Wilderness film dubbed ‘Wilderness Brand’ has been selected as one of the finalists in the 2023 International Tourism Film Festival Africa (ITFFA) awards to be held in Capetown South Africa from the 2nd -6th May 2023.
The film, shot in Botswana (Okavango Delta and Linyanti), Namibia and Rwanda within a period of 16 days in 2022 by Camp 4 Collective Production Company captures the beauty of the unique flair, fauna, heritage and culture of these countries that Wilderness operates in.
In an interview, Wilderness Chief Marketing Officer Simone Strahle explained that through the film with global expansion they wanted to put Wilderness on the map, raise awareness about a brand that has been setting standards for conservation tourism for decades. He said Wilderness offers the antidote with bespoke safari experiences, adding that the film gives viewers a taste of the sensory explosion they get when travelling the destinations.
“The initiative was part of the wider Wilderness group brand initiative, underscoring our purpose and commitment to drive positive impacts for conservation and communities as we work to increase the world’s wilderness together,” Strahle stated.
He noted that in showcasing the pristine wilderness in the film, as well as the rich culture and heritage of so many people across their footprint, they highlight the impact and potential impact their work can create.
“The hope and ambition, as we have seen in Botswana through the recent Botswana Impact Report is to scale the positive and meaningful impacts we have in our industry across the value chain and indeed beyond,” said Strahle.
He is of the view that more people being attracted to visit their properties does not only mean highlighting what the beauty of Botswana has to offer, but means support of the socio-economic development and the related impacts on GDP, employment creation and support for related industries.
According to Strahle the film targets the adventurer seeker, the conscious traveller and someone who is looking for something unique, rare and irreplaceable. “Our audience is looking for destinations that give them exclusive access to the farthest-flung part of the earth that seek uncommonly intimate encounters with nature, they see travel as an investment in themselves, a way to unlock new parts of their identities and better understand nature,” he said.
He added that the film was launched in conjunction with the Wilderness rebrand. Stahle stressed that a new logo, visual expression system and art-direction had been created to better position Wilderness amongst the competitors and to stand the test of time ahead global expansion.
ITFFA was founded in 2019 to honours all video content related to the tourism and travel industry, the works with exceptional and innovative content created on all continents and used in different platforms. ITFFA aims to contribute towards stimulating the development of the national and African audio-visual industry, and at the same time, to give visibility and recognition to the work of many talented men and women and integrate the global creative community.
