Every industry has its competitions and awards, and the tourism industry is no different.

The Golden City Gate is an annual competition that has been held at ITB Berlin since 2001. Destinations from all over the world submit their best travel videos to this international tourism marketing competition.

Awards are given to the top three videos in each topic category; the Diamond Award is presented to the best movie in the competition. The 2012 Diamond Award was given to Travel Alberta for their video “Remember to Breathe” (see above). The entry deadline for 2013 is January 31, 2013.

Video concepts ranged from scenic imagery set to dramatic music to humor and effective storytelling. Such videos serve as inspriation — and competition — for your own tourism marketing videos. How do your own videos measure up?

Remember that tourism marketing videos don’t have to be expensive to be effective. We can work within your budget and deliver creative and quality video production that will increase your bottom line. Have an idea you want to flesh out for 2013? Give us a call and we can discuss options and possibilities to make next year your most successful yet.Tourism marketing videos don’t have to be expensive. Give us a call to discuss your own project ideas.

Here are a few of our favorite entries.

Gstadd, Come up, Slow down — Switzerland

Unbelievable Northern Lights — Finland

I am Veracruz – Mexico

The post Tourism Video Oscars: Best Tourism Videos of 2012 appeared first on Go World Communications | Custom Content Agency.

Often, that meant interaction with the PR firm for the destination I was covering. Sometimes, the firm was the first contact I had with the destination, and how I formed my initial impression.

Many times, the public relations firm was a solid source of information for me, providing key contacts, background information and even story ideas. I grew to have many strong relationships with public relations professionals during my years as a journalist.

I could write a book on what I learned during that time.

Whether the public relations firm was an asset — or a hindrance — to their tourism client depended on how well they knew the destination or travel service they were promoting.

I’m not talking about being able to reference facts and figures. Anyone can do that.

Did they actually understand the destination or tourism product enough to realize its unique assets and strengths. Were they familiar with its weaknesses?

All too often, large PR firms obtain large accounts with high-impact sales presentations, but then use interns or newbies on the actual account work. The “intern” part is not the problem. The problem is that many times the interns do not know the product — and it shows.

I quickly learned which high profile PR firms were not even worth contacting. In many cases, they had a high profile name and a NYC area code, but I could find better information about the destination on the Internet.

I’ve carried many of those lessons into my work as a public relations professional. That is why our first rule here at Go World Communications is know thy client’s product. Not just book knowledge. We actually go to each destination and experience it like a traveler. We talk to the locals and internal marketing teams. These are the only ways to uncover the stories that set your destination or travel product apart.

And it’s the best way to develop public relations campaigns that will capture a journalist’s interest, and tell your destination’s true story.

The post Know Thy Product: Public Relations Know-How appeared first on Go World Communications | Custom Content Agency.

Everyone fights stereotypes. Destinations can too. Your public relations and marketing efforts can go a long way in helping to change perspectives of your destination or travel service.

The state of Kansas is just one example.

Most know the Sunflower State, located in the American heartland, for its rural heritage. Others judge the state by what they see driving on I-70 across the state in a cross-country journey.

But if that’s all a potential visitor knew about Kansas, then they would be missing the whole story. Dig just a little deeper, and you’ll find that America’s 34th state has a unique culture all its own, with rich history and hundreds of unique experiences on offer.

So how do you communicate that in a mass medium? Video!

The innovative PR/Marketing team at Kansas Travel & Tourism is among the best in the industry. Even though they were working with a very small budget, they created a series of targeted adventures called “Yellow Brick Road Trips,” and then produced a 2-minute video for each adventure.

And that’s where we came in. Working closely with the Kansas team, we developed the videos from the ground up. Over a period of three years, our Go World video crews spent more than 11 weeks filming throughout the state, from tiny towns of 400 people to rural ranches and big cities.
The result is a 12-video series that brings the state to life (Yellow Brick Road Trips).

The series must be working well, because we recently received a comment from a Kansas native: “Wow, I had no idea that you could do all that in Kansas!”

Yes, indeed you can.

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