As part of Cultural Tourism, the myths and legends increase the attractiveness of destinations, and are commonly used in the marketing and promotion strategies, as made the city of Kastela (Croatia) in its last promotional video “Kaštela – Seven Reasons to visit”.
The video is inspired by the local legend of “Miljenko and Dobrila”, known as the Croatian Romeo and Juliet. Two lovers from noble opposed families, who lived in the city of Kaštela in the 17th century, and only could meet in secret. Unfortunately, their story of forbidden love was short and had a tragic ending.
The history of the couple remains alive in the city as part of their cultural heritage. Through a narrative about secret messages hidden across all seven parts of Kaštela, the promotional video shows some of the most interesting cultural, natural, and historical beauties that the city offers to its visitors.
In Cultural Tourism, the essential motivation of visitors is to learn, discover, experience, and consume the tangible and intangible cultural attractions and products in a tourism destination (UNWTO). By retelling the local history, the video is a perfect invitation for people to learn more about Kaštela, its cultural heritage, and diverse tourism attractions.
According to Nada Maršić, manager of the Tourist Board of Kaštela, the main challenges of the promotional video were “To invoke emotions, to encourage the spectator to ponder and research, to awake his wish to visit Kaštela after only a few minutes of watching, that was the greatest of challenges. On the other side, it was necessary to connect past and present, traditional and modern, the ambiance beauty and the wild Dalmatian nature through the legend of Miljenko and Dobrila and tell the story of love which is out-of-time and a universal category”, said.
In the Grand Prix CIFFT Circuit 2020, a competition that brings together the World’s Best Tourism Film Festivals from 4 continents, “Kaštela – Seven Reasons to visit” received two important awards at Silafest (Serbia) and Zagreb TourFilm Festival (Croatia).
To know more about the creative process behind the video, we spoke with the representative of the Tourist Board of Kaštela and also the production company Moonstone Production.
Watch now “Kaštela – Seven Reasons to visit”
The creative process behind "Kaštela – Seven Reasons to visit"
Interview with Nada Maršić, manager of the Tourist Board of Kaštela
- What's the purpose of the video?
“Kaštela – Seven Reasons to Visit” is a video which through a story presents the most beautiful of the town comprised of seven lively places with beautiful historical architecture and rich tradition.
- Who is your target audience?
Modern travelers who seek different vacations and original stories, who enjoy the benefits of modern life and at the same time wish to meet tradition and feel the local ambiance; that is our target audience. Our message is not intended for a certain age group, couples, or families, it is not intended for a defined guest profile ... because our offer includes all categories thus in the video we are focused on emotion and ambiance.
- What is the key message of Kaštela - Seven Reasons to Visit?
We send a message of love from Kaštela. We invite you to visit us and enjoy your holiday to remember through our most beautiful love story of Miljenko and Dobrila. Come and fall in love… That is our key message.
- Is your video part of a campaign?
Video is an integral part of a campaign and one of the most important tools in the promotion of Kaštela globally. The video was preceded by a theatre play ‘A Legend of Miljenko and Dobrila’, which has been played for 7 years now as a part of Kaštela Cultural Summer. Our play was performed in our regional center – Split but also in the capital of Croatia, Zagreb on the occasion of Valentine’s in 2018. Every year we get excellent media coverage for our play: local newspapers, radios, and TV companies, national TV, web portals, and social media. All these activities over years generated an idea and the promotional video that we were honored to present globally through your network. We hope to be noticed by a targeted audience of tourist filmmakers and journalists. The video was registered to a number of film festivals via CIFFT, and it was already noticed in few countries such as Turkey and Serbia where it was rewarded too.
- In your opinion, how important is storytelling in Travel Video Marketing?
Storytelling is extremely important in tourist video marketing. Without a good story, there is no good video, it evokes emotion, gets one’s attention, and makes one think about it. A good story is remembered for a long time, it is for many the first encounter with the destination, and for those who already visited it, it is a reminder that makes them go back again.
Interview with the Film Producer Marko Kapitanović and the Film Director Antea Ratković, from Moonstone Production
- How was the production process of Kaštela - Seven Reasons to Visit?
It was really a different kind of project in comparison to the usual tourism videos. Our approach was similar to the production process of a short or feature film, with a story and protagonists. It involved detailed location scouting and preparation to ensure that production and shooting go smoothly. Everything started with the idea of adapting the story of "Miljenko and Dobrila". We tried to be historically accurate, and also keep a slight fairy-tale atmosphere.
- What were the main challenges during the film production?
Production-wise, it was a challenging and different project in comparison to many typical tourism films, due to historic theme and a large number of costumed actors and props. We had to take particular care to avoid any modern and contemporary elements (buildings, objects, etc.) entering the shot. Luckily, most of Kaštela’s historic locations are really well preserved, and they’re presented in the film exactly as they look today.
- What were the goals for Kaštela - Seven Reasons to Visit? In your opinion, did you reach them??
We wanted to create a video that is universally appealing and has a long life beyond the current tourism season. Through seven secret messages hidden across the seven parts of the city, we invite the audience to join the virtual quest and fall in love with Kaštela. The audience reaction has been really positive so far, and the film has attracted attention and won several awards at tourism film festivals.
- Video is a powerful tool to promote tourism destinations. Technically speaking, what is a good tourism video?
A good tourism video stimulates the viewer's imagination and emotions. It puts the viewer into a virtual adventure and communicates with him/her in some kind of personal way. A good video makes the viewer think about the destination and cast the thought about visiting that destination.
- Consumers see in the videos that tourist destinations bring them content with a clearer personality. Do you think the video is more effective in reaching people than traditional advertising?
Because of the constant advances in technology, people are more connected than ever, and they rely more on visual information than on the written word. A good promotional campaign can reach a wider audience than ever before, through the internet, smartphones, social networking, and multimedia advertising. Videos are possibly the largest factor in all these channels of promotion.
