World tourism slogans range from lovely to laughable
El Salvador: "The 45 Minute Country."
New Zealand: "100% Pure."
Slovakia: "Travel in Slovakia — Good Idea."
Well, let's go and find out.
Recently, the British travel site Family Break Finder assembled a list of tourism slogans, from the hugest nations to the smallest.
Quick question: What new tourism slogan does the U.S. use to attract international tourists?
"All Within Your Reach."
Which is kind of humdrum, compared to some jazzier slogans out there.
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Self promotion
One slogan I love is Canada's: "Keep Exploring."
I also like Moldova's: "Discover the Routes of Life."
Denmark claims the slogan "The Happiest Place on Earth" because it often comes out on top of lists of best places to live. Boy, does that confuse it with Disney's Magic Kingdom.
Meanwhile, some of the most grandiose slogans come from the smallest nations.
Honduras claims "Everything is Here." The Dominican Republic promises "Dominican Republic Has it All." The Ukraine advertises "It's All About U."
Too humble
The most common words used in tourism slogans, the Family Break editors found, were Beautiful, Experience, Discover and Life.
One country that uses none of these words is Jordan, with the extremely modest and slightly despairing new slogan "Yes, it's Jordan."
Yes, well, I guess it is.
Some slogans seem to have lost something in the translation. Hungary's is "Think Hungary — More than Expected." Tunisia's slogan is "I Feel Like Tunisia."
Sometimes you feel like a nut, and sometimes you feel like Tunisia.
El Salvador's supposed catchy slogan, "The 45 Minute Country" apparently refers to the fact that you can get to most tourism attractions within 45 minutes — but actually, the list has it wrong. The actual tourism slogan of the Central American nation is the far more boring and tedious "El Salvador Impressive!" Time for a change?
Still, there are some splendid slogans out there.
I love the African nation of Djibouti's lyrical slogan, "Djibeauty." I am fond of Greece's top-notch slogan, "All Time Classic." Both Lesotho's "Kingdom in the Sky" and Cambodia's "Kingdom of Wonder" slogans also make me want to pack my suitcase and go.
Which brings us back to New Zealand's slogan, "100% Pure." That sounds suspiciously like the state of Michigan's popular slogan "Pure Michigan." Our slogan was invented in 2006 and is marking its 10th anniversary. When was New Zealand's slogan invented?
Um, in 1999. So our state's brilliant, original idea apparently copied the Kiwis, not the other way around.
To see the whole fun list of world tourism slogans and an interactive map that lets you check by nation, see www.familybreakfinder.co.uk/holidays/map-every-countrys-tourism-slogan/.
And have a beautiful experience of wonderful discoveries while you're at it.
Contact Detroit Free Press Travel Writer Ellen Creager: ecreager@freepress.com, 313-222-6498.