This award-winning sweepstakes created a righteous frenzy on Facebook. They also reached over 10,000 followers on their pet-friendly travel Pinterest board. Settle in as we count down five of our favorites from the past year: In 2018, Tourism New Zealand released a humorous, investigative journalism-style promo that seeks to answer the question “why is New Zealand being left off of world maps?” Rhys Darby stars in the campaign video as he works his way through one conspiracy theory after another – first alerting the Prime Minister, later pivoting to pin the conspiracy on Ed Sheeran. Although Explore St. Louis was having no trouble attracting families to their city, they also wanted to reach out to millennials. Take some inspiration with you to keep your tourism marketing fresh with new ideas. So, it’s only right that we take a moment to recognize some of the best tourism campaigns of 2018 – those destination marketers doing it right.

To show how their city has been transformed in recent years, Hola Houston tapped into a previously overlooked market and created a better experience for them.

The Nelson and Kootenay Lakes Tourism team has a very specific vision of the visitors they want to attract: “free spirits and well-rounded squares”, in the words of their positioning statement. A handful of dedicated participants traveled all corners of the state to complete all 100 photos! Prizes: 14 total; 14 winners received return flights for two to Cuba from any Canadian airport where Air Transat offers Cuban destinations, 7- nights accommodation and transportation in Cuba. Getting up close and personal with the people who, truly make your destination great can help differentiate you from other locations. Since Arizona State Parks started using CrowdRiff eight months ago, they've increased their social media followers by 45% and engagement by 70% — a direct result of sharing more UGC on their feed. 6,099 entries drew over 1 million views to the contest site. Combining unique, personal storytelling along with, Boosting Your Tourism Marketing Strategy: 5 Ways to Convert Website Visitors Into Eager Tourists, How I Travel 10x a Year while Working an Office Job, Nelson and Kootenay Lakes: #FindingAwesome Contest. Airbnb, an emerging global network of accommodations offered by locals, wanted to increase brand awareness and drive traffic to their website. Consistently ranked #50 on the list of U.S. states tourists are most interested in visiting. (If that isn’t evidence of the power of personalization, what is?). And it’s required inflight viewing for those traveling to Palau. So, Visit Lex decided to give them a horse’s-eye-view of what really happened on the farm. I love this campaign so much, I dedicated an entire blog to it. Prizes: 1 grand prize of 0,000 plus several other random prizes. Playing off of the fact that their time zone is a half hour off from the rest of the world, Newfoundland and Labrador ran a flash promotion that lasted 48 half hours. Learn why over 100 marketing teams have switched from other platforms to CrowdRiff, Enjoy the travel industry's best source of visual marketing best practices, Download our free eBooks on UGC and visual storytelling for travel and hospitality, Read our latest articles on visual marketing and storytelling for travel brands, Assess how CrowdRiff can benefit your team and improve marketing performance. 60% of the b-roll used was repurposed from what they’d already had on hand in their content library. But the sentiment is clear – Vegas welcomes all, accepts all, and is a place where anyone can feel comfortable being exactly who they were meant to be. Maas and her team came up with the iconic “I Love NY” slogan and transformed the perception of the state through PR, advertising, and even souvenirs – showing travelers that New York State is a desirable place to live and visit. ‘I Choose Oakland’ Photo/Video Contest sponsored by Southwest Airlines and a handful of local businesses.