Black Forest tourism sold out its Puma collab sneakers in Tokyo in 48 hours

Inspire a young, international audience — especially in Asia and Japan — to visit the Black Forest beyond the reach of traditional tourism campaigns.

Three limited-edition sneaker models were created with Puma, reflecting the craftsmanship, colours and traditions of the Black Forest. A microsite and social media promoted the designs and the region, and a pop-up store in Tokyo launched the drop.

The Tokyo launch generated global coverage, the sneakers sold out within 48 hours, and the region recorded a 41% rise in bookings. The work took a Silver Award in Design (Any Other) at the ADC*E 2025 edition.

To inspire a young, international audience — especially in Asia and Japan — to visit the Black Forest beyond traditional tourism campaigns, Schwarzwald Tourismus worked with agency Saint Elmo's Germany on a product rather than a poster: three limited-edition sneaker models created in collaboration with Puma, reflecting the craftsmanship, colours and traditions of the Black Forest.

A microsite and social media promoted the designs and the region, and the drop launched with a pop-up store in Tokyo. The launch led to global coverage, the sneakers sold out within 48 hours, and the region recorded a 41% rise in bookings.

The project took a Silver Award in Design (Any Other) at the ADC*E 2025 edition.

Sneaker culture reaches the young international travellers that heritage-tourism ads never touch.

Limited editions borrow hype mechanics — scarcity, drops, queues — for a destination.

Craft, colours and traditions baked into the design make the shoe a souvenir of somewhere its wearer may not yet have been.

Launching in Tokyo aimed the drop exactly where the audience gap was.

A region can wear its identity: turning place codes into a limited product makes tourism marketing collectible instead of ignorable.

The ADC*E 2025 edition awarded the work Silver in Design (Any Other). The project page reports no longer-term visitor or booking figures beyond the 41% rise.