Telling the story of a Portuguese journey through illustration and emotion. Authentic, never cliché.
Visit Portugal
Tags
copywriting, storytelling, scriptwriting, multimedia storytelling
Pena Palace, Sintra
Visit Portugal is the official body for promoting tourism in Portugal. It is also a brand increasingly focused on creating projects that connect with people through authenticity and cultural sensitivity.
What was the challenge?
When Visit Portugal wanted to inspire travellers, they needed words that captured the country’s spirit. Instead of generic tourism slogans, the challenge was to tell stories that felt alive.
As a result, they partnered with the Urban Sketchers: a group of international illustrators who travelled from north to south, capturing Portugal freehand in its landscapes, colours and details.
We created copywriting that highlighted this visual journey into a moving video script that would capture the spirit of the trip and spark emotion, without sounding like an advert or a tourist brochure.
This approach proved that good storytelling goes beyond description. It brings places to life and makes people want to pack their bags.
What I did in this project
Full script for the final video
Drawing on visual notes, interviews and testimonies from the artists involved, I crafted a text with an emotional and engaging tone.
Texts for the project’s website
I translated the sketchers’ drawings and emotions into a sensory, cinematic narrative that highlighted the human connection with the land, while ensuring consistency with the brand identity and strategic tourism goals.
Urban Sketchers Symposium exhibition in Porto
The Visit Portugal x Urban Sketchers project led to an international exhibition, where I wrote the texts presented at the exhibition and helped strengthen the connection between place, storytelling and tourism.
Collaboration with the creative team
It was essential to bring together copy, photographs, illustrations, travellers’ raw notes and tourist information, and strategically weave them into a final piece that reinforced Portugal’s emotional identity.
Watch the video
The film invites viewers to see Portugal through a different lens: not as a tourist destination, but as a place to be lived and felt.
The storytelling added emotional depth to the video, reinforcing the campaign’s authenticity and positioning Portugal as a country to be felt and experienced at a slower pace, while giving special prominence to the artists who sketched it.
Storytelling
The way Rafaela guides the viewer, sparking curiosity and emotion in every line, shows not only mastery of language but also a rare gift for storytelling. Her work elevated the project’s narrative, making it more complete, memorable and moving.
António Gaspar, Head of Brand Operations, Visit Portugal
