Videos Will Rule the Web- Destinations Come Alive and Inspire

Recent predictions show that video will account for 50% of all consumer internet traffic by the end of 2012, while almost 60 % of viewers watch video before reading text on the same webpage and are more likely to make a purchase.

Increasingly, consumers expect networks to deliver new capabilities - HD, personalized video, new delivery vehicles, Internet, short-form content, 3D -without delay. Cisco's Visual Networking Index predicts that by 2013, 90 % of web traffic will be video-oriented streams. With the web rapidly moving from text to video, tourism businesses and organizations need to adapt to the shift in technology in order to better engage their consumers who expect to see video everywhere online.

For quite a while we have seen several DMOs as frontrunners utilizing the power of videos, such as-just to name a few-:

Visit Britain-TV Channel

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_profilepage&v=Tbrk7SpMXwM]

New Zealand-100% Pure You

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_profilepage&v=7Nx8KHGOmm0]

or

InspiredbyIceland -User Generated Invitations

[vimeo http://vimeo.com/11838391]

Now let's have a look at how more recently a few destinations around the world have attempted to tap into these potentials integrating them in their overall marketing efforts.

Tokyo CVB Launches Free Lending Service of Video Stock Footage

The Tokyo Convention & Visitors Bureau (TCVB) recently introduced an exciting free service to lend production sections of overseas media and travel agencies its collection of video stock footage featuring 155 scenes of Tokyo, including tourist attractions, events, festivals, food and entertainment. All 155 videos are available to be downloaded at Tokyo Stock Footage.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=4NrJQphHoL4]

The videos come with music and narration-free, and comprise basic, undirected material to enable users to edit and process the footage freely. TCVB greatly encourages the use of the footage to enhance and enrich travel programs, promotion videos, and works set in Tokyo, showing the diverse tourism resources Tokyo has to offer.

Sources: tokyo-footage.com, www.eglobaltravelmedia.com.au

Travel Alberta Launches new Website and Focuses on Video Promotion

The "Remember to Breathe" campaign shows off Alberta's most stunning landscapes as well as unique and authentic experiences.

The spots are set to music composed and performed by local Alberta musicians and end with the brand slogan: Remember to breathe. Royce Chwin, Travel Alberta’s managing director of global marketing, said the images and the tagline are “powerful expressions” of what makes Alberta attractive to visitors.

Today’s travellers are looking less for specific sites and more for unique experiences, explained Chwin. The challenge was creating a brand that reached out to consumers and explained the Alberta experience, much as Newfoundland’s well-known campaign reflected the unique history and lifestyle of that province. “We needed to peel back the layers and capture the authenticity of Alberta. We wanted to give consumers some goose bump moments.”

The organization has already uploaded 15 videos to YouTube, receiving positive comments both by the industry as well as travelers. Shot on location throughout Alberta, these spot features some of the breathtaking landscapes and authentic experiences from across the province and have been filmed and paced to allow viewers to share in the emotion of the experience.

The campaign also includes print ads, posters and other print materials  from Calgary’s Karo. The new website was launched in addition to a social media component by Vancouver’sVillage & Co. Though Travel Alberta has had logos, slogans and brand promises before, this is its first overall tourism brand, said CEO Bruce Okabe.

Hawaii CVB Incorporates Augmented Reality into Chicago blitz

The Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau has partnered with London-based Aurasma to incorporate the company’s augmented-reality technology into a month long marketing saturation campaign in Chicago.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2yCU6QMC7o&feature=player_detailpage]

During the month of October, commuters traveling through Chicago’s busy Clark and Lake Station used their mobile devises to tap into a selection of videos linked to marketing images hung throughout the station. After downloading the free Aurasma program, users simply point their iPhone4, iPad2, or Android 2.2 devices at the Hawaii posters and “the images come to life.”

“This new augmented reality helps engage and tantalize potential travelers to Hawaii like never before,” Jay Talwar, the HVCB’s senior vice president of marketing, said in a statement. “Bringing one-dimensional images to life puts Chicago commuters as close to being in Hawaii as possible in a compelling way.”

HVCB officials said the Aurasma initiative is the first of its kind launched by a U.S. destination tourism campaign and is part of a monthlong marketing blitz in Chicago that has combined print, broadcast, online and outdoor advertising with public relations, consumer events and travel trade outreach.