Tourism Newfoundland and Labrador launched another ad in its already very successful ad campaign. This latest ad features Torngat Mountains National Park in northern Nunatsiavut. Great footage, and bound to turn some heads – in fact the ad on YouTube already received over 5,800 views in its first two weeks.

This fun video takes people behind the scenes of ecological monitoring at Terra Nova National Park in Newfoundland and Labrador. Goes to show that park biologists can have some fun too!

Want to know what a Newfoundland ugly stick is? Did you always want to build a lobster trap? Or what it is like to ride a ferry in a 40 knot gale? Find out from our new CTC travel docos!

Banff's famous ground squirrel (from nationalgeographic.com)

Destination Marketing Organizations (DMOs) spend millions of dollars to produce the perfect photos and videos to attract the attention of visitors and the media. Nowadays we do our best to get this content out into the social media spehere to try and attract some attention. Yet, as the Banff ground squirrel has shown us in the last week, nowadays it is not the carefully staged hero photo or travel video that makes it – it is a simple snapshot gone wrong when a curious ground squirrel decided to jump into the frame. Totally unplanned and unstaged, but utterly classic – no ad agency could have replicated such an honest moment in any photo shoot. The picture was featured in the media around the world, making the front-page of many national newspapers, and being featured on newscasts worldwide.

It reminded me of Susan Boyle, the Brittish Got Talent sensation. No-one would have guessed she would be successful, but 73 million YouTube views don’t lie.

The question is, how does one find a groundsquirrel or a Susan Boyle? These examples show that one doesn’t – they have to come to you. They must be real moments, real people. Such is the new reality of social media.

Who is Canada’s next ground squirrel? It may well be Lucky the dog. Lucky stars in several YouTube videos from Labrador – one with a collapsing iceberg, and several where he valiantly barks at nearby humpback whales. With his trademark red doggie lifevest, Lucky may one of these days become a social media sensation as well.

But what can a DMO do to prepare when such an opportunity does present itself? Be ready. Create a social media strategy, have a Youtube and Flickr channel ready to upload such a video or photo too, and most importantly, have a Public Relations strategy in place to get the word out to the mainstream media as well. Then, if a great opportunity presents itself, you can capitalize on it immediately. Banff Lake Louise Tourism’s PR team went into overdrive the minute they realized the power of this picture, and the results were phenomenal. Tourism Newfoundland and Labrador has also worked hard to promote Lucky, and find additional footage of him.

Newfoundland’s ads are great, but here is a great kayaking with whales video. The video is OK, but the commentary is priceless.

This music video reminded me very much of this year’s Newfoundland and Labrador tourism ads. Since I love Newfoundland, I know I will love Iceland…

Nancy Arsenault, Celes Devar and Todd Lucier run Tourismcafe.ca, a blog on experiential travel. They hold regular podcasts; this week’s podcast is live from their Edge of the Wedge course in Newfoundland. Lots of great questions – and answers – about developing experiences.

Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism has just launched its 2009 marketing campaign. They came up with some pretty impressive ads. They’re not quite the Canada. Keep Exploring brand, but nevertheless, evoke a lot of emotion about Newfoundland and Labrador. See also this article in the Globe with some background on the campaign.
the ads:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gE3OORLTAzM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1Kgg0n_rck

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cV3LdGTS0fI

I recently attended the first GMIST sustainable tourism gathering in Gros Morne National Park, Newfoundland. It was a great conference; our CTC News has a nice little write-up on it. I am currently taking in a few of the sessions of the TIES Ecotourism and Sustainable Tourism Conference here in Vancouver. Also some great speakers, and excellent networking opportunities.

Who says Canada doesn’t have great beaches? This gorgeous sandy beach is at Point Lance on the southern Avalon Peninsula in Newfoundland.

And Canadian Geographic Travel magazine posted a story on Canada’s top 25 beaches this spring.