In the wake of the Coronavirus, there’s a new breed of castaway. Unlike the classic Robinson Crusoe or Tom Hanks image of someone stranded on a desert island, the 2020 version is stuck home alone. While lost souls like Gilligan and the rest dreamed of going home, this year’s breed wants to get back out into the world.
As bored, lonely tourists in the wake of the Coronavirus crisis imagine where they’d like to be or where they might go once the green flags fly again, a pair of Caribbean destinations are using social media to send an S.O.S. to the world.
The Antigua and Barbuda Tourism Authority turned to social media to answer the world's travel S.O.S.
The Antigua and Barbuda Tourism Authority turned to Instagram to launch its Message in the Sand campaign hoping internally to boost the island economy post-virus — while externally “spreading kindness and encouraging travelers to keep Antigua in mind for a future trips.”
Antigua is the primary island between the two, snuggling into the West Indies. Like most of its Caribbean neighbors, the island relies heavily on tourism to drive its economy.
Tapping into social media on a weekly basis, the video and photographic messages will be dug into the sand of Antigua’s 365 faraway beaches. The Tourism Authority’s first Instagram post came with the following message:
𝘚𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦, 𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘭𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦. .
𝘉𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘔𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘤𝘬 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 365 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮. .
𝘉𝘦 S𝘢𝘧𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘉𝘦 W𝘦𝘭𝘭. .
#𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘥 #𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘨𝘶𝘢𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘣𝘶𝘥𝘢 #stayhome #staysafe
The first message in the sand (“Stay Safe”) was written on the shore of Antigua’s Fort James Beach and can be viewed across all of Antigua’s social media channels.
