Tourism Bureaus Invest $1.5 Million+ on Bold New Advertising Platform

Nov 11, 2022—Visit Indy’s doing it. So is Visit Boston, the U.S. Virgin Islands Department of tourism and dozens of other tourism bureaus. As travel continues to experience a strong rebound, destination management organizations across the country and the Caribbean are increasingly investing marketing dollars into a new advertising medium to lure travelers: wrapped car advertising. 

So far in 2022, destination marketing organizations have collectively invested more than $1.5 million with Carvertise, America’s largest rideshare advertising company, to wrap fleets of Uber and Lyft vehicles with their high impact designs, showcasing beachscapes, popular landmarks, and scenic mountain trails, and deploying them in their target and feeder markets across the United States. 

To make an even stronger impression, many of the bureaus have activated Carvertise’s “Swarm” feature, where the branded cars congregate at major gatherings, such as sporting events and concerts, significantly raising the profile of their advertising. Recent indicators show interest in this innovative advertising platform among travel bureaus is soaring: Since 2020, Carvertise has seen a 79% increase in business from tourism clients, who are expected to invest more than $2 million by year’s end in wrapped-car campaigns with the company, according to Carvertise Co-Founder Greg Star. 

What’s driving the trend? “Carvertise provides tourism bureaus the unique opportunity to carry their message directly to the people they’re looking to target,” Star said. “In particular, people attending sporting events, concerts and festivals tend to be travel-inclined folks who have a higher level of disposable income, as do people riding in Ubers. That’s who our clients are trying to reach, and that’s who we deliver.” 

Here are just a few examples of how tourism bureaus are leveraging this red hot out-of-home advertising medium:

* Over this summer, Visit Indy sent a fleet of branded vehicles to cruise Chicago’s Miracle Mile; those who hailed a ride in one of the vehicles had a chance at scoring a $500 Visit Indy prize pack, plus tickets to two popular Labor Day festivals. The activation resulted in major buzz around the city, delivering millions of impressions. 

* This fall, Visit Lafayette (Louisiana) has sent Carvertise Swarms to concerts and sporting events across both Houston and Atlanta to entice tourists to visit “The Happiest City in America.” 

* Recently, the U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Tourism sent fleets of cars to Philadelphia’s “Made In America” music festival and Swarmed Citizens Bank Park during the Phillies World Series run and Lincoln Financial Field during Eagles games. The colorful cars remind visitors that a jaunt to paradise is just a short flight away.

* Visit Tampa Bay, which has had several successful Carvertise campaigns in cities throughout the U.S., recently launched new wrapped-vehicle campaigns in Miami and Orlando. 

Star predicts the trend to continue into 2023 and beyond. “Our travel partners tell us our branded cars are the most memorable advertising medium they’ve ever used,” he says. And there’s data to back up their contention: Statistics from a 2019 Nielsen out-of-home study reveal that wrapped cars are proven to be the most effective and memorable form of transit advertising. The bottom line: “The tourism industry is coming back stronger than ever, and we’re excited by the role that Carvertise is playing in driving its rally,” Star says. 

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Contact: Greg Star, Co-Founder, [email protected]

About Carvertise: Carvertise is America’s largest rideshare advertising company on a mission to revolutionize the way brands communicate with consumers outdoors. Leveraging a network of 550,000 registered drivers, Carvertise is running wrapped-car ad campaigns around the country for clients including Netflix, 7-Eleven, EA Sports, NASCAR, and GlaxoSmithKline. Geo-targeted, highly memorable, with a heavy emphasis on analytics, Carvertise is proudly spearheading the future of transit advertising.