Travel Alberta employs creativity and agility to promote Alberta and support tourism businesses during pandemic

14/09/2020 06:00

State of the art drone technology puts potential visitors in the heart of Alberta's breathtaking cityscapes and landscapes

CALGARY, AB, Sept. 14, 2020 /CNW/ - Faced with continuing border restrictions in the midst of a global pandemic, Travel Alberta's latest marketing efforts aim to inspire Albertans to continue safely exploring the province and help tourism businesses make the most of their late summer season.

In the world of destination promotion, it is common practice to plan a year in advance, meaning capturing content around the province this summer that will be used in our summer 2021 campaigns. Travel Alberta is giving Albertans an advance look at footage captured using new drone mounted first-person view camera technology—expected to become a standard in the global tourism industry—to experience Alberta's major cities and iconic parks from a new vantage point.

"We are always striving to use leading digital marketing techniques to showcase Alberta and set it apart from other destinations, and this new technology is one example of how we continue to evolve and innovate as we prepare for the day when we can safely welcome world travellers again. In the meantime, we wanted to seize the opportunity to remind Albertans of the vibrancy and beauty of this province we are proud to call home, encouraging them to make the most of the final days of summer and support local tourism businesses in our cities, parks and regions around the province," said Tannis Gaffney, Travel Alberta's Vice President, Destination Promotion.

Before COVID-19, Alberta's tourism businesses brought in $8.9 billion in revenue, supporting 22,000 businesses and generating nearly 73,000 jobs in every corner of the province. With traveller spending to Alberta anticipated to fall approximately 63 per cent in 2020 compared to 2019, the pandemic is the worst crisis for the travel sector in the modern era. (Source: August 2020 Tourism Economics report prepared for Travel Alberta).

"Our tourism businesses have been hard at work ensuring the safety of their visitors and we want to send a huge thank you to all the Albertans who have supported local businesses around the province this summer, directly contributing to Alberta's economic recovery and spurring job creation for Albertans," said Doug Schweitzer, Minister of Jobs, Economy and Innovation.

The drone footage has been packaged into seven 30-second videos featuring Edmonton, Calgary, Writing-on-Stone/Áísínai'pi Provincial Park, Kakwa Wildland Provincial Park, and Banff and Jasper National Parks. These short videos are being promoted on Travel Alberta's Facebook and YouTube social media channels over the next few weeks through late summer and into early fall.

View all seven video clips of Alberta's breathtaking cityscapes and landscapes:

This creative work is part of Travel Alberta's investment to drive future visitation to Alberta in spring and summer 2021 and beyond.

About Travel Alberta

Travel Alberta is the destination promotion organization of the Government of Alberta. We promote Alberta as a desirable place to travel, live, work, play, invest and learn. Working with businesses throughout the province, we capitalize on Alberta's breathtaking landscapes and world-class hospitality to develop memorable experiences for visitors to enjoy, in all regions, year-round. Our work directly and indirectly benefits our province, driving visitation and revenue, diversifying the economy, providing jobs, encouraging economic investment, and enhancing quality of life for Albertans and their communities.

Established as a Crown corporation on April 1, 2009, we operate under the authority of the Travel Alberta Act within the Ministry of Jobs, Economy and Innovation.

To learn more about Travel Alberta's strategy and programs visit industry.travelalberta.com.
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