Tourism Ad Blends Traveler Reviews with Poetry and Rap

To communicate the fantastic places and experiences visitors are about to discover upon traveling to the region of Valencia, Turisme Comunitat Valenciana (the Valencia Tourist Board) teamed up with Serviceplan Spain and famous Spanish rapper Arkano, supporting the organization in delivering its message in the form of a poem. Titled “Quien lo ha vivido lo sabe” (“He who has lived it knows it”) — just like its predecessor, which was launched in 2021 — the campaign lies at the intersection between traveler reviews, poetry, a hint of technology, and the rhythms of rap music, celebrating the region’s uniqueness by putting the people who have visited Valencia at the heart of it.

“What better way to guarantee trust than to listen to what others have already experienced,” said Carmen Sahuquillo, Head of the Marketing and Product Area of Turisme Comunitat Valenciana, about the previous ad. Inspired by a Lope de Vega poem, a poet who lived in Valencia between the 16th and 17th century, the last year’s spot and the current one are built in a similar manner, both conveying the same positive vibe. The difference though is that the most recent one has a more contemporary and youthful tone.

While the concept of poetry continues to manifest throughout the 2022 campaign, it is the author(s) of the verses and the way the poem is narrated that changed. This time, more than 200,000 anonymous poets have contributed to bringing the initiative to life, with Arkano reciting passages from past travelers on how they experienced Valencia.

Using a social listening tool, the team gathered all the existing reviews about the Valencian Community and its different destinations. Then, an AI-based algorithm selected the most frequently repeated words and expressions. After having fed the algorithm with 200,000 reviews, eventually reduced to 3,000, the artist was challenged with creating poetry out of the comments, turning them into a “Reviews in Verse” rap song that captures the feelings of previous visitors.

Arkano, who is the winner of the Guinness record for improvisation, settled on the reviews that impressed him the most, deciding which ones matched the others and then adapting them to the music. “There were a million voices channeling through me. It’s been a very exciting process,” said the rapper about the project.

The campaign’s main objectives are focused on promoting the wide range of products found in different locations across the Valencian Community; stimulating inland tourism by encouraging visitors to explore the region’s other attractions; and attracting tourists all year round via two audiovisual pieces (seasonal and non-seasonal). The campaign includes other poems as well (also born from the reviews), with verses adapted to highlight the region’s rich tourist offer such as sport, inland, gastronomy, and more. The “Reviews in Rap” will be broadcasted nationally, while the international market will continue to hear Lope de Vega’s poem.