With fresh identity, Bengal tourism rolls out campaign

Kolkata, Feb 10: The tourism department of West Bengal has rolled out its first phase of advertising campaign with a fresh brand identity to woo tourists.

Targeting foreign tourists, the department has installed digital hoardings in Delhi and Mumbai airports.

"They were put up just few days ago. We have over 50 such hoardings in the conveyor belt and other parts of the two airports. Kolkata airport is next in line," A R Bardhan, principal secretary, West Bengal tourism department, told PTI.

The hoardings show the best places to visit in the state like the Darjeeling hills, islands of UNESCO world heritage site Sundarbans, tea gardens of Dooars, wildlife of north Bengal, tribal and natural beauty of the Junglemahal area, Tagore-related heritage of Santiniketan, terracotta art of Bishnupur, etc.

The department had recently rebranded itself from 'Beautiful Bengal' to 'Experience Bengal — Sweetest Part of India' after ad agency Ogilvy & Mather was hired to do the job.

Bardhan said they have planned to execute a 360 degree marketing campaign to increase the visibility of the state with the tourists.

"We will also be on the digital media, FM channels and the print media," he said. This Sunday, an advertising crew finished shooting for a series of 8-10 TV commercials where state's brand ambassador Shahrukh Khan will be featured.

"We will start showing this on televisions in March. Now post-production work is going on," the official said. Last month, SRK had shot an advertisement riding on a tram in the lush green Maidan area.

PTI