Explore Seattle Southside Turns Microadventures Into a Collectible Travel Experience
What if discovering a destination started with opening a mystery box?
ON PR client Explore Seattle Southside is giving travelers a new way to explore with the launch of its Microadventure Mystery Box campaign, a playful travel experience built around five original collectible characters inspired by some of the destination’s most unexpected attractions, stories and experiences.
The limited-edition “Seattle Southsiders” each represent a different side of the destination:
B. Tea is an extraterrestrial obsessed with bubble tea, connecting Seattle Southside’s Bubble Tea Trail with the region’s famous Maury Island Incident and UFO lore.
Chomper, a sixgill shark, takes visitors into the incredible range of international restaurants and flavors found throughout Seattle Southside.
Glider, an aviation-loving harbor seal, celebrates the destination’s connections to flight, aviation history and experiences like indoor skydiving.
Bubbles, a giant Pacific octopus, highlights more than 20 family-friendly attractions throughout the region.
And Herb, a prehistoric giant sloth inspired by one discovered during construction of SEA Airport in 1961, leads travelers toward botanical gardens, trails and birdwatching.
Visitors don’t know which character they’ll receive until their free Mystery Box arrives. From there, the collectible becomes a jumping-off point for a real-life microadventure.
A QR code on each character unlocks Explore Seattle Southside’s Our Favorite Things Pass, featuring exclusive offers at local attractions and restaurants, including buy-one-get-one-free admission at The Museum of Flight, Seattle Chocolate Factory Tour and Waterland Arcade.
Travelers can also enter to win a $1,430 Ultimate Microadventure Getaway, including a hotel stay, dining and experiences at some of the destination’s top attractions.
Turning Destination Storytelling Into an Experience
For our team at ON PR, one of the things we love about this campaign is how many different pieces of destination storytelling come together in one concept.
Seattle Southside has an incredible range of stories to tell: international dining, aviation, quirky Pacific Northwest history, outdoor recreation, family attractions and even UFO lore. Rather than trying to fit all of those experiences under a single traditional travel theme, the Seattle Southsiders give each one its own personality.
The mystery-box format also brings an element of surprise and collectibility to the campaign. Instead of simply telling travelers where to go, it gives them a reason to engage, discover a character and then follow that character into the destination.
That creates plenty for our PR team to work with, too. From the collectible trend and travel deals to family travel, food, aviation and offbeat Pacific Northwest experiences, the campaign provides multiple storytelling angles for different media audiences.
As Explore Seattle Southside CEO Mark Everton describes it, the goal is to inspire travelers to experience a side of the destination they might not have expected.
That spirit of discovery is exactly what makes Seattle Southside such a fun destination to promote — and this campaign such a natural fit.
Ready to find out which Seattle Southsider you’ll get? Visit MicroadventureMysteryBox.com to claim a free Mystery Box, explore the characters and enter to win the Ultimate Microadventure Getaway.
About Explore Seattle Southside
Explore Seattle Southside (Seattle Southside Regional Tourism Authority) has a bold vision to reimagine the way people travel. Established in 1999, Explore Seattle Southside is the destination marketing organization for the cities of SeaTac, Tukwila, Des Moines and beyond. Also known as the curiously wonderful destination for exploring the Pacific Northwest, Explore Seattle Southside showcases the Seattle Southside region with pride and imagination as an ideal travel destination for leisure and business travelers to explore Western Washington and as an idyllic place for meeting and event planners to hold their events. Explore Seattle Southside is funded by a Tourism Promotion Area (TPA) assessment and was recognized three years in a row, 2023-2025—thanks to a commitment to empowering employees and an ambitious vision for the future—as one of Washington State’s Top 100 Best Workplaces. Learn more at www.seattlesouthside.com.