Vodnjan's Chiavalon oil refinery served Mastercard and the Istria Tourist Board as an ideal setting for the announcement of a joint marketing campaign that will be launched in the markets of Austria and Switzerland at the beginning of April. It is the latest project of Mastercard and the Istria Tourist Board and a strong continuation of the eight-year strategic partnership. The direction of the campaign is based on indicators from Mastercard's Tourism Insights report, which, by analyzing data collected from social networks, platforms such as Booking and TripAdvisor and based on payment transactions, analyses the activities and habits of consumers before, during, and after a tourist visit.

"The Tourism Insights platform is a tremendously useful tool for tourism boards around the world that helps them attract tourists with the content they expect. In this way, Mastercard is a strong support in the process of planning tourist activities in a unique and innovative way, and I am especially glad that Istria County has recognized us as an ideal partner on the way to achieving its goals", said Cosmin Vladimirescu, Mastercard Country Manager in Croatia and Romania.

The presentation was supported and opened by Boris Miletić, the the prefect of the Istria County, while the campaign was presented by Helena Šekerija, Director of Consumer Experiential Marketing at Global Consumer Marketing in Mastercard, Denis Ivošević, director of the Istria Tourist Board, Zdenka Majcan from the agency Istriana Travel, and Tedi Chiavalon, host and owner of OPG Chiavalon.

The relevant conclusions in the Tourism Insights report were reached by comparing Istria with four, in many ways similar, regions - Tuscany, Crete, Provence and Campania, and the data showed that the two ideal markets for the promotion of Istria are Austria and Switzerland because that is where the greatest potential exists.

One of the most important indicators from the report was the consumption of tourists in all four regions, and these data confirmed that seasonality in Istria is stronger than in other regions. For this reason, one of the main goals is to position Istria as an ideal destination for all year-round visits and therefore sustainable tourism, which its offer absolutely confirms.

For the Istria Tourist Board, the partnership with Mastercard is of particular importance: “It has always been our desire to have an important, reliable, and strategic partnership with a representative of the financial sector. Mastercard, the global leader in the cashless payment segment, is definitely the best possible marriage because it covers that important segment of global positioning and at the same time, like the Istria Tourist Board, nurtures and supports the postulates of sustainable and responsible development", concluded Denis Ivošević from the Tourist Board of Istria County.

Helen Šekerija from Mastercard commented on the continuation of the successful eight-year cooperation at the presentation: "We are especially glad that we are continuing to develop a strong partnership with the Istria Tourist Board. With this project, we are setting up cooperation with tourist organizations in Croatia, thus jointly optimizing marketing investments and more precisely targeting audiences."

The second segment that was analyzed in the report is the content that attracts potential tourists the most and with which they are most satisfied during their visit. This is where the enogastronomy segment and active lifestyle proved to be, so the entire offer is based on that. Thus, the campaign emphasizes all the content that Istria has been offering for years and for which it is most recognizable.

In order for the entire campaign to focus on a diverse, all-year-round offer based on the sustainability and peculiarities of Istria, the partners of the Croatian version of Mastercard's Priceless.com platform were included in the design of its content. Namely, these are partners who have designed exclusive experiences for tourists for the platform, as part of which they will present Istria in the best possible way, emphasizing all its peculiarities in the form of experiences that will be remembered for a lifetime.

Tedi Chiavalon explained more about the enogastronomy content of the campaign at the presentation and pointed out: "This kind of cooperation is what Istria needs. We in Istria cooperate together in various ways in order to position ourselves on the enogastronomy map of the world, aware that this is the only way we can present the best of our region. That's why I'm extremely glad to be part of this campaign and show in another way how strong, unique, and united our small community is when achieving common goals, which I consider one of our most valuable virtues".

"In addition to top wines, olive oils, and other delicacies for which we are recognizable, the beauty of our Istria has also enabled us to design unique content in the field of active lifestyle segment. Tourists insist on this more and more often when choosing their next destination, so I am especially happy about the fact that we will present this segment to Austria and Switzerland through this campaign", added Zdenka Majcan from the Istriana Travel agency.

After the official announcement of the campaign, the chefs of top Istrian restaurants San Rocco and Badi held a cooking show for all guests. In the preparation, they emphasized the zero-waste concept, which they follow uncompromisingly when preparing the meals in their restaurants. In addition to valuable knowledge, the guests left the gathering with certificates confirming that, thanks to their support for the campaign and the sustainable direction in which Istria continues to walk, one olive tree was planted with their name, thus giving a special tribute to the olive, the grocery thanks to which Istria is known all over the world.

»»» www.istra.hr/en/mc

 [24/03/2023]