The archive · Marketing & Growth · Marketing decision · 2024–2026
'Humanimal Tourism' makes migrating wildlife Colombia's travel agents — Effie US Silver
Real-time migration data turns animals' arrivals into flight-deal triggers for travelers in 30 markets — Colombia's first Effie in the US.
ProColombia · DDB Colombia
What it had to solve
In 2023 the Colombian government launched a new national narrative, 'El País de la Belleza' (The Country of Beauty), making tourism a core economic driver. The country is the second most biodiverse on Earth yet ranks only about 50th in world tourism, and many of its most beautiful regions stayed invisible after decades of conflict. ProColombia's brief to DDB Colombia was to increase international arrivals by showcasing those hidden natural wonders and to let the country's renewed identity be told through nature itself.
How it works
Colombia is the second most biodiverse country on Earth, yet it ranked only about 50th in world tourism — its most beautiful regions overshadowed by decades of conflict. In 2023 the government launched 'El País de la Belleza' (The Country of Beauty) to make tourism an economic driver, and gave promotion agency ProColombia the job of inviting the world to its hidden natural wonders.
DDB Colombia's Humanimal Tourism answered with a question: every year more than 500 migratory species choose Colombia, so what do animals know that we don't? The campaign turned real-time migration data into a media system — when whales, birds or turtles arrived in a region, personalized messages and online travel-agency promotions went live for nature lovers, wellness seekers and conscious families in priority markets such as the US, Spain and Brazil. The animals 'spoke' as guides in more than five languages, and promotions paused once a destination hit sustainable visitor capacity.
The results were concrete: 66,175 new travelers booked flights to Colombia during the campaign window, up 64% year on year, with $89.6M in projected economic impact, $42M in earned press and 380M impressions across 30 markets. The work then became a trophy shelf for Colombian tourism — Gold in Creative Strategy and Bronze in Creative Data at Cannes Lions 2025, silvers at Effie Awards Colombia 2025, and at the May 27, 2026 gala a Silver Effie US in Performance Marketing / Digital, Colombia's first Effie in the United States.
Why it lands
- The animals are an unanswerable witness: a country can claim beauty, but whales and turtles choosing Colombia is evidence no ad can dispute.
- Migration data made the media plan itself — each animal arrival triggered personalized flight deals at the moment nature interest peaks, instead of running one static campaign.
- Flipping the pitch to 'follow what nature already chose' gave overlooked regions a reason to be visited instead of fighting for attention against the country's famous icons.
- The sustainability switch — pausing promotions when destinations reached capacity — let the campaign scale without the usual eco-tourism backlash.
What it did
The campaign window produced 66,175 new travelers booking flights to Colombia — a 64% increase versus the same period a year earlier — with $89.6M in projected economic impact from confirmed bookings, $42M in free press across more than 100 organic features, 30 international markets reached and 380M impressions. Awards followed in tiers: Gold in Creative Strategy and Bronze in Creative Data at Cannes Lions 2025, silvers at Effie Awards Colombia 2025, and at the Effie US gala in New York on May 27, 2026, a Silver in Performance Marketing / Digital — Colombia's first Effie in the United States.
What you can take
When a country is rich in something tourists don't yet believe, let evidence be the ad: real-time wildlife data out-argues claims because nature's most loyal visitors have already voted.
Since then
The wider platform ProColombia built around the Country of Beauty narrative now carries more than 55 international metals and recognitions across Effies, Cannes Lions and World Travel Awards, and ProColombia says three in ten international visitors to Colombia had been reached by its tourism campaigns first. The narrative has put Colombian tourism on Times Square, the Burj Khalifa, The Sphere in Las Vegas, Expo Osaka and Rio, seen more than 700 million times globally, with Humanimal Tourism's migration-data system continuing to run as its flagship execution.
Sources
- Humanimal Tourism — Finalist, Digital Creative Use of Data
- Colombia gana importante premio internacional por campaña turística; estos son los detalles
- 'Humanimal Tourism' y 'Pistas de la Belleza Escondida' presentes en Cannes Lions 2025
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