"Completely Philadelphia" - A New Marketing Video From Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau

Courtesy of Philadelphia CVB on YouTube

The Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau (PCVB) recently unveiled a new "Completely Philadelphia" marketing video, while highlighting their international tourism marketing efforts and announcing the return of the LIGHTFAIR(R) International (LFI) tradeshow in 2013.

The full press release can be viewed here.

On the Beach: Social Media Great for Holiday Season Planning

"Holidaymakers turn to social media for reviews and discounts," say On the Beach

UK based On the Beach report that social media is a great way to research holidays this festive season; and not just flights, but hotels and car hire as well. More and more UK travellers are turning to sites like Facebook to find polls, discounts and reviews on their prospective destinations.

40 per cent of UK holidaymakers use social media to help them research, a recent survey reports. On the Beach say social media is useful for providing a range of information including reviews, flights prices and cheap hotels.

The report, which was published by the World Travel Market, surveyed over 1000 British holidaymakers who travelled locally or overseas in 2011. One third of the respondents using social media reported that they'd changed a hotel booking after looking at social media sources.

Alistair Daly, Marketing Director at On the Beach, commented that Facebook is a useful tool for customers to exchange information. "Our On the Beach Facebook Fan Page provides a forum for customers to quickly and easily give us feedback, suggest pages to friends and look up quotes. It's a great forum in which to ask questions and get professional advice for booking a holiday."

Daly continued: "Using Facebook, we're able to keep in touch with our customers, directly addressing their issues and interests, and alerting them to the best budget deals and cheap flights to Turkey, Majorca and Portugal, to name a few."

Source: PR Newswire

Destination Video of the Day: Film hiver Vallée de Chamonix-Mont-Blanc

Courtesy of Chamonix-Mont Blanc on YouTube

Visiteurope.com Launches "Follow Your Roots: Visit Europe"

Visiteurope.com has announced the launch of their latest social media campaign and contest entitled, "Follow Your Roots: Visit Europe."

Hosted on visiteurope.com's official Facebook page, the contest invites fans to explore their European roots by sharing a family photo and description of the photo.

"Large populations of European descendants are found on nearly every continent," says Jan Rudomina, Chairman of the European Travel Commission US Operations Group. "Our goal with this contest is to encourage our fans to explore their European heritage through photos and letters in an effort to inspire travel to Europe."

Beginning today, fans of the visiteurope.com Facebook page can upload their family photo and brief description (200 words or less) describing the person(s) in the photo and the significance of following his or her roots back to Europe for a chance to win a dream European vacation for two. Voting will occur November 28 – December 5 to determine the top 10 finalists. From December 6 to December 8, a panel of judges from visiteurope.com will select the grand prizewinner from the list of finalists based on creativity and relevance to the contest theme. The grand prizewinner will be formerly announced via Facebook on December 9.

"Follow Your Roots: Visit Europe" is the third social media contests taking place on the European Travel Commission's social networks over the course of the past year as part of a new digital and creative campaign to promote Europe as a tourism destination to the U.S. traveler.

Established in 1948 to promote Europe as a tourism destination, the European Travel Commission provides travelers with inspirational commentary on travel services and attractions to help vacationers plan their European journey. Today, www.visiteurope.com, the ETC's web portal 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. Visit the official ETC Facebook page and follow ETC on Twitter @visiteurope.

Source: visiteurope.com via PR Newswire

Social Media Talk [Video]

This Week's Picks:

• Social Media in Business Travel Featuring Chris Crowley (BCD / ACTE)
  http://bit.ly/vI5gFa
• Look before you dive into Social Media (Hotel News Now)
  http://bit.ly/rvch3C