A Splash On YouTube – Aug 12, 2009

We’ve captured the Inner Harbour scene during the 20th Annual Bayview Residences Symphony Splash and compressed it into just a few minutes. Follow the YouTube link and watch thousands of people come together and enjoy the largest outdoor symphony concert in British Columbia.
 
Watch the barge being pushed into place, the crowds grow, the moon rise and much more!
Don’t watch it just once – it’s better the second time.

Video URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEhbTivLgwY  
Tourism Victoria’s YouTube Channel: TourismVictoriaBC

Member YouTube Videos – Jul 29, 2009

Tourism Victoria Members – Do you have YouTube videos promoting your tourism products?

If you do, Tourism Victoria would like to feature them as links on our YouTube Channel, TourismVictoriaBC.

This is a fantastic opportunity to work together and provide a “one-stop-shop” for visitors interested on seeing Victoria and everything the city has to offer.

To participate send your YouTube video link to Kelsi Woodward, Communications Coordinator.

Tourism Victoria Update – Jul 15, 2009

Tourism Victoria has a lot on the go, here’s a sample of the projects we are working on:

TV Commercials
Tourism Victoria launched a four week television campaign with Canwest Global stations in three key markets beginning July 13, 2009.  A 60 second spot will be airing twenty times on  these stations: CHEK Victoria (audience - Vancouver Island, Northern Washington and the Lower Mainland), Kelowna (audience – entire Okanagan Valley), and Kamloops (audience – entire Thompson Valley).
 
Kelowna and Kamloops Schedule:
2 spots in the Early Morning News per week/each station

3 spots in Weekday rotation per week/each station

 
CHEK Victoria Schedule:

3 spots in the Local Evening News per week

2 spots in Weekday Rotation per week

 
The “match” video from our recent YouTube videos has been re-worked as the creative and will drive traffic to tourismvictoria.com. This video has tested well with live audiences and is gaining views virally on the web.
 
The goal of this cost effective campaign is to reach our key short haul markets within B.C. and Northern Washington while once again surprising these audiences with Victoria’s playful side. The cost effectiveness of this campaign is due to Tourism Victoria’s growing relationship with CHEK TV and re-purposing the existing creative.

www.tourismvictoria.com – Jul 15, 2009

Beginning today you can now see redesigned navigation on tourismvictoria.com.
We have moved to a Consumer/Visitor focus, with 3 main headers: Accommodations, Things to Do & See and Plan Your Trip. A few other updates you may notice; Travel Professional and Member headers are now located at the top of the page and all headers and sub-headers are now clickable.

We continue to work on major updates to the site that include a new search-engine friendly version of the member directory, strategic changes to the site behind the scenes, an updated and more search-engine friendly blog strategy, and an integrated social media strategy that will help drive more traffic to the site and our members. 
You will also notice the new bold, black, grey & white section under Go Shopping which includes a link called “Book Accommodation Online”, this goes directly to the Go Shopping/ Accommodation search, as well as the option to “Book by Phone 1-800-663-3883″. 
 
Additional updates:
 - Below our Image Library, you will find links to Tourism Victoria’s YouTube, Twitter and Facebook pages.
 - At the bottom of our home page, a TripAdvisor logo is also new, placed in exchange for a one year Featured Destination Placement on www.tripadvisor.com.
 - A new feature slide for Treasures has been created and uploaded, while keeping our Place Your Face and Olympic Torch Relay slides in their current rotation.
 - Tourism Victoria has also revised the “locations” filter options on the site that will be clearer to visitors.

Tourism Victoria’s Latest News – Apr 22, 2009

Here’s the latest news from Tourism Victoria.  

Tourism Victoria Launches Four New Videos on YouTube
Tourism Victoria is using a new medium as part of its 2009 digital strategy: YouTube.com. Tourism Victoria has launched four videos on YouTube.com, the leader in online videos. By creating unique and attention-grabbing videos, Tourism Victoria is taking advantage of YouTube.com’s world-wide audience to market our destination. The videos can be viewed by visiting www.tourismvictoria.com/videos or by searching “TourismVictoriaBC” on YouTube.com. Among the videos is “A Match That’s Nowhere To Be Found” a concept submitted by Graham Richard Parrish from the Camosun College School of Business during Tourism Victoria’s spring Student Video Contest.
 
“This cost-effective medium is significantly different than television, and therefore the creative had to be unique and non-traditional”, said Robert Gialloreto, President & CEO of Tourism Victoria. “With the viral nature of YouTube.com you never know what’s going to be popular and generate buzz. We are optimistic the variety of the videos we’ve produced will generate attention for our destination and additional web traffic.” 

Sunshine Guaranteed? – ABSOLUTELY!
Tourism Victoria stands behind their guarantee! After raining 12.8mm on Sunday, April 12, 2009 – 0.3mm more than Tourism Victoria assured in the spring promotion Sunshine… Guaranteed, cheques for $500 have been issued to three booking parties.
 
Jennifer Harbin from Edmonton, AB, is one of those benefiting from the unusually heavy rainfall and she says the rain didn’t stop her family from seeing the city during their 3 night stay. “We had a nice time,” said Harbin. “We found lots of great things to do, it’s a wonderful city.” Harbin said that even though it did rain, they filled their time enjoying the scenery when the weather permitted, and enjoying the indoor attractions during showers. Harbin remarked she wasn’t sure she qualified, but is thrilled Tourism Victoria wrote her a cheque and loves the promotion.
 
“We are so pleased that visitors to Victoria are able to take advantage of this promotion,” said Robert Gialloreto, President & CEO of Tourism Victoria. “The short-term weather forecast calls for sunshine but it’s no secret that weather on the West Coast is unpredictable, and with the promotion running through the end of May, there’s lots of opportunity for everyone to take advantage.”
 
Details about the limited time offer are available by phone at 1-800-663-3883 or by visiting www.tourismvictoria.com/sunshine.