Bangkok--Feb 9--eTurboNews
Tourism films compete for travel industry's "Oscars"
There is still time to enter the Golden City Gate film festival and competition
Short movies on film and video are growing in importance for promoting tourism. The travel and tourism industry has its own "Oscars" and film-makers are competing for awards for the best tourism promotion movies being screened at next month's ITB Berlin travel fair.
The art of tourism promotional videos will be celebrated at a film festival and competition next month - an event that has grown into the travel industry's equivalent of the Oscars. The Golden City Gate, or Das Goldene Stadttor to give it its German title, is an opportunity for cities, regions, airports, cruise lines and hotels to present their videos to the world's tourism industry. Films, videos and DVD presentations designed to promote tourism will be given recognition at a festival and competition taking place at the world's biggest tourism fair, ITB Berlin, 