Destinations Dressing up for Valentine's Day

Since this is the "Love" week of the year, its a nice opportunity to have a look at some -Valentine's special- online & offline marketing initiatives that caught our eye.

We liked what we saw, with VisitPhilly rolling out its first sweepstakes, a highly targeted initiative focused on couples, aiming to increased room nights and not missing the chance to lift Facebook engagement and destination awareness.  "LOVE is in the Air" at the City of Waynesboro as well, where as part of the Virginia is For Lovers campaign, Virginians have the opportunity to put their love on display and drive visitation to the city.

'Get a Room' with 29 Nights of Philly Dates

The Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation (GPTMC) continues capitalizing on its successful 3 year old “With Love” destination brand campaign with a special "Love" Facebook contest running throughout February.

With this initiative is sends its sleepover message exclusively to couples, since according to a GPTMC hotel visitor survey, this was the most popular trip type from January through March.

The new 29 Nights of Dates sweepstakes, part of a $825,000 winter campaign—running January through March— feature more than 60 prizes on facebook.com/visitphilly, all aimed at getting couples to spend a night or two in a Philadelphia hotel this winter.

Apart from the goal of increasing room nights around the region, at the same time VisitPhilly uses the contest as an opportunity to lift  its Facebook page engagement as well, showcasing the entire region and offering targeted destination information.

According to the survey, a winter "getaway with a spouse/partner" is the #1 reason people are traveling to Philadelphia in Q1 (39%). This figure gave VisitPhilly the incentive to run the promotion, engaging their visitors with something that they were already seeking, as Robert Pierson from GPTMC explained to us.

More than $13,000 in fun, romantic prizes have been offered from local businesses to be given away every day during the month of February, while most of the prizes are centered around visitor needs like hotel nights, restaurants, attractions, events, and things to do in the city.

Fans of facebook.com/visitphilly will have a chance to win one of 29 fun, romantic and inspired Philly dates (nice way to take advantage of the extra -leap year-February day. All who enter to win a date will also be eligible to nab the grand prize on February 29: a red two-seat Vespa and a couple of With Love-branded helmets.

Love is In The Air of Waynesboro

Waynesboro Tourism is holding a special photo contest dedicated to Love this month. In partnership with the Virginia is for Lovers campaign, they are giving Virginians the opportunity to put their love on display at their first annual Love is in the Air event and photo contest.

A 6 ft tall, 16 ft long Virginia is for Lovers LOVE artwork is on display for photo opportunities from Feb. 11-Feb. 15 at a central city location, while the photos can be shared on Your Waynesboro Facebook Page, Virginia is For Lovers Facebook Page and Twitter using #LOVEVA. The aim is to increase visitation to down town Waynesboro and enjoy a day filled with LOVE events.

Katie McElroy, tourism director for the City of Waynesboro and coordinator for bringing the LOVE artwork to Waynesboro, said this is the first year Waynesboro has planned this event.

The LOVE artwork is part of the "Virginia is for Lovers" campaign, which promotes the message that love is at the heart of every Virginia vacation," McElroy said.

The LOVE artwork has made stops at Virginia Welcome Centers, attractions and localities throughout 2011 and will travel to more locations in the Commonwealth in 2012.

Source: www.virginia.org