Best Travel Ads This Week: Destinations From Fantasy to Fact

Every week we post our five favorite travel ads of the week to track the changes and trends in travel marketing worldwide. This week features three countries, one city, and one airline.

FOR A LIST OF THE 13 MOST VIRAL TRAVEL ADS OF 2013, CLICK HERE.

Many people would have difficulty citing Scotland of the home of the amazing scenery featured in Visit Scotland‘s newest video. The focus is entirely on the outdoors but spans from castles to city centers. The video’s title You Are Welcome sounds like “you’re welcome to visit” as much as a response to someone saying thank you to the country for being so beautiful.

Tourism New Zealand continues to marry the fantastical and reality in its destination marketing. New Zealand captured the imagination of travelers worldwide after serving as the backdrop of the Lord of Rings trilogy. Here, New Zealand again paints the island with a mystical history and storybook-like present that’s accessible to anyone who visits.

Canada Travel wants to show the Internet how exciting a trip to its vast country can be by following four winners from the UK of a KLM contest on a “Canada Road Trip Adventure.” The video does a good job of highlighting several activities available while also making time for quiet moments representing peace and relaxation. The background music features Canadian indie pop band Library Voices.

Visit London‘s series “The London Story” features sites and the locals associated with them throughout the city. This clip tells the story of the art installments that surround each of the newest London buildings, why they’re there, and the woman who helped make it happen.

Airlines worldwide are reworking safety videos to make them more fun, or at least bearable, for passengers. Australian carrier Qantas is the latest airline to spruce up its safety video. It focuses on style and puts its new uniforms front of center in video.

However, the video lacks any creativity past that self-interested plug making it no more attractive than other airline’s outdated video.