WTM London 2009: Video Report

At World Travel Market this year we spoke to some key people in the industry about their experiences of the show and their predictions for travel in 2010.

See the footage here:

Jersey Live 2009

Whilst sports tourism is now an established trend, many would say that the next travel niche to explode will be music tourism. There are several kinds of music tourism, and it’s something I’ll post about later as it’s close to my heart – I’d be far more likely to travel for a gig than a game – but here I want to talk about our involvement in the triumphant success that was Jersey Live 2009.

This year we worked with specialist music PR agency Excess Press to bring over a group of key media and handle further media requests whilst out there. In attendance were great music titles Gigwise, Clash, The Fly and French title Les Inrocks.

We also achieved extensive advance coverage, essential in creating bookings, ensuring the festival was regularly featured in the festival round ups and working with tourism partners and media on competitions offering VIP tickets and travel with accommodation.

The line up was quite probably the best in the festival’s five year run, with Basement Jaxx, Dizzee Rascal, the Kooks, Passion Pit and Temper Trap all included in a really diverse line up of dance, rock and pop. Jersey Live have great foresight in booking bands early, regularly seeing them get big in the intervening period before the festival – offering the lucky festival goers a chance to see real buzz acts that are playing much larger festivals elsewhere.

The festival is 10,000 capacity (’boutique’ by general UK festival standards) and was a total sell out this year, the sale of the last few tickets oweing largely to the great line up and absolutely amazing weather – sunshine all weekend. I didn’t think it could have gone more perfectly, until I took the media group to the festival ground by speed boat (our hotel, the Radisson SAS Waterfront is right on St Helier’s marina, and the festival site is close to the island’s north coast) when we were caught up by a school of dolphins who wanted to play. You don’t see dolphins on the way to Reading Festival now, do you?

BBC World Service’s travel programme Fast Track were also there to cover the festival, as part of a feature on music festivals’ effect on tourism. Which brings me to what Jersey Live does for Jersey. The numbers are elusive, unfortunately it is hard to track just how many visitors come to the island specifically for the festival. But in terms of branding what could be better for positioning Jersey as younger, trendier and more exciting than Dizzee Rascal? I caught up with Luke Pritchard, lead singer of the Kooks, in the airport on the way home, he hadn’t been to Jersey before but (as all of the bands that visit for the festival do) he found it a realsp eye opener. He loved it, and would definitely come again.

So you can see for yourself, I caught a lot of the footage from the festival (and the dolphins) on a handy Flip video camera and edited it together for our YouTube channel. The band performing at the beginning and soundtracking the whole video are the Temper Trap, another brilliant new act who came all the way from Melbourne. Have a watch -

Vivid Sydney & Brian Eno

We worked with ITN Consulting to produce a Video News Release to maximise UK media coverage of the Vivid Sydney festival. The Video News Release included a 3:00 minute A-Roll package voiced by the reporter and a 10 minute B-Roll that included the best sound bites and cutaways from two filming days.

Vivid Sydney, developed by Events NSW in partnership with the City Of Sydney, is the biggest international music and light festival in the Southern Hemisphere. It showcases Sydney as a major creative hub in the Asia-Pacific region, celebrating the diversity of Sydney’s creative industries.

This unique new public festival will transform the city into a spectacular living canvas of music and light in and around the Sydney Opera House, The Rocks, Circular Quay and the city centre. One of the highlights is Luminous – an annual festival of music, debate, light and performance. Curated by Brian Eno, Luminous features a plethora of music acts alongside public talks and spectacular light and art installations.

The A-roll (audio and video) and B-roll sound bites for radio and online use was made available via an ITN Consulting dedicated webpage from 0600(BST) on Wednesday 27th May 2009. The A-roll and B-roll for television was made available at 2200(BST) on Tuesday 26th May 2009 to UK television broadcasters. A further distribution was made at 0600(BST) on Wednesday 27th May 2009.

The material was edited at Channel 7 News studios in Sydney, approved by our client Tourism New South Wales, fed to London and there, through satellite links, distributed to UK broadcasters and ITN’s international affiliates.

The VNR and Vivid Sydney achieved excellent coverage, specifically in the online fields. Having the video made a huge difference and enabled the websites to take the content and highlight Vivid. Coverage value totaled £1,378,334.

Additionally, the VNR is to be used in a BBC Arena programme on Brian Eno to be broadcast in the summer of 2009.

Some of the coverage is linked to below:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8071639.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/arts_and_culture/8068173.stm

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturepicturegalleries/5387810/The-Sydney-Smart-Light-project-with-Brian-Eno-part-of-the-Vivid-Festival.html

http://video.msn.com/video.aspx?mkt=en-GB&vid=3da465d8-4a64-4f10-becf-b1da359bdb87

http://itn.co.uk/814fc69b42f22020a387c7a000f7b989.html

http://www.blinkx.com/video/artists-light-up-sydney-opera-house/StYnSFYdtqHAVj3iz8A7Rw

Jamaica celebrates Usain Bolt’s win in Manchester

The Jamaica Tourist Board in partnership with Real Deals Travel and SuperClubs laid on a celebratory event for Usain Bolt and other athletes, following Bolt’s stunning best-ever time at the Bupa Great Manchester 150m on Sunday (17th May).

