THE CLIENT: Sarawak Tourism Board (STB) 2023 Campaign.

SUMMARY: Sarawak is a Malaysian state in North Borneo and a key tourist destination. Main challenge faced by STB: after 2 years of disastrous tourism numbers due to Covid, 2022’s figures were still disappointing. Another challenge was its Rainforest World Music Festival. The pandemic forced cancellation two years running. RWMF re-opened in 2022, but attendance had fallen significantly.

OBJECTIVES: Projections for 2023 were based on the pre-Covid total for 2019 – 4,660,000 visitors; and on 2022’s total, 2,027,446. STB’s 2023 goal was a modest 5% increase over 2022, or 3 million.

TARGET MARKET/BUDGET: Major markets included Domestic, Southeast Asia, China, North Asia, and Australia. Budget for production and media totalled USD244,000 – significantly and necessarily smaller than previous years. Campaign ran exclusively on digital platforms, plus select OOH and DOOH.

THE CAMPAIGN: We evolved ongoing “Sarawak, More to Discover” theme. Agency developed “Sarawak, Now More Than Ever,” for “revenge tourism” call-to-action. Message was compelling and relevant: after all the lockdowns and closures, there was now even MORE reason to discover Sarawak.

RESULTS: Results proved nothing less than phenomenal: Total visitor arrivals: 2022 2023 2,027,446 3,929,657 % ’23 % vs ‘22: + 94% Tourism receipts: 2022 2023 RM4.96 billion RM9.99 billion % ‘23 vs ‘22: +101% STB not only exceeded 3 million visitors, but came within 71K of 4 million! A nearly 100% increase in one year. Plus: 2023 Rainforest World Music Festival an unqualified success, with attendance third largest since opening in 1998.