Ecuador Employs High Tech Banana Stickers To Attract Tourists
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Bananas are shown at the K+G Food Mart in Detroit, Monday, May 8, 2006. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)
Ecuador hopes consumers will go bananas for the country.
The South American nation has teamed up with a U.S.-based advertising firm in an effort to draw more tourists to the country by using a marketing strategy it hopes will “a-peel” to tech savvy travelers. As the worldwide leader in exporting bananas – shipping about 24 million tons a year – Ecuador’s tourism ministry has put a QR code on the sticker placed on every single banana export.
Before peeling the fruit, customers can scan the code with their phones and will be transported to a video that highlights different tourist spots in the country – from pristine beaches to lush tropical forests. The country is hoping that their banana bonanza – the country exports bananas through Dole, Chiquita, Del Monte and Noboa – will translate into more foreign flights arriving from abroad into places like Quito and Guayaquil.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}While promoting a country through its biggest edible export may be a new thing, turning a country (or territory) into a brand is nothing new.
A few years ago, Peruvian officials attempted to turn the country’s tourist spots and newfound culinary fame into a draw for foreign visitors.
"It’s not about just making a National Geographic type spot, but rather a lifestyle. I do not think that people travel to eat, a small group maybe, but not a mass audience, you need something more, food is a plus,” Max Gutierrez, CEO of McCann Peru told the website Peru This Week.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Ecuador is not the only country using bananas to promote tourism.
Puerto Rico’s Gov. Alejandro Padilla recently signed into law a bill to establish Brand Puerto Rico, which aims to promote tourism in the U.S.-held Caribbean territory.
“Our country brand will mean economic development, global positioning and investment. Our country brand will exceed any publicity campaign because it’s about a distinctive aspect of identity,” Padilla said, according to El Nuevo Dia.
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