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European Travel Commission's 'I Wish I Were There' Social Media Contest

The European Travel Commission launched a social media contest entitled, "I Wish I Were There." Hosted on the ETC's official Facebook page, the contest will encourage fans to superimpose images of themselves in their dream European destination and post the new photos to the Facebook page to be automatically entered to win a trip for two to Europe.

"I Wish I Were There" is the first of three exciting social media contests that are slated to take place on the European Travel Commission's social networks over the course of the year as part of a new creative campaign to promote Europe as a tourism destination to the U.S. consumer. The "Follow Your Dreams: Visit Europe" campaign aims to educate travelers on the compelling tourism offerings available within Europe with an emphasis on history, culture and gastronomy.

The top five photos will be selected by the greatest number of "Likes" obtained by Visit Europe Facebook fans and entered for online voting to determine the Grand Prize Winner, who will be awarded a dream European vacation to their destination of choice from a selection of three European travel destinations - Austria, Croatia or Poland. The national tourism organizations of each country will be offering sponsored inclusive of hotel stays, ground transportation and cultural activities for the winner and one guest.

ETC's web portal www.visiteurope.com along with its dynamic social networks offers travelers activities, tools and tips to help consumers organize their journey to Europe and encourages travelers to share their own experiences and read others while accessing photos, videos and social networks.

Source: www.visiteurope.com, http://www.prnewswire.com

The "My Sarajevo Photo" project

A dynamic new web site and ongoing photo competition launched in Sarajevo this month will be uniting citizens, visitors and the tourism industry in a scheme aimed at creating a database of high-quality photos for promoting Sarajevo as a tourism destination.

Branding Sarajevo required strong promotional materials with top-notch photographs, and the new web site www.mojaslikasarajeva.net will provide the BiH tourism industry with a free database of at least 2,500 high-quality photos capturing different aspects of life in Sarajevo.

The "My Sarajevo Photo" project represents one of the activities defined in the cooperation agreement between the City of Sarajevo and the USAID-Sida FIRMA Project that was signed in January 2011. "'My Sarajevo Photo' is a project with which Sarajevo Navigator, in cooperation with the City of Sarajevo, starts working on the branding of Sarajevo as a tourism destination," said Nedim Lipa of Sarajevo Navigator at a press conference on July 7.

"With this project, we aim to present an image of Sarajevo as seen through the eyes of its citizens as well as its visitors," he said, while also thanking the USAID-Sida FIRMA Project for its support.

At the heart of this project is an ongoing public web competition for the best photo of Sarajevo. The photos will be published on the website, which is connected with the social network Facebook, where people can rate and comment on them. All the photos will be stored in a database with view and search options, while the latest submissions and those with the most Facebook votes will be more prominently placed on the web site.

"We expect this activity to contribute to tourists’ decisions to visit the city, while building a sense of pride and belonging among its citizens. The people of Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as tourists will be able to participate in the monthly competition for the best photo of Sarajevo, and the photos will then be available for use by tourism stakeholders," said David King, Chief of Party of the USAID-Sida FIRMA Project, at the press conference.

Source: mojaslikasarajeva.net/ba, www.emg.rs

My Story Is Written in Albuquerque

A new promotion by the city of Albuquerque and the Albuquerque Convention & Visitors Bureau encourages “Burqueños” to tell their stories about the city — and possibly win a trip for friends or family to visit the Duke City.

So far there are 24 stories among the entries and the idea is to grow the ranks of local ambassadors, said Dale Lockett, president and CEO of the ACVB.

“The goal of this campaign is to capture the stories and different viewpoints about why we love calling this city home, which are many of the same reasons people visit,” Lockett said. “Hearing stories from our residents will help us showcase the vast array of experiences that are available in our city — to locals and visitors alike.”

Albuquerque residents are invited to write their own stories and submit a photo at the site, MyABQstory.com. They are also encouraged to click on a link to send family and friends a virtual Albuquerque Visitors Guide.

The site features a Flickr photostream of Albuquerque pictures that people can use with their entries. They can also post their own photo. There is also a link to ACVB’s YouTube channel. The Facebook and Twitter options let contestants share their stories more widely. The site also offers lists of things to do, including some that are free or cost less than $10.

Source: www.bizjournals.com, www.itsatrip.org