Online Tourism Drive

[suprachump]

Writer: KARNJANA KARNJANATAWE

Published: 24/09/2009 at 12:00 AM

Newspaper section: Horizons, Bangkok Post

Online tourism drive

The Tourism Authority of Thailand plans an online marketing campaign to promote five destinations in Thailand - Bangkok, Phuket, Chiang Mai, Samui and Pattaya - among digital buffs.

The campaign, "Ultimate Thailand Explorers", is designed to encourage teams of foreign tourists (two to a team) to send in one-minute video clips explaining their reason for choosing to visit any destination stated in the campaign, and post them at http://www.ultimatethailandexplorer.com no later than Oct 15.

After that a panel of judges appointed by TAT will select 25 qualifying clips and let the online community vote for five finalists, one from each destination.

The five finalists will then be given six days to explore attractions in their province of choice and upload pictures of their activities via Flickr.com, post video clips on YouTube.com, write blogs, maintain profiles in FaceBoook.com and post opinions on Twitter.com.

The team with most votes will receive a cash prize of US$10,000 and other awards including a holiday package worth US$3,000, a Blackberry and a Handycam video camera. Two voters will also have a chance to win lucky-draw prizes worth around US$2,000.

Entries close on October 15. The 25 teams qualifying for online vote will be announced on October 19. The voting to select the final five runs Oct 19- Nov 12, with the final vote scheduled Dec 10-15 and the winner to be announced on Jan 8, 2010.

Meanwhile, TAT is recruiting volunteers to assist the contesting teams. They must be fluent in English, interested in travel and good hosts. Those interested can apply online at http://www.callforvolunteer.com.

Call the TAT at 02-250-5500 or visit http://www.ultimatethailandexplorers.com for more information.