Sustainability is officially “in”

Booking.com, a leading global online travel company, has been conducting extensive research on sustainability in the travel industry and actively inspiring travelers and renters to make sustainable choices since 2015. In this year’s campaign, we have successfully highlighted this important topic to Croatian media through various themes and formats.

The beginning: the most pressing dilemma

The campaign has focused on, among other things, a very current topic – how economic uncertainty affects decisions regarding sustainable travel. We presented the initial research results through a press release titled “Cost versus Conscience: Booking.com tackles the dilemma burdening sustainable travel in 2023.” The research revealed that over three-quarters of travelers desire more sustainable travel options, and the fact that 18 media publications have published it confirms this. The timing of the campaign was crucial, which is why we introduced the first topic from the research in April, during the week of Earth Day and coinciding with a virtual media roundtable featuring Danielle D’Silva, Sustainability Manager at Booking.com.

Everything is green in Zagorje

For travelers from Croatia, who believe that they need to take action and make sustainable choices to preserve the planet for future generations, sustainable travel is their top priority. Therefore, we have presented the local research results in a local and sustainable manner. With the arrival of sunny weather in May, we invited journalists on a one-day press trip to Zagorje. The enjoyable gathering included familiarizing them with sustainable accommodations in the Krapina area and a lecture by Tihana Veljačić from the platforms Ditch Plastic Croatia and The Green Hub. Maja Vikario, the regional manager of Booking.com, presented the local report findings on sustainability. One media outlet that was particularly interested in the findings was tportal, which published an exclusive interview with Ms. Vikario.

Be relevant and authentic

We further enhanced the campaign with appealing supplementary materials – a press release and accompanying visuals showcasing the most popular sustainable destinations worldwide. Domestic media covered the press release with a total of 46 publications, which is an excellent result even beyond the local scope.

Let’s not forget that campaigns are most successful when the values we communicate align with the brand’s values. Booking.com’s desire is to enable all travelers to explore the world in a more sustainable way, and as we ourselves strive for sustainable business practices, everything fell into place, and the results were not lacking.