OVER 40 MILLION VIEWS AROUND THE WORLD FOR THE TOURISM MINISTRY’S CHRISTMAS SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGN
10 MILLION UNIQUE USERS ON FACEBOOK
 
CAMPAIGN COST: NIS 65,000
TOURISM MINISTER STAS MISEZHNIKOV: “CHRISTIAN TOURISM TO ISRAEL, IN ALL ITS DENOMINATIONS, IS A MAIN TARGET MARKET FOR THE MINISTRY’S MARKETING EFFORTS IN ORDER TO INCREASE INCOMING TOURISM. THE TOURISM MINISTRY USES SOCIAL MEDIA AFTER DETERMINING THAT THE MAIN MOTIVE FOR VISITING ISRAEL IS THE RECOMMENDATION OF FRIENDS AND FAMILY. MILLIONS OF PEOPLE VIEWED OUR CONTENT VIRALLY IN A POSITIVE MANNER AND WITH A CALL TO ACTION. IN ADDITION, WE INCREASED THE NUMBER OF FOLLOWERS FOR OUR ADVERTISEMENTS.”
About 10 million Facebook users around the world were exposed to the Christmas competition organized by the Religious Tourism desk at the Tourism Ministry’s Marketing Administration, via a dedicated app. The ministry took advantage of internet searches during December for words such as “present” and “the best gift”. Within the framework of the campaign, internet users saw a wide range of images related to the Christian tourism sites in Israel, including, among others, Gethsemane and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.
 
Internet users had to choose one photograph and write why a visit to the Holy Land is the best Christmas gift they could receive. They were then invited to share with their friends and the person receiving the most “likes’ would win the best gift – a visit to the Holy Land.
 
The 14-day campaign was launched on the English, Spanish and Portuguese Facebook pages of the Tourism Ministry on 6 December. The competition was targeted primarily at a Catholic audience and at the Evangelical Christian community in the States and Brazil. Millions also saw the campaign on Twitter, Google and other social media platforms. 
 
Lauren Mara from Sao Paulo Brazil won the competition, having garnered 434 likes. She uploaded a picture of a 2000 year old olive tree and wrote in her status that a visit to the Holy Land was the dream of her father – and her dream was to realize his.
 
The Tourism Minister added that “building a correct and systematic viral marketing campaign has proven itself. Within the last three years, the Tourism Ministry has positioned itself as a significant economic ministry, injecting tens of billions of shekel into the economy every year with an annual budget of less than NIS 1 billion.”
 
In the year 2012, Israel’s record tourism year, about 3.5 million visitors arrived in Israel, of whom 58% were Christian.