The World’s Biggest YouTube RoadTrip Returns for its Third Year
The RoadTrip is a campaign where Contiki sends a bunch of YouTubers on a trip together - this generates engaging unscripted content and allows fans to follow their favourite YouTuber while experiencing why Europe is such a great destination to travel to.This year we have big news for our little corner of the world - Shannon (Shaaanxo), as featured yesterday, is going along too! She's the only person out of USA or Canada to be involved this year, and the only Kiwi to have ever been invited to join the RoadTrip since it's been running.
The World’s Biggest YouTube RoadTrip Returns for its Third Year
Contiki’s annual RoadTrip is back and bringing the world’s biggest YouTubers to the European Riviera from July 24th-August 4th for an epic online adventure
3/7/2014
What happens when the world’s biggest youth travel brand takes the world’s most influential YouTubers on an epic road trip? Adventure. Hilarity. New friendships. And some of the best unscripted online content ever produced.Contiki (contiki.com) is excited to announce the return of their hugely successful online travel series, The RoadTrip (contiki.com/roadtrip), for its third consecutive year. Taking a group of influential YouTube content creators on a once-in-a-lifetime trip to incredible destinations that Contiki travels to, The RoadTrip allows fans to follow along online as their favourite YouTubers experience why Europe is such a hot destination for young travellers, taking part in fun challenges along the way.Originating in Europe in 2012 and then heading down under to Australia in 2013, The RoadTrip 2014 returns to Europe for what is set to be the biggest to date. Heading out on Contiki’s popular Mediterranean Highlights itinerary, the trip starts in sunny Barcelona and heads through the sexy European Riviera (Nice, Florence and Rome), before finishing with a massive fan gathering in London on August 3rd.*This year’s lineup of content creators features an impressive group from around the world with a combined 13 million+ subscribers, coming together to experience Contiki’s unique European product and share their life-changing #NOREGRETS moments with fans. Viewers can expect to see returning favourites like Jesse and Jeana from BF vs. GF and Alli Speed, as well as a bunch of newcomers including:
- Lilly Singh (iiSuperwomanii), Canada
- Joey Graceffa, USA
- Shannon Harris (Shaaanxo), New Zealand
- Kalel & Anthony (Watch Us Live & Stuff) USA
- Justin James Hughes, USA
“The trend amongst millennial audiences today is that YouTubers are replacing TV and movie personalities as the stars that the generation most connects with. The Roadtrip started in 2012 as a way to for us to bring our favourite YouTube content creators together with life changing travel experiences, and has grown in a way that none of us ever expected,” said Alexis Sitaropoulos, Contiki Group Marketing Director. “It’s turned out to be a perfect collaboration – we send the YouTubers out on the road to experience what makes travelling with Contiki so unique, and they’re able to create organic, unscripted content for their loyal fans in incredible cities around the world.”It’s all kicking off July 24th, so follow along on contiki.com/roadtrip for more information on all the YouTubers and how fans can get involved in the challenges – plus, make be sure to subscribe to Contiki’s YouTube channel for daily videos throughout the trip.Life’s an adventure – make it count with absolutely #NOREGRETS.--ENDS--* Details about the London Gathering on August 3rd will be released closer to the event.
Q&A with Tony Laskey, Contiki NZ and Asia Brand Manager
I was lucky enough to chat with Tony Laskey, Contiki NZ and Asia Brand Manager - here's what he had to say:
When did The Roadtrip start?
The Roadtrip started 2 years ago in 2012. The first year it took place in Europe, last year was Australia, and now in 2014 it’s heading back to Europe.
How successful has The Roadtrip been in previous years?
Huge! It has been massively successful. And that’s reflected by the stats, in 2013 the YouTubers participating in The Roadtrip received around 26m views through their YouTube channels. In addition to that there were around 400k views of Contiki’s Roadtrip Youtube content. When it came to engagement there were around 100k comments which were overwhelmingly positive e.g. “This looks really cool”, “I wish I was there”. We also saw that 20% of traffic through the Contiki website was coming via The Roadtrip. So overall it has been extremely successful.
What will you be looking to do differently this year?
By engaging a different selection of YouTubers this year we are hoping to reach out to different people. Obviously the itinerary is different this year also with The Roadtrip heading back to Europe. This group is going to be heading to some pretty special locations too, Barcalona, the French Riviera, and also London where there will be a fan gathering event. That’s another amazing part of The Roadtrip, the level of fan engagement these YouTubers get in the areas they travel. In previous years at fan gatherings we have seen queues for miles, it’s absolutely phenomenal.
Why YouTube over other social networks?
These days YouTubers can be huge celebrities with massive amounts of followers, so that does play a part. Generally their audience falls into that 18-35 age group with an interest in travel, and that’s who we are ultimately looking to speak to.
Why did you choose this group of YouTubers in particular?
We spend time actively looking at YouTube throughout the year in an effort to try and identify those rising stars and to stay aware of who is doing really well. Once we start to identify those people it’s about nurturing relationships, as an example we looked to engage Shaaanxo about 12 months ago. But essentially it’s all about these people having some cool experiences that lead to great amounts of exposure and reach, and that’s invaluable.