an idea i had to today to promote ethiopia as a tourism destination through commercials/film


this wouldnt be your regular country pr advert. it would be a series of mini films, about 4 minutes long each, each one with a different person from ethiopian society showing their favourite spot. one would be an old woman from the countryside, one a young couple in their 20s, one a 6 year old child and another a business man.

for example, the young boys favourite spot would be a view of the simien mountain range, the young couple would be at lake langano, the old woman would be on a street where she got married 60 years ago in harar, the business man would be at axum. it wouldnt be as if they are talking to the camera. the couple version would have a story whereby the guy proposes to the woman at sunset. all would use the same song so people recognise the advert. the short film would end with a black screen with the word ethiopia in geez script appearing in white and then fading into the word ethiopia written in roman alphabet,

there would be other short films

it would be filmed in high quality, almost music video like, to bring out the rich colours and textures and sounds of ethiopia.

i found an amazing remix of a song called clair de lune, a classical piano piece, which i cant find on youtube but here is an example of what it sounds like. the remix starts similar to the original link i have put up here, but builds up into an amazing chorus with strings and drums and the sound of the rain and chimes etc.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfSV_k3MhCw

some might disagree about the music, but i think it makes it more classy and is different to the stereotype african music always played/


the point of doing adverts like this is to show that africans have things like romance, memories, favourite places to go to reflect on life, etc just like the rest of the world. it "humanizes" africa. removes the "dark continent" "no culture" "only animals" aspect of it. and the actors will be wearing proper clothes, not tatters, and will be using phones, riding bikes, catching the bus, posting letters on their way, reading books, browsing CDs in shops. this is needed to be shown to the world

Great idea. :cheers:

I too want to make a documentary of the people and places of Ethiopia. MY friend and I have bought an HD video camera and we are practicing with it. If you want to influence people then media has to be one of the places that you go into. You seem to be more interested in the commercial aspect which can also showcase the country. I think I will begin with a non controversial documentory showing the progress and needs of ethiopians. I want to shed a more positive and self determinist aspects to the challenges of the country. It will not showcase people suffering and waiting for someone from the outside to save them. I have not thought about the documentory deeply yet and its still in its infancy.

It is interesting being from a rich country and poor country though. I guess we can look at it as a challenge. I think this would be a good example for other africans to follow as well. This way we can determine our image and not complain about western media.:)

dubai toursim propmotion ideas luanches the techniques to full the dreams of sheikh zayed mohmmad bin abdul talal. Sudani tourism experts predicted the collapse of kenyan tourism activies as Dubai was rising as a destination, I hope same goes for ethopia and somalia

an idea i had to today to promote ethiopia as a tourism destination through commercials/film


this wouldnt be your regular country pr advert. it would be a series of mini films, about 4 minutes long each, each one with a different person from ethiopian society showing their favourite spot. one would be an old woman from the countryside, one a young couple in their 20s, one a 6 year old child and another a business man.

for example, the young boys favourite spot would be a view of the simien mountain range, the young couple would be at lake langano, the old woman would be on a street where she got married 60 years ago in harar, the business man would be at axum. it wouldnt be as if they are talking to the camera. the couple version would have a story whereby the guy proposes to the woman at sunset. all would use the same song so people recognise the advert. the short film would end with a black screen with the word ethiopia in geez script appearing in white and then fading into the word ethiopia written in roman alphabet,

there would be other short films

it would be filmed in high quality, almost music video like, to bring out the rich colours and textures and sounds of ethiopia.

i found an amazing remix of a song called clair de lune, a classical piano piece, which i cant find on youtube but here is an example of what it sounds like. the remix starts similar to the original link i have put up here, but builds up into an amazing chorus with strings and drums and the sound of the rain and chimes etc.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfSV_k3MhCw

some might disagree about the music, but i think it makes it more classy and is different to the stereotype african music always played/


the point of doing adverts like this is to show that africans have things like romance, memories, favourite places to go to reflect on life, etc just like the rest of the world. it "humanizes" africa. removes the "dark continent" "no culture" "only animals" aspect of it. and the actors will be wearing proper clothes, not tatters, and will be using phones, riding bikes, catching the bus, posting letters on their way, reading books, browsing CDs in shops. this is needed to be shown to the world

Ethiopia can sell itself if the stigma is removed. Also, the current out of the beaten track sentiment can be used to Ethiopia's favor. How about using the unique features of Ethiopia, for example, couples feeding each other, the pilgrimage to holy places, "Silet" rituals e.g. people rounding church grounds on bare knees 3 times, "Tenkola" rituals, the stick fights and lip plates of southern Ethiopia, etc... How can you make a movie that incorporate these unique features, while enforcing the thought that visiting Ethiopia is not for the faint hearted but at the same time don't scare people off? I think you can entice people if you provoke them without scaring them. Meaning safe and usual is boring, a little bit risk and unpredictability is exciting.

Your proposal shows Ethiopia as a safe country that normal human things happen, thanx but would that sell? I think we should try and maintain the mysterious view people have about Ethiopia and kill the bad part of judging Ethiopia as a place of suffering, war and hunger.