Latifa Al Janahi, Client Growth Director, MMS.Across the Middle East, destinations are no longer competing solely for tourists. They are competing for attention, relevance, investment, talent and a place in the global conversation. Tourism remains an important objective, but destination branding today is increasingly about shaping perceptions, strengthening cultural identity and creating long-term economic value.
Saudi Arabia provides the strongest example of this transformation. Under Vision 2030, the Kingdom has delivered some of the most significant tourism achievements globally, rapidly expanding its tourism sector while simultaneously reshaping international perceptions.
What makes the Saudi approach particularly notable is its willingness to address visitor perceptions head-on. Rather than relying solely on conventional destination marketing campaigns, tourism authorities have increasingly adopted a blend of push and pull strategies, combining large-scale media investment with culturally relevant content designed for specific audience segments.
One example is the ‘Summer in Saudi’ initiative, which sought to challenge a longstanding perception that the Kingdom’s summer climate limits travel opportunities. To address this, MBC Media Solutions (MMS) developed a disruptive content activation within an MBC News weather segment featuring one of the region’s most recognised comedians.
The concept saw the comedian interrupt the weather bulletin to challenge common assumptions about summer travel in Saudi Arabia, taking audiences on a journey from the cool mountain landscapes of Aseer to the beaches of Jeddah and the luxury resorts of the Red Sea. By deliberately blurring the lines between news, entertainment and advertising, the activation sparked immediate conversation across social media.
Influencers, celebrities and audiences amplified the content organically while sharing their own summer experiences across the Kingdom. Within 24 hours, the activation generated 247 million views and more than 12 million engagements.
Scripted entertainment has also proven effective in driving destination consideration. During Ramadan, Yawmiyat Rajul Mutazawij integrated AlUla into its storyline, positioning it as a romantic getaway. The results were striking: destination familiarity, consideration and associations with luxury and unique experiences all rose significantly, while the content achieved an 87 per cent natural brand fit score – reinforcing the power of authentic storytelling to shape destination perceptions.
This effectiveness is reflected across tourism campaigns on MBC platforms more broadly. Ad recall reached 44 per cent on television and 53 per cent on MBC Shahid, significantly outperforming global benchmarks, while consideration uplift hit 19 and 22 points respectively – demonstrating that well-integrated content drives measurable movement across the destination marketing funnel.
The same principles have been applied across a range of destinations and formats. Tourism messaging has been integrated into Turkish adaptations, Egyptian drama series and major entertainment franchises such as Arabs Got Talent and Top Chef. Dedicated travel series across MBC linear channels and MBC Shahid have also enabled destinations to tell deeper, more immersive stories.
Working with tourism boards across Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Dubai, Bahrain, Abu Dhabi, Jordan and Egypt, among others, we have consistently found that destination branding performs best when it adopts an always-on content strategy rather than a campaign-only mindset. Tactical messaging delivered through lifestyle and magazine programming plays an important role, but its impact is amplified when combined with high-reach entertainment properties, celebrity endorsements and culturally relevant storytelling that audiences actively choose to engage with.
Yet destination branding today extends beyond entertainment. News platforms are becoming increasingly important, particularly when the objective includes attracting investment, business activity and talent alongside tourism. Al Arabiya, for example, reaches decision-makers, business leaders and affluent audiences through a mix of daily programming and long-form destination features.
Beyond conventional travel content, Al Arabiya has produced advertorial series for destinations including Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, highlighting tourism opportunities alongside economic development, investment potential and specialised sectors such as medical tourism. The result is a more holistic destination narrative – one that speaks not only to travellers but also to investors, entrepreneurs and business communities.
These examples reflect a broader shift in how destinations are marketed today. Destination brands are no longer built through individual campaigns; they are built through ecosystems of content. The destinations that succeed will be those that understand not only where people want to travel, but why they choose one destination over another.
In the years ahead, the destinations that win will not necessarily be those with the biggest marketing budgets, but those that build the strongest emotional and cultural connections with audiences around the world.
By Latifa Al Janahi, Client Growth Director, MMS.
