Throughout the filming of the United Arab Emirates-produced show, over half a million social media fans — or “Peeta Pilots” as they are called due to their directorial role — can #hashtagalong and choose the show’s destinations, featured guests, music, and even what the hosts eat.
As both an incentive and a reward for their input, Peeta Pilots can win prizes by engaging in social media contests in each country. Competitions employ creativity, photo submissions, and scavenger hunts and offer prizes from Peeta Planet’s global partner, InterContinental Hotels & Resorts. Prizes up for grabs in Mumbai include dinner at InterContinental Marine Drive restaurants Long & Short and Kebab Korner, and weekend stays in the hotel’s sought after seafront-facing rooms.
To kick off Season 2, Peeta Planet held a Facebook and Twitter contest in which Peeta Pilots chose three of the show’s twelve destinations (indicated by * in the lineup schedule below):
Jan 23 – Jan 29: Mumbai, India
Jan 30 – Feb 4: Johannesburg, South Africa
Feb 5 – Feb 11: Manila, Philippines
Feb 14 – Feb 20: Mexico City, Mexico
Feb 20 – Feb 25: *San Jose, Costa Rica*
Feb 26 – Mar 3: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Mar 4 – Mar 9: *Santiago, Chile*
Mar 15 – Mar 21: Amman, Jordan
Mar 21 – Mar 27: *Athens, Greece*
Mar 27 – Apr 1: Rome, Italy
Apr 1 – Apr 7: Madrid, Spain
Apr 8 – Apr 13: Mystery destination to be revealed in February
Rather than treading the tired tourist trails in these cities, Peeta Planet hosts and executive producers, Mohamed and Peyman Al Awadhi, interact with their social media community to practice “social travel”—through the eyes of local people following their passions and paving their own roads in their communities.
Clad in their traditional Emirati dress of kandorah, the Al Awadhi brothers travel off the beaten path on a personalised journey of cross-cultural idea exchange, spotlighting local innovators recommended by Peeta Pilots.
Whether they’re innovating in the fields of arts and culture, social enterprise, or technology, all local people featured on Peeta Planet are inspiring entrepreneurial spirits. The ambitions and struggles of these outstanding insiders mirror those of the Emirati brothers, who are restaurant and media entrepreneurs themselves.
The Al Awadhi brothers encourage passionate Peeta Pilots around the world to use Peeta Planet as a resource for their own social travel and engaging in deeper discussion about ideas presented on the show.
The Peeta Planet social media community consists of over 500,000 Google Plus followers; 22,000 Facebook fans; 8,200 Instagram followers; 5,400 Twitter followers and 3,700 YouTube subscribers between the ages of 25-45 and mostly from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, other Gulf states, and Egypt. These countries also just happen to have the world’s highest smartphone penetration (UAE) and the world’s top consumers of YouTube (Saudi Arabia)--a spectacular resource for a show driven by social media.
During their travels, the Peeta Planet team will be the guests of their global partner, InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, and will benefit from the hotels’ extensive knowledge of the cities.
Bruce Ryde, InterContinental Hotels & Resorts Brand Management Director, for IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group) across Asia, Middle East, and Africa, comments, “InterContinental Hotels has a long heritage as a pioneer in the Middle East and around the world, so we are excited to be a part of this innovative travel show which harnesses the power of social media to empower and inspire travelers. As a leading international hotel brand, our guests trust InterContinental to deliver quality and consistency, but they also look to us for personalised and authentic local experiences. Our knowledgeable concierges and passionate staff are key to delivering on this promise and we are looking forward to developing an enriching dialogue with Peeta Pilots around the world through Peeta Planet’s unique social travel show.
To help this sizeable and enthusiastic social media community realize their social travel dreams, Google has partnered with Peeta Planet. “Today everything is about social and mobile, so it’s no surprise that travel is heading in that same direction,” said Maha Aboul Enein, Google’s Head of Communications for the MENA region. “Peeta Planet is a breakthrough ‘social travel’ TV show, influenced and directed by its followers. Google is excited to be a part of the journey, providing a ‘digital’ concierge to help with everything travelers need or want to share through the web.”
