The tenth anniversary of the “Whale Whisperer 2020” campaign

Frankfurt am Main, Germany.- The tenth anniversary of the “Whale Whisperer” campaign organized by the Dominican Republic’s Tourism Promotion Office (OPT) in Germany, has been a success, which recently won the award for “best radio campaign ”, in 2019 by Radio Group.

With the participation of 115 candidates from Germany, Austria and Switzerland, who applied for the post of Whale Whisperer in the fall of 2019. The 23-year-old Tim Philippus from Northern Hesse convinced the jury for his excellent video skills and photography and its open and positive way.

The body was made up of representatives from the OPT, Antenne Frankfurt, Meiers Weltreisen, ReiseVor9, as well as the agencies C&C Contact & Creation GmbH and Fazit Communication GmbH.

In the webcast in English, “Marine Wonders of the Dominican Republic,” Tim Philippus spoke with Petra Cruz, Director Europe and OPT Germany and Marion Hammerl, President of the World Wide Fund for Nature, about his experiences as a whale whisperer, as well as about sustainability initiatives in the Dominican Republic.

During the whale season in Samaná, the whisperer supported the local sustainable tourism organizations Whale Samaná and the Center for Conservation and Eco-development of the Bay of Samaná and its surroundings (CEBSE) as ambassador of the environment, and in this way , actively contributed to the conservation of nature in the Dominican Republic.

Philippus not only studied and documented the behavior of whales off the Dominican coast, but also acted as a guide at the local whale museum, accompanied environmental awareness programs in schools, and participated in a reforestation project for reefs.

“I had a great time and I will never forget my experiences in Samaná, I really enjoyed the excursions with Whale Samaná and CEBSE. One of the best moments of the trip was when a huge humpback whale jumped out of the water right in front of our boat, pure goose bumps! ”Tim said excitedly.

The young whale whisperer 2020 said that in the first week he also made a trip to various destinations in the Dominican Republic, which was very impressive due to the country’s great attractions.

Interest in the “Whale Whisperer” campaign grew in 2020, with significantly higher numbers compared to the previous year: More than 67,978 visitors (2019: 55,875) followed Tim’s experiences on the blog, while the number of followers on Facebook increased by 23% to 20,160 and on Instagram by almost 50% to 1,118 fans. Overall, much more content was created on social media platforms, reaching more users, and achieving higher engagement rates.

“The increasing numbers reinforce our intention to continue to focus on the issue of sustainability in the future and to support it with our own campaign. In the past ten years, our whale whisperers have not only attracted great attention to the Dominican Republic as a travel destination, but have also increased awareness of protecting the local environment, said the director of OPT Germany.

Cruz indicated that for the aforementioned reasons, she wants to continue providing the community with interesting topics about environmentally friendly travel in the Dominican Republic, while being sure that with this new concept, fans’ expectations will be exceeded.

WHALE WHISPER

The objective of the annual campaign is not only to raise awareness about the protection of whales and the environment in the Dominican Republic, but also to present this country as an attractive destination for nature-loving tourists, culturally interested and with sustainable mindset.

The campaign has already received seven awards, including the Radio Group’s ‘Best Radio Campaign’ award of 2019, at the German Online Communication Award, in 2018, it won gold in the Sustainability category, and bronze In the Tourism category, at the Fox Awards in 2015, he won gold, while in 2014 he won silver, and at the Best of Corporate Publishing Award in 2014, he won gold and silver in 2015.