The idea behind Abu Dhabi Is Calling was to reimagine destination marketing by turning audiences from passive observers into active participants. Instead of telling people about Abu Dhabi, the campaign invited them to step inside the destination through a fully immersive, physical experience that could be felt, explored, and personalized. The concept centered on experiential transportation using immersive technology, conversational AI, and human storytelling to recreate the emotional sensation of being in Abu Dhabi without leaving visitors’ home cities, and to move them along a journey from inspiration to action.
Within this idea, the core objective was to drive genuine interest and meaningful consideration for Abu Dhabi in an increasingly competitive destination marketing landscape where awareness alone is no longer enough. Tripadvisor and Abu Dhabi’s Department of Culture and Tourism set out to demonstrate that when people can physically enter an environment inspired by the destination, engage in real conversations, and receive something tailored to them, their relationship with the brand shifts from curiosity to concrete intent.
Tripadvisor’s specific goal was to connect with culturally curious travelers in key global cities where innovation, luxury travel, and experiential curiosity naturally intersect. The campaign aimed to prove that emerging technologies like AI, when powered by Tripadvisor’s trusted data and paired with authentic human interaction, could enhance cultural discovery, build emotional connection, and ultimately increase brand awareness, favorability, and stated intent to visit Abu Dhabi among these high-potential audiences.
Abu Dhabi Is Calling was brought to life through a physical experience that combined immersive design, conversational AI, and human storytelling across three global locations: Paris, New York, and Mumbai. The plan was to guide visitors through a seamless experiential journey that progressively moved them from visual inspiration to personalized travel planning and meaningful consideration of Abu Dhabi as a destination.
Execution began with immersive 360-degree domes utilizing cutting-edge projection mapping to create seamless environments where visitors became part of Abu Dhabi’s landscapes. The visual content combined destination footage with real Tripadvisor user reviews and ratings of top-rated locations, ensuring the experience felt both aspirational and authentic.
Within the domes, visitors engaged in one-on-one conversations in custom-built AI pods featuring Tripadvisor’s first conversational AI travel agent. The AI enabled natural language conversations with real-time access to Tripadvisor’s destination database and delivered personalized Abu Dhabi itineraries directly to visitors’ phones, transforming inspiration into actionable travel planning in the moment.
Human connection remained central. Expert travel guides and cultural storytellers were also there providing authentic context, answering questions, and deepening emotional engagement with Abu Dhabi’s culture and experiences. The experience concluded with tangible takeaways, including sweepstakes entries and culturally inspired gifts such as swag bags, artisanal ice cream, and traditional dates, allowing the experience to live on beyond the physical activation.
Each activation was localized while maintaining a consistent brand experience. Paris featured a sleek, tech-forward presentation aligned with VivaTech’s innovation ethos. New York delivered a high-energy, luxury execution at Hudson Yards, one of the world’s most competitive experiential plazas. Mumbai incorporated culturally resonant elements and localized hospitality touches to connect with local expectations and behaviors.
The challenges faced included coordinating complex technical builds and logistics across three continents, ensuring stable AI and projection performance in high-traffic environments, and creating an experience that felt both premium and culturally relevant in very different markets. These were addressed through collaboration between technical teams, cultural specialists, and operations, and by positioning AI as an enhancer of human interaction rather than a replacement.
What makes the work unique is the way immersive environments, real-time conversational AI, and live human storytelling were intentionally fused into a single, coherent system. Rather than treating technology and human interaction as separate elements, Abu Dhabi Is Calling demonstrated how they can work together to convert face-to-face engagement into meaningful travel consideration and real planning behavior.
Abu Dhabi Is Calling delivered unprecedented physical engagement and measurable business impact across all three global activations in Paris, New York, and Mumbai. The campaign demonstrated the power of immersive, in-person experiences to drive awareness, consideration, and intent.
Across all locations, the activations reached more than 75,722 people through physical footfall, with 37,725 visitors entering the immersive domes (26,000 in New York, 6,130 in Mumbai, and 5,595 in Paris). Engagement depth was equally strong, with over 3,870 personalized AI conversations generating an average session duration of 229 seconds and totaling more than 45 hours of one-on-one interaction. The experience extended beyond the activation through the distribution of more than 23,000 physical takeaways, including swag bags, artisanal ice creams, traditional dates, and other giveaways.
Hudson Yards officially cited the New York activation as “the most visited experiential Plaza event on record,” establishing a new benchmark for destination marketing activations in one of the world’s most competitive experiential venues. In Mumbai, the activation achieved 98% positive experience satisfaction and a 93% likelihood to consider visiting Abu Dhabi following the experience.
Post-experience surveys revealed consistently strong emotional and brand impact across markets. Visitors rated the experiences as highly effective in promoting Abu Dhabi, with effectiveness scores between 94-96% and positive sentiment ranging from 90-95%. The campaign also delivered measurable brand lift, including a +4% uplift in brand awareness and a +20% uplift in brand favorability. Travel consideration increased significantly, including a +35% uplift in New York, rising from 53% to 88%.
The immersive experiences converted inspiration into action, evidenced by 5,500+ sweepstakes entries in New York and thousands of personalized itineraries delivered directly to visitors’ phones.
