March 16th, 2010 
Aruba Tourism Authority’s eye-catching ArOOOHuba! advertising campaign in London has scooped a prestigious UK marketing award.
The ad, which featured on the London Underground network, won the “Best Poster Advertising” category in the annual Travel Marketing Awards, the UK’s premier assessment of the year’s best industry advertising and marketing.
The prize was collected at a gala awards dinner at London’s Park Lane Hotel on Monday (March 15) by Geoff Saltmarsh, managing director of The Saltmarsh Partnership (TSP), ATA’s PR and marketing agency for the UK, and Charles Grimsey, head of CGA Creative, TSP’s design associates. ATA’s European Regional Director, Humphrey Vrolijk, was also at the dinner to join the celebrations, together with Joanna Walding, ATA’s UK Director, as well as other directors from the agency and Netherlands-based hotel representatives.
The only travel industry event of its kind in the UK, the Travel Marketing Awards are organised by the leading professional body, The Chartered Institute of Marketing Travel Industry Group. They recognise excellence and aim to raising standards across the travel industry.
The ArOOOHuba! campaign, featuring a bikini-clad holidaymaker against an Aruba beachside background, first appeared as posters on Underground platforms and as advertisements inside train carriages early in 2009. It was part of an initial GBP150,000 (USD225,000) drive and was recently repeated to highlight for the UK market that Aruba has the “oooh” factor, with fantastic beaches, amazing weather, great events and welcoming people.
Geoff Saltmarsh commented:
“2009 was a record year for Aruba and this nomination is the best way to start 2010… The ArOOOHuba! campaign has proved extremely popular: it definitely helps put Aruba on the map and the response we are seeing from the consumers is phenomenal. This has been a long winter for Londoners and our ads put a smile on commuters’ faces!”
