CIIC Cultivates Cala Luna Boutique Hotel & Villas

Overview & Challenge

For independent eco-boutique hotel Cala Luna Boutique Hotel and Villas in Tamarindo, Costa Rica, we stay keen on feasible and worthy opportunities under the hotel’s boutique capabilities. As a wellness and sustainability-focused 39-room hotel located within a leatherback turtle sanctuary, Cala Luna has a unique position in these continuously growing sectors within the travel industry. To this end we looked to promote these differentiating elements to media, influencers and within on-budget partnerships and giveaways. As well, we looked to create word-of-mouth buzz and increase the property’s social media profile with a social strategy involving content creation, on-site photography, community management and a curated aesthetic to craft a unified image for the property across Facebook and Instagram.

Secondary research involved the hotel’s social network insights and the hotel’s visitor statistics, which gave us a snapshot of audience demographics to target, particularly the high rates of visitors in weddings/romance, wellness, and adventure travel markets. These insights also signified the hotel’s low season of May to August, during which we partially aimed our efforts to increase awareness.

Strategy

To kick off our campaign executed partnerships for Cala Luna on a strictly organic/trade basis, securing partners in exchange for accommodations and/or experiences non-inclusive of airfare. In July 2018 we placed Cala Luna in a social-driven giveaway estimated to have reached more than one million email impressions and minimum 20,000 entries. For the sole exchange of a two- to four-night stay for two guests, we joined Cala Luna with esteemed brands and partners including Passion Passport (936K followers at the time), La Jolla Mom (40.3k followers at the time), Outside Magazine (881K followers at the time) and Chillbo (17.4K followers at the time). In exchange for the room trade, Cala Luna received cross-promotion across the partner brands; a list of all sign-ups for future marketing outreach; social media exposure and the use of its image and approved copy used on sign-up page. Through this partnership, we were able to effortlessly impact the hotel’s varied markets including luxury travel, adventure and family outlets. Next, we coordinated a partnership with curated sustainable hotel booking platform Kind Traveler to promote the hotel on its newsletter and blog, as well as the hotel’s own dedicated page. In exchange for eight room nights and PR support from the agency, through which we tout Cala Luna’s status as a Kind Traveler hotel, the website provides its partners with continued editorial coverage. Under our campaign Cala Luna has won numerous accolades, most recently chosen as Boutique Hotel of the Year 2019 from BLLA, which recognizes excellence in the boutique sector, as well as nominations in Conde Nast Traveler 2018 Reader’s Choice Awards and Travel + Leisure’s World’s Best Awards 2019, which we achieved through our strong editor relationships. Our strong editor relationships also extend to Brides, which has often featured Cala Luna in editorial coverage to its more than one million monthly readers, most recently as a great honeymoon destination during the hotel’s low season of summer.

Results

• Total Circulation/Impressions: 74,731,900

• Total Estimated Editorial Value: $323,075

• + 43,500 Social Media Interactions via Influencers

• +10,000 Social Media Interactions via Cala Luna Social Media