Establishing a new global institution for the future of tourism

TOURISE was created under the patronage of the Ministry of Tourism and the Saudi Tourism Authority to address a defining moment for the global tourism sector. As tourism emerged as a major catalyst for economic growth, cultural exchange, investment, and innovation, the Kingdom sought to convene governments, global brands, investors, academics, cultural leaders and creators on a single world stage to shape the next 50 years of the industry.

The challenge was unprecedented: build the brand for a completely new global platform, not a conventional tourism conference. The brand needed to carry institutional weight while projecting creative bravery. It had to be authoritative enough for ministers and CEOs, dynamic enough for innovators, and inclusive enough to represent 100+ countries across 10 global sectors. It also had to distinguish TOURISE from existing global summits by elevating tourism from a functional industry to a world-shaping force.

Operationally, the scale was immense. The identity had to maintain clarity across multi-stage environments, an innovation zone, global media, OOH, social content, partner ecosystems, and dozens of executing agencies. The ambition was to create a brand capable of convening the world – one that projected global confidence from its first edition and established a platform for long-term growth.

 

Tourism needed a new lens, and a new kind of summit

Research into the global tourism event landscape revealed a fundamental gap: most summits talk about the future, but none shape it. Competitor brands tended to feel corporate, static or overly generic, reinforcing pre-existing sector perceptions rather than challenging them. The opportunity for TOURISE lay not in mimicking existing global summits, but in reframing the role tourism plays in society, culture and economic transformation.

Our strategic insight was centred on a simple truth: tourism’s real power is its ability to provide wider perspective. Tourism is where people meet, cultures converge, ideas collide and global understanding deepens. This became the cornerstone of the brand strategy – positioning TOURISE as a platform for convergence, collaboration and fresh vision.

This insight guided the naming logic, editorial personality, design approach and behaviour of the brand. It unlocked a strategic idea that was inventive and commercially valuable: redefine tourism as a source of global progress and create a brand system that expresses this widening of perspectives across every touchpoint.

By grounding the brand in a strategic platform rather than a theme, TOURISE gained a competitive advantage: it could evolve across future editions, expand into sub-brands like TOURISE Awards, and scale into a long-term global institution. The insight created a clear path to an imaginative solution – a visual and verbal identity that challenged norms, energised audiences, and united divergent sectors behind a shared purpose.

 

A brand built on widening perspectives and global convergence

The creative idea expressed the strategy through an identity system built around A Wider Perspective – a future-leaning viewpoint that positions TOURISE as the lens through which global tourism can see its next horizon.

Logotype

At the heart of the identity is the TOURISE logotype, whose bespoke uppercase letterforms are crafted through a wide aperture, symbolising the brand’s expanded worldview and forward-looking ambition. Its progressive, horizon-widening structure became a signature asset, expressing momentum, convergence, and clarity of vision. Confident and unmistakable at scale, it anchors the entire brand.

Visual Language: The Oval System

The visual language was anchored in TOURISE’s oval system: a family of elliptical shapes representing cultural richness, collaboration, and the meeting of global perspectives. Eclectic in nature, 25 customised graphic ovals were created to reflect themes central to tourism’s future, from energy to impact to diversity.

These forms became the brand’s expressive engine:

— As graphic compositions, they create rhythm and movement

— As frames, they bring focus to speakers, landscapes and innovations

— In motion, they expand, converge and transition, forming a kinetic identity used across film, digital screens, stage design and broadcast graphics

The system is eclectic yet coherent – reflecting a sector defined by connection, collaboration and multiplicity. All building to a multi-sensorial identity that was alive, expressive and experience led.

Colour World

A vibrant colour palette grounded by black and white amplified the brand’s energy and optimism while delivering a dynamic personality. The palette flexes seamlessly across contexts – refined during high-level diplomatic moments, bold and expressive across OOH, digital and experiential environments.

Typography

Typography played an equally vital role: the brand’s condensed typeface delivered clarity, confidence, and attitude. Its upright, impactful structure supported a messaging framework built around bold declarations and provocative statements designed to spark dialogue, inspire action and accelerate progress.

Movement & Sonic Identity

As the system evolved, the identity expanded into motion through cinematic animations and films. The ovals became portals and transitions; the colour palette drove energy; the typography structured narrative pace.

TQ also commissioned the TOURISE sonic identity – a resonant, percussion-driven sound palette capturing the tempo and vitality of the summit. This provided instant recognition across films, digital experiences and on-site environments, completing the brand’s multi-sensorial expression.

A Scalable Brand Architecture

As the summit grew, the identity evolved with it. TQ developed the brand expression for the sub-brand, TOURISE Awards, an elevated, glamorous extension of the master brand that celebrated destinations shaping the future of tourism. Rooted in the core visual system, the awards identity adopted a black-and-gold palette and refined oval treatments to deliver an exclusive, premium look and feel. TQ also designed the TOURISE Awards trophy, a sculptural, polished physical expression of the oval system, which was produced and used during the ceremony.

 

A System Designed for Real-World Performance

The identity was crafted to work across every scale and medium the summit demanded:

— Grand-format stage environments

— Wayfinding and signage

— OOH campaigns

— Social content and rapid-turnaround templates

— Program assets and partner communications

— Cinematic films and motion systems

— Digital and broadcast graphics

Brand governance ensured the system remained coherent across all partner agencies, enabling consistent implementation throughout the summit ecosystem.

The result was a design solution that justified its existence at every level – visually, culturally, behaviourally, and strategically.

 

A global platform that united the world and set a new horizon for tourism

The TOURISE brand launched with extraordinary impact. It achieved its core ambition: to convene the public and private sectors on a shared global stage and to reframe tourism as a driver of economic, cultural and societal transformation.

A Summit of Global Scale and Diversity

— 9,960+ attendees

— 100+ countries represented

— 10 global sectors convening

— 212 dignitaries, 40+ ministers, 2,000+ CEOs, 434 media representatives

This level of public–private convergence had never been achieved within the tourism sector.

 

A Program That Set the Industry Agenda

Across 67 sessions and 137 speakers, TOURISE opened a new global dialogue around AI, sustainability, destinations, investment, culture, creativity and future mobility.
Opening Night at Six Flags Qiddiya City showcased the Kingdom’s commitment to innovation, offering leaders a first-look at the world’s first city built for play.

 

A Global Communications Impact

— 2+ billion potential social reach

— 400,000+ website visits

— 5,000+ inquiries answered by the TOURISE AI concierge

 

Real Economic and Strategic Outcomes

— 900+ meetings

— 80+ announcements

— 40 MOUs signed

— $113bn USD in portfolio commitments

These results demonstrate clear commercial value and long-term strategic impact for the sector.

 

A Meaningful Brand Experience

The TOURISE brand created both tangible and intangible value:

— A framework that enabled seamless navigation, communication and storytelling across a summit of unprecedented complexity

— A coherent visual and verbal system that elevated the experience for attendees, partners and media

— A platform designed to address global challenges through collaboration, innovation and creative progress

— A brand positioned to grow into a long-term global institution shaping the industry for decades

The identity didn’t simply support the event – it made the event possible, enabling TOURISE to debut with clarity, authority and global resonance.