We needed a once-in-a-lifetime kind of idea. And suddenly, it appeared! Just like a knight in shining armour. The beautiful Elbe canyon that runs through the Czech Central Highlands has forever been known as Porta Bohemica, or the Gate to Bohemia. And in fact, the entire Ústí Region is a kind of northern Gate to Bohemia so why not make this phrase synonymous with the entire region? Would that alone be enough? Of course not, but it did turn out to be an incentive for thousands of people. A useful web portal was created, a huge, united information campaign was launched and a whole corporate system including logos, graphics and the successful slogan ‘Find beauty locally’ was devised. The region was divided into four main destinations Bohemian Switzerland, the Czech Central Highlands, the Ore Mountains and Lower Poohří. And it didn’t take long until the magazine The Gate was published, and in six languages no less. So that was the invite taken care of. And did princes and princesses from all over the Czech Republic and abroad come to save the cursed princess? They did indeed. And there are more of them every year. So many, in fact, that no other region in the Czech Republic has seen such an increase in tourism for many years. It’s simply a fairytale!
NOESIS & ÚSTECKÝ KRAJ
Noesis and the Ústí nad Labem Region
The Ústí nad Labem Region, our long-standing strategic client, is the client with respect to the Gate to Bohemia (Brána do Čech) product, and we have been participating on a long-term basis in improving the way the region is perceived and increasing the number of people who visit it. In addition to a complete marketing and communication strategy and the approach to the entire project, as well as the fundamental creation and management of the web portal, we are in charge of developing and implementing both ATL and BTL creativity, POS, publications, brochures and maps, arrangements for presentations at trade fairs as well as other marketing activities and the creation of audio-visual materials showcasing the beauty and unique places of the Ústí nad Labem Region.
Web portal www.branadocech.cz. A web portal, which was conceived as a systematic invitation to trips and holidays in the region including a presentation of specific services, tips for trips and information about interesting and remarkable places in the region, became a key tool in the effort to change the image of the region and to attract tourists to it. In the very first year the portal had 115,000 unique visitors and 1,500,000 page views. There is a double-digit year-on-year increase in the number of visits by both Czech and foreign tourists, and the Ústí nad Labem Region has seen the greatest increase in tourism within the entire Czech Republic for several successive years.
The Gate to Bohemia project was ranked first in the Best Uniform Campaign in the Czech Republic category by the Ministry for Regional Development of the Czech Republic in cooperation with the Association of Regions of the Czech Republic and the Czech Tourism agency. The Gate to Bohemia website was awarded first place in the Best Tourist Portal in the Czech Republic category. The set of tourist maps won the main prize at the Tourmap trade fair.