One outcome from the Youth Tourism Conference, which the Embassy hosted in Athens in February, was an in-resort publicity campaign launched across Greece during this summer season.
This specifically targeted the youth resorts of Kavos (Corfu), Malia (Crete), Faliraki (Rhodes), Laganas (Zakynthos), Kardamena (Kos) and where some of our most serious consular problems and accidents take place.
There were several parts to the campaign. The first and most crucial part was what sort of products to distribute. No point in handing out anything too stuffy that would just get ditched immediately. We needed something that would catch the eye – either in a fun way, or in the case of postcards warning about the dangers of rape on holiday, in a shocking way. So working with the Press and Public Affairs team in Athens and Consular Directorate we came up with a range of posters, beer mats, spikeys (to be put in bottles to avoid drink spiking) and rape postcards to get the message across to the target audience.
It was important to ensure maximum impact so as many of the youth tourists came across these materials as possible. The co-operation of the local authorities was vital; we would be giving out information on how to stay safe on holiday and it was important that the local mayors and police were aware of what we were doing and also that they were fully supportive. Having attended the YTC, they were on board with the idea and keen to pass the message on for full co-operation from the local bar and accommodation owners.
Distribution was another key area – again, there was no point if we didn’t get our stuff to the people who needed to see it. We hired local distributors around the same age as our target audience and they have been hitting the strips throughout the week. We have ensured they are fully aware of the reasoning behind the campaign and are able to answer any further queries from the tourists. Tour operators were also on-board and gave out spikeys to their customers. They also distributed the beer mats and posters around their accommodation and any bars they co-operate with.
In Crete, even the taxi drivers were involved and gave out beer mats to British customers.
The reaction has been positive. The locals are pleased we are proactively trying to reduce the number of incidents in conjunction with the tour operators. The tourists are being targeted from different directions and the seed of thought that they need to take more care on holiday has definitely been planted.
Posted at 10:09 29 August 2008 by Sarah Ticherou | Comments[2]
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