After turning the streets of Manchester green, black and gold in support of sprinters Xavier Brown, Mario Forsythe and Usain Bolt, the JTB then got the celebratory party going at Manchester’s Circle Bar for the athletes and their local supporters including footballers Ricardo Gardner, Ricardo Fuller, El-Hadji Diouf and others. Jamaican food and rum punch was provided to the guests, in addition to the opportunity to win two trips to Jamaica sponsored by SuperClubs. Also attending the event was birthday girl and Olympic 400m gold medallist Christine Ohuruogu.

Torrance Lewis of the Jamaica Tourist Board said: “With the inclusion of three Jamaican athletes at this spectacular athletics meet, we were pleased to be able to show our support both at the race and afterwards. I am sure Usain Bolt was as pleased as we were to see the Jamaican flags flying. Yet again, he has made Jamaica proud and I am sure brought Jamaica to the top of the minds of people watching the race.”

Carl Hamilton from Real Deals Travel went on to comment, “We had great success in promoting Jamaica, Real Deals and SuperClubs to the many thousands of people who had come down to view the race. It was a special occasion for Manchester and yet another special race for Usain Bolt and his fans.”

Image above – from left to right: Torrance Lewis (Direct Sales Manager, UK, Jamaica Tourist Board), Ricardo Gardner (Bolton Wanderers & Jamaica Football Team), Usain Bolt, Zoe Bennett (Sales Representative, JTB)

Kathy Lette’s Sydney Beach Party

We held a celebrity-studded party to celebrate the launch of Sydney-born Kathy Lette’s new novel, To Love, Honour & Betray (Till Divorce do us Part).

The event was held in one of London’s most glamorous venues, the Haymarket Hotel’s stunning swimming pool room. The event’s theme echoed its setting, with surf lifesavers, Sydney seafood and specially-created Bondi Beach cocktails. The event also featured a performance by The Globe Girls, a captivating collection of drag queens decked out in more feathers than London Zoo’s aviary.

Our objective was to have the destination placed firmly in the consciousness of people who can become goodwill ambassadors for the state of New South Wales. In Kathy Lette we recognised an unofficial ambassador for Sydney and New South Wales who brings with her a close list of highly intelligent celebrities and opinion formers from all walks of life in the UK. We therefore ensured that Sydney’s messages were brought home to an extremely powerful target audience.

Guests included: Jason Donovan, Ian McEwan, Dannii Minogue, Lynda La Plante, Rory Bremner, Kate Adie, Ian Hislop, Ronni Ancona, Maureen Lipman, Anneka Rice and Penny Smith.

Kathy Lette said: “Thanks so much for organising the best party ever. I hope you’re happy. I think Tourism NSW should be. The party is the talk of the town.”

Valencia’s Astounding Events

Experience the most colourful and spectacular festival in the whole of Spain: Las Fallas in Valencia, from 15 to 19 March. This extraordinary non-stop fiesta attracts over three million visitors every year, who flock to Valencia to enjoy the extravagant fallas displays, and a full programme of all-night street parties, parades, music and fireworks.

From 15 March, more than 700 fallas – huge papier-mâché effigies up to 20 metres high, showing satiric or humorous caricatures of celebrities, politicians or the hottest issues of the year – are displayed in the streets of Valencia and then set alight in dramatic bonfires to celebrate the coming of spring on 19 March.

The festival also includes scores of other cultural and religious events, from concerts and dances throughout the city to street markets and food vendors selling special Fallas doughnuts! The streets are filled with marching bands and parades including a two day procession of 150,000 Falleras (elected representatives of the Fallas) that make their way to the cathedral for a flower offering to the Virgin Mary.

Mark Webber Challenge, Tasmania

This weekend sees the start of the Mark Webber Pure Tasmania Challenge, a gruelling six-day adventure race combining cross-country trekking, mountain biking, road cycling and kayaking. The event will be held in Tasmania between 5 – 10 November.

12 four-person teams – made up of corporate executives, celebrities and sports stars – will compete alongside Australian Formula One star Mark Webber. The race will cover about 600kms and take in some of Tasmania’s most beautiful locations, including the iconic Cradle Mountain National Park and the world heritage-listed area in and around Strahan on the State’s rugged West Coast.

British rower Olympic dual gold medalist James Cracknell, Australian ironman and multi-sport athlete Guy Andrews, and Tasmanian Adventure racer Matt Dalziel will join Webber’s team.

Round-the-world record breaking female solo sailor, Dee Caffari will also be taking part, plus Australian Olympic gold medal cyclist Brett Aitken and world champion cyclist, Shane Kelly.

Behind the Challenge is a charity initiative run by the newly formed Mark Webber Challenge Foundation, an umbrella organisation that supports charities that help Australian children suffering from life-threatening illness. The event will raise funds for the Cancer Council of Tasmania’s Cancer Plus programme and TLC for Kids.

The Challenge kicks off on Sunday, November 5 at 9am from the Country Club, Launceston, and finishes at Wrest Point in Hobart on Friday, November 10.