Worldwide Hospitality Awards

Dekho Apna Desh - Independence Day Campaign by IHCL

The past year and half has brought many changes across industries and people. The new landscape of travel is being defined by safety, hygiene and the intrinsic need to cherish each moment with your loved ones. After over 18 months of people being confined to their homes, travel is seeing an upward trend across destinations with domestic travel restrictions easing. While international travel is still in a dormant phase with safety concerns, closed borders and other restrictions, the focus on domestic travel is only growing by the day and what has remained resilient is the richness of our country and our spirit of travel and exploration.

With these realities and sentiments in consideration, The Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL) launched the Dekho Apna Desh campaign on 15th August 2021. As India celebrated its milestone 75th year of Independence, IHCL, inspired by the Indian Ministry of Tourism’s namesake outreach program, invited travellers to ‘Dekho Apna Desh’, a campaign which endeavoured to highlight the beauty of India and encouraged Indians to travel within India, for India.

India is a traveller’s kaleidoscope and IHCL, with its expansive footprint of hotels, offers a window into its geographical diversity and rich cultural heritage with special stay offers. The curated ‘Dekho Apna Desh’ offer brought to travellers the chance to create memories of a lifetime in breath-taking locales with rejuvenating holidays across India. It also gave guests the opportunity to traverse multiple destinations within the country with bespoke itineraries.

The headlining film, celebrating the richness of India, struck a chord with everyone and inspired travel by showcasing India as a destination of diverse experiences. The authenticity and connect was further enhanced by using the language Hindi, in sharp contrast to IHCL’s usual creative approach. In a first-of-its-kind for IHCL, Hindi was chosen as the language of communication to maximise reach and establish stronger linkages since it is the most widely spoken language in India.

The campaign ‘Dekho Apna Desh’, which in English translates to ‘See Your Own Country’, inspired everyone to explore our country with stays across various destinations and to truly discover the gems of India in our signature style of hospitality. Be it our living palaces or idyllic beach resorts, urban sanctuaries or tranquil backwaters, adventurous safaris or surreal hill retreats.

The campaign not only resonated with our audiences and generated significant revenue across hotels but also strengthened our brand positioning. It celebrated India in all its beauty and the endeavour to put India at the forefront garnered a positive response from all audiences.

The success of the campaign led to the creation of its festive edit.
IHCL launched the Dekho Apna Desh Festive campaign on 27th September 2021, celebrated globally as World Tourism Day.

India is known for its rich culture and heritage, and the festive season starting from the month of September marked the beginning of celebrations, of bringing families together. Considering the rise in demand for multi-generation leisure travel, with families looking for new ways to create experiences and bond, on World Tourism Day, IHCL’s new festive offer inspires travellers to ‘Desh Dekho’ and rediscover the myriad customs that are quintessential to Indian festivals across its Taj, SeleQtions, Vivanta, Ginger and ama hotels.

Curated to bring alive classic traditions that mark each festival, the ongoing campaign aims at giving people an opportunity to revel in breath-taking destinations, while immersing themselves in authentic, local experiences that celebrate the vibrant cultural kaleidoscope of Indian festivals. Be it the magic of pujo in the charming city of Kolkata, twinkling nights lit up with the glow of a hundred diyas at the royal palaces in Rajasthan during Diwali or the classic customs that are synonymous with Christmas in Goa, one can truly traverse through India’s rich festive tapestry.

The creatives highlight the rich cultural diversity of India by showcasing festivals celebrated across the nation in all their glory. Leveraging our extensive presence, we hope to inspire everyone to celebrate the upcoming festive season with us.


Why do you think your project deserves to win?

We truly feel our project deserves to win because of the societal, cultural and economic impact that the campaign has successfully created. With the honour of Taj being the World’s Strongest Hotel Brand (Brand Finance Report 2021) comes the responsibility of pioneering a new future in the world of travel.
The risk of shifting the focus from our own iconic hotels and putting India at the forefront of the campaign was backed by a strong intent and commitment to positively influence a larger section of stakeholders in the travel economy cycle. Weaving in India’s cultural expression into unique experiences for travellers across destinations, we urged people to travel within India for India and to immerse themselves in the country’s rich and intricate traditions, while supporting the tourism and hospitality sector that touches millions of lives.

In a first-of-its-kind for IHCL, choosing Hindi as the headlining language of communication was a path breaking approach, especially for a legacy brand. The creative vision was to showcase the vibrancy and beauty of India layered with elements which enhanced the Indian connect in the form of language used, images showcased and background score created.

The bookings and revenues from the campaign, as mentioned in the PDF document, have met and exceeded our expectations. As have the engagement and share of voice garnered on digital mediums. But as importantly, the positioning of India as a diverse destination and inspiring travellers to explore the country once again, has been a cornerstone for the measurement of success for this campaign.