Arsenal and National Geographic team up for Visit Rwanda tourism push
London football team, Arsenal, has inked a branded content deal with National Geographic.
Arsenal has partnered with National Geographic partners
Running until 2021, the partnership will create storytelling content to highlight tourism opportunities of Arsenal's official partner - Visit Rwanda.
Visit Rwanda was named Arsenal's first official sleeve partner in 2018, as part of the countries bid to become a leading global tourist destination.
Leveraging National Geographic's storytelling capabilities, Rwanda's story will be broadcast on the publisher's digital and social travel platforms.
The photographer Charlie Hamilton James and travel writer Heather Greenwood Davies visited Rwanda to create stories and capture pictures for the campaign.
Arsenal divided opinion last year when it announced its £30m sponsorship deal with Rwanda Tourism.
A number of people questioned the intentions of Rwanda's President Paul Kagame, an avid fan of Arsenal, in spending such money when his country is one of the poorest countries in the world.
As part of the three-year deal, Arsenal legends Lauren and Alex Scott visited the country to attend Kwita Izina - the annual gorilla naming ceremony.
Discussing the partnership, Arsenal's commercial director, Pete Silverstone said: "We are extremely excited to work with National Geographic Partners to showcase the unique opportunities that Rwanda has to offer.”
“For over 130 years, National Geographic has been inspiring millions of people all over the world through groundbreaking storytelling from the best and brightest scientists, explorers and photographers. This new partnership will provide the perfect platform to share Rwanda’s story, and the incredible experiences the country offers.”
Adding to this, chief tourism officer of the Rwanda Development Board, Belise Kariza commented: “Rwanda is one of the most beautiful countries in the world and we are excited about sharing our story and rich natural heritage with the global National Geographic community.
“The Visit Rwanda partnership with Arsenal Football Club and the creation of this new platform will inspire more travellers and adventurers to look to Rwanda as their top travel destination. We look forward to welcoming them.”
