was voted the overall best advert by the panel.