The TuHuesca brand, dedicated to the promotion of tourism in the province of Huesca for more than 35 years, has probably one of the best digital marketing strategies in Spain. And we do not say it only from Go Aragón, it is demonstrated by the figures of their reach and the numerous awards they have received in recent months. In summer alone, they launched three advertising spots that reached 60 million impacts and almost 18 million unique accounts.
We are talking about the famous ad ‘Don’t come to Huesca‘, with which, through reverse psychology, they show the viewer the enormous variety of plans and activities that can be done in the province of Huesca. «We know the territory, we know the entrepreneurs, the actions that benefit the province the most and we pay a lot of attention to innovation. We look at others and replicate what we can do well to get more visibility,» responds the managing director of TuHuesca Fernando Blasco, asked about the key to the success of the brand.
According to TuHuesca‘s data, the brand has managed to place the province of Huesca at the top of tourism promoters at a national level, compared to both provinces and autonomous communities. At the moment, the Huesca La Magia brand is in first place in engagement at the national level on Facebook and third on Instagram, compared to 62 promoters from other provinces and autonomous communities that have a presence on social networks. And it is the first with a channel on TikTok and Spotify.
The effect of groundbreaking advertising
«In Spain there is a lot of tourist offer, but we try to break the mold with our advertising. We go to fairs that are not our place, to concerts, theaters, book presentations, etc., that are not in line with our content but that generate attention and make tourists feel comfortable,» explains Blasco. Two clear examples in which the TuHuesca brand has participated and that could surprise any traditional publicist because of their scarce relation with tourism in the province of Huesca are the Expo 2008 in Zaragoza and the Conde de Godó Tennis Trophy held in Barcelona.
«At the Expo we didn’t have our own stand because we were part of the Aragon Government stand, but we wanted to stand out and we even staged theatrical performances. At the Conde de Godó Trophy Fair, we were the only tourist destination brand. All the rest were brands of rackets, sneakers, etc.,» says the managing director of TuHuesca. But not only that. In the VIP restaurant of the Conde de Godó Trophy they offered the attendees a free tasting of tapas made with products from the province of Huesca. In this way, says Blasco, they managed to strengthen contacts with journalists with whom they still maintain a relationship today.
Continuing with the statistics, TuHuesca has achieved this year 2022 an increase of 60% in impressions and a 250% increase in the number of unique people reached compared to the previous year. 10% of this reach is thanks to advertising in digital media, and 90% comes from organic sources. In TuHuesca’s advertising, they seek to generate quality content, which impacts and emotionally attracts the viewer and awakens the desire to travel to the province of Huesca.
Ver esta publicación en Instagram
They receive tourists from France, Holland and England
Every year, tourists from all over Spain and abroad arrive in Huesca. «The international tourist is smaller because of the language barrier and because we don’t have enough capacity or tour operators. We are not a tourist destination of masses«, indicates Blasco. The province of Huesca, which cannot compete with the big provincial capitals or the islands, receives every year a good number of French, Dutch -most of them attracted by camping tourism-, English, German and Austrian tourists. «From Austria they come mainly to ski because here they find many sunny days,» specifies the managing director. In addition, every year they welcome more and more Portuguese and American tourists who come attracted by the gastronomy and wine.
As for the age of the tourist profile in Huesca, Blasco replies that it is impossible to determine. You can travel to Huesca for adventure sports, water sports, hiking, skiing, cycling, wine tourism, historical tourism, gastronomic, ornithological and a long etcetera. Even so, Blasco says that the province of Huesca still needs to really believe in what it has. «We are proud but it would be necessary to appreciate the territory more and value what we have. Tourism could still be better managed,» he says. One of the main challenges in the province of Huesca is to overcome the three-day average stay of many Spanish tourists.
Winners of the Agripina Awards
The TuHuesca brand has recently been awarded numerous prizes in the field of advertising and digital marketing. One of the most outstanding has been the award in three of the four categories of the Agripina Awards, aimed at encouraging advertising creativity and talent. With the spot ‘Don’t come to Huesca’ mentioned above, starring the actor Juanjo Artero, they won the award for Best Piece – best campaign of the year, Social Ads and Tourism. They won with 843 votes and 191 pieces were submitted to the contest.
Another example of a competition won in the province of Huesca that has generated a great tourist impact in the area is the proclamation of La Carrasca de Lecina as European Tree of the Year 2021. It is a tree of the Quercus ilex species located in the municipality of Bárcabo and, with an estimated age of 1,100 years, is considered one of the longest-lived trees in Spain. Data that attract visitors to the town of Lecina, in the Sobrarbe region. «It is very important to know which contests are worth entering and which are not. Not all of them bring benefits to the territory», warns Blasco.
Also in the province of Huesca, the Huesca blog La Magia has won the award for Best Digital Project in the IX Aragón Awards on the Net. This Christmas, the town of Aínsa came third in the ninth edition of Ferrero Rocher’s ‘Together we shine more’ contest to become the setting for the Christmas advertisement of the famous chocolate company.
