Because of its relative location to the UK, it’s not practical to fly to South Africa for a weekend getaway. It’s a long-haul flight and a big adventure. And big adventures take careful planning.

These are the kind of trips that appeal to wanderlusters – affluent under-40s, who are always looking for their next big getaway.

Wanderlusters don’t follow the mainstream or holiday in places overrun with UK tourists. They prefer going off the beaten track and discovering things for themselves – before any of their friends.

To help in this quest, they read travel journalism for tips on new places to discover, and love learning about how the locals live.

So to let them discover South Africa, we would give them something they hadn’t seen before: the world’s first five-minute holiday.

We raised awareness of pop-up events in Manchester and London, with digital outdoor ads in and around our event locations, and through geo-targeted Facebook ads.

We amplified our videos on social, becoming the first government organisation to take advantage of 360-degree video formats on Facebook and YouTube.

We embedded the films on the South Africa Tourism board website, alongside additional 360-degree photography, and supported our immersive experiences with two content hubs.

The first, built in partnership with travel website Secret Escapes, featured travel guides and videos about South Africa’s lesser-known activities, alongside hotel and holiday offers.

The second, built in partnership with The Guardian, was a first for the newspaper. It included features by Guardian journalists, travelogues and videos.

We supported both hubs with display and social, editorial links and paid search.

Now Brits are ready to experience South Africa for real.

• Our immersive 360-degree videos were watched 5m times.

• Engagement rate was 15% – smashing the Facebook average of 1%.

Our Secret Escapes and Guardian hubs received 600,000 page views in three months.

And attitudes began changing. Among people exposed to the Oculus Rift experience:

• 88% said they were considering visiting South Africa – up from 32% before the events (+56%)

• 75% said they would recommend South Africa as a travel destination – up from 21% before the events (+54%)

Most importantly, Brits are now looking and booking flights to South Africa.

• Holiday bookings through Secret Escapes are up 451% YOY, generating over £206k in revenue. That’s an ROI of 37% on the project investment.

The campaign is now being rolled out around the world with Oculus Rift events in Australia, USA, and the Netherlands.