IF PEOPLE FROM AROUND THE WORLD COULDN’T TRAVEL TO MECCA, THEIR STORIES OF MECCA COULD TRAVEL AROUND THE WORLD.
Mecca, Saudi Arabia, is packed with pilgrims from around the world, on two festive occasions of Ramadan and Eid that were relevant to 1 billion people worldwide. But, for the first time in history and in our lives, Mecca was empty due to the coronavirus lockdown in 2020, as it was closed off to pilgrims from around the world. Almosafer, an online booking platform wanted to be top of mine when the skies opened. With a freeze on marketing spends and high-budget film productions, and with no pilgrims nor shoots with people allowed, we launched a crowdsourcing campaign using Twitter, WhatsApp and Instagram. We invited people from Saudi Arabia and the world to share their stories of Mecca. People from 52 countries contributed their memories in Ramadan. We sifted through 12 hours of stories to find the best UGC. And created a vertical format social media ‘story’, showing a journey to Mecca and the pilgrimage, through people’s eyes.
