A series of new Bay of Plenty destination videos and their specially composed soundtrack have been viewed nearly 80,000 times since their release 12 days ago.

The Tourism Bay of Plenty campaign features singer/songwriter Eve Kelly, who was born and raised in Whakatāne, and her soulful new pop single, Dreaming.

The region’s head of destination marketing Loretta Crawford said she was thrilled with the positive response to the tourism organisation’s latest campaign, which aims to entice visitors to the coastal region while also instilling pride as locals see their favourite places and activities being promoted.

“We’ve had a tradition of collaborating with local musicians when we create our destination videos to ensure we capture our authentic regional vibe,” she said.

“It’s been exciting supporting an emerging artist this time – listening to what Eve crafted from the brief we gave her and watching her music beautifully synchronise with our stunning video imagery.”

Tourism Bay of Plenty's head of destination marketing Loretta Crawford.

The new videos feature footage gathered from across the region including Tauranga city, Mount Maunganui, Pāpāmoa, Bowentown, Te Puna Quarry Park, Whakatāne, and Ōhope.

“The natural beauty of our beaches, reserves, and walks continues to appeal to domestic and international travellers. This time we also added a focus on some of our urban locations and ever-expanding foodie options.”

While the series of short videos support Tourism Bay of Plenty’s current marketing campaign, a longer version will be presented to various audiences such as travel trade buyers, business event organisers, and other key stakeholders.

“We want them to know the Coastal Bay of Plenty is an absolutely beautiful, relaxing, and vibrant place to come for a holiday,” Crawford said.

Eve (who’s also known as Eve Lyford) released her debut single Gotta Let Go in 2022 and recently performed as ensemble/understudy Bea in the Australasian premiere of the musical Something Rotten, which ran for 10 weeks in Christchurch.

Singer/songwriter Eve Kelly's new pop single, Dreaming, soundtracks a new series of Bay of Plenty destination videos.

She’s a full-time musician and often performs in duos with her partner, guitarist Jason Herbert, who co-wrote Dreaming.

“We wanted to write a song that felt dreamy, easy listening, relaxing and sunshiny, because those are all things I love about the Bay and the exact vibe I wanted to give to the listeners – to really capture the essence of the dream destination,” said Kelly.