Travel ads of the week: Colorful festivals and cultural comparisons

The majority of travel ads we see highlight a particular destination or company, but taking a chance and comparing a place to its peers could have a much greater impact.

Only one ad this week takes that chance. Does it stand out among the others? Let us know what you think in the comments.

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For all of our SkiftAds of the Week collection, check out our archives here.

This Indian national ad was created by the tourism board of Maydha Pradesh, a state in the center of India. It takes the colorful powder thrown during the Holi festival and transforms it into the state’s top attractions. It’s a wonderful way to show off the state’s specific sites in the larger context of the Indian culture. The vibrant colors truly come alive to the beat of the Hindu music resulting in a creative inspiring ad.

Ottawa Tourism‘s new ad, A million reasons to visit, is part of its spring tourism campaign. By pairing upbeat music with colorful active image, Ottawa provides a real sense of the city in just 30 seconds.

We’ve also included their crowd-sourced tourism video that first aired last month. The video is a compilation of pictures sent in by Ottawa residents that show the creative, delicious, outgoing, bright, and loving sides of the city. Videos with user-generated content work particularly well for tourism agencies since they show real people engaging and really living the brand of the city that the organization is tasked with promoting.

Etihad owns 29 percent of Air Berlin, has a code-sharing program with the German airline, and most recently bought control of its frequent-flyer program. The strategic partnership has strengthened both airlines’ operations and this video is light-hearted comparison of cultures and the passion for aviation that binds them.

The Peninsula Beijing is part of the Peninsula Moments series that showcase Peninsula employees at work and that particular differences of each property. The Peninsula Moments as a whole focus more on the activities and happenings taking places at each  property than either the architecture or activities taking place in the surrounding cities.

By focusing on the work of employees, Peninsula is sending viewers and potential guests a message that service is their top priority. The hotel group also releases a second video on the making of the short film, which is basically another source of content for the social hotel group.

It’s clear what Hyatt Hotels is attempting in this ad, and it falls just short of success. The monologue could have been cut to about half of its run time and the message would have been better delivered with an image of the hotel actually providing what this distressed traveler needed.