Super Bowl Ads From Travel Brands: Carnival, Ecuador and Priceline

Last year travel brands did not advertise during the Super Bowl, but this year three are getting into the action and opening up their wallets wide to reach potential customers during the big game.

Priceline’s long-time pitchman William Shatner returns to his Negotiator character tonight in a new ad from the name-your-own-price booking site. The ad marks the launch of a #knowaguy campaign that includes TV, digital and social elements. A second spot featuring Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting, who makes a brief appearance in the Super Bowl ad, will be released shortly after the big game.

Priceline technically isn’t running a Super Bowl ad, it’s running an ad during the pre-game festivities. Last year, Priceline ran a series of fun recreations on Vine of scenes of the big game using sock puppets, including the fumble and safety that sealed the game in the first 20 seconds.

Cruise giant Carnival is running an ad, although the exact ad it will be running hasn’t been nailed down. CEO Arnold Donald appeared on CNBC on Friday to discuss the ad and what he thinks it will bring to the brand.

Ecuador Tourism is making its own big bet on the game. It’s spending $3.8 million to build on the buzz of it being the next Costa Rica for American travelers.

According to our earlier story from our partners at Yahoo:

Ecuador’s ambassador to the U.S., Nathalie Cely, told Yahoo Travel that U.S. tourism has grown 4 percent a year for the last 10 years, and the country wants to double that over the next five. The country says that if it sees just 1 percent growth in U.S. visitors to Ecuador, it will cover the money spent on the ad.