Place Your Face Interactive Video Launches

Can’t get enough of Victoria? Well now you can experience Victoria anytime. Tourism Victoria announces the launch of “Place Your Face,” a new interactive video designed to market the destination by sharing cutting-edge digital entertainment with friends and family.
Go to: www.tourismvictoria.com/placeyourface, upload a picture of your face and a picture of a friend, and voila! Your faces become digitally attached to the bodies and you’re off on your Victoria, B.C. getaway. You can watch your creation repeatedly or email your creation to family and friends.
"This is another step in our continuing commitment to use digital strategies to market our destination," said Robert Gialloreto, President & CEO of Tourism Victoria. "Through our partnership with Copeland Communications on this project, we are able to separate ourselves a bit from other destinations by using fun and creative ways to engage our consumers."

The Place Your Face websites were produced for Tourism Victoria by Victoria-based advertising and communications agency Copeland Communications. “We’re thrilled to bring this new form of consumer-generated digital media to Victoria,” said Doug Brown, Managing Director of Copeland Communications. “It’s a great way for consumers to be a part of a campaign. What’s more, it’s fun – just like Victoria.”

Membership Matters eNewsletter June 3

Tourism Victoria's Membership Matters eNewsletter for June 3, 2009 is available at: http://www.tourismvictoria.com/content.aspx?f=Content\5.+Members\2.+Member+Resources&p=1.+Member+Newsletter.html

Tourism Awareness Week 2009

Victoria's dynamic tourism industry will be showcased during Tourism Awareness Week 2009, starting Monday, June 1 and continuing until Sunday, June 7.

Tourism Awareness Week is designed to showcase Victoria tourism products, attractions and resources, raise awareness about the importance of tourism, and encourage appreciation of the people and communities that drive the industry.

"It's important to recognize just what our tourism industry does to help make our region what it is," said Robert Gialloreto, President & CEO of Tourism Victoria. "It combines our island hospitality and culture with our unique natural assets to create something with enormous economic and social impact, enjoyed by millions of people each year."

The most current statistics for Greater Victoria's tourism industry show revenue of over $1.1 billion annually, with hundreds of distinct tourism products and events in the region.

Among the activities planned for Tourism Awareness Week is a campaign to generate awareness of the industry; throughout the week Tourism Awareness Week volunteers will be handing out Access Passes at various Serious Coffee locations around Victoria. The Access Pass will provide locals with discounts to a variety of tourism products, allowing them to experience first-hand what Victoria has to offer.

June 2, 2009 is National Hunger Awareness Day; to mark the day Tourism Victoria and the Mustard Seed have partnered to host a Food Drive. We are calling on all Tourism Victoria Members and the entire community to kick-off Tourism Awareness Week right and support National Hunger Awareness Day with a Food Drive & Tourism Industry Celebration:

FOOD DRIVE DROP-OFF & TOURISM INDUSTRY CELEBRATION
June 2, 2009
12:00pm to 1:00pm
Outside the Tourism Victoria Visitor Centre, 812 Wharf Street

All donations will go to the Mustard Seed of Victoria. Donators will be entered into a draw to win fabulous prizes donated by Tourism Victoria Members.

Victoria Arts, Heritage And Culture Guide Summer 2009

Find out about the latest arts, heritage and cultural events happening in Victoria - Download the PDF guide.

Victoria, BC, the Best Place to Live

MoneySense has named Victoria, BC as the Best Place to Live.

MoneySense's fourth annual ranking of Canada's Best Places to Live measures every important aspect of every community in Canada. Taking into account such factors as weather, jobs, home prices, crime and access to health care. In total, MoneySense looked at 24 different indicators and rewarded points for each one, with 105 the maximum number of points a community could receive. After compiling a massive amount of data on 154 communities across Canada, Victoria came out on top with a score of 73 points. Go Victoria!

Complete results - http://list.canadianbusiness.com/rankings/bestplacestolive/2009/Default.aspx?sp2=1&d1=a&sc1=6

You Won't Want To… But We Will Help You Leave!

Tourism Victoria has launched a new spring travel promotion. Tourism Victoria will pick up the tab for the return travel on BC Ferries (car, driver and passenger) when visitors book a two night package in the Greater Victoria area with Tourism Victoria. The offer is valid for travel between May 1 and June 15, 2009 and must be booked no later than June 1, 2009; a limited number of packages are available.

The promotion is made possible by an innovative Cooperative Marketing Campaign consisting of 27 Tourism Victoria members and by a partnership with BC Ferries.

“This is a great example of what can be done when we all work together towards our common goal,” said Gialloreto. “We hope this promotion, in conjunction with our many other initiatives, will help add to our tourism traffic in May and June.”

“This is a wonderful way to entice visitors to come to Victoria,” said Scott Hoadley, President of the Greater Victoria Hotel Association. “The hotel community is excited to continue and strengthen our partnership with Tourism Victoria to bring visitors to this incredible destination.”

Ian MacPhee, Victoria’s Historic Inns, added: “Bed and Breakfasts have long understood the value of working together and it’s great Tourism Victoria is reaching across the business community and providing our visitors with more reasons to visit our beautiful city.”

Details about the limited time offer are available at www.itsvictoria.com or by phone at 1-800-663-3883.

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.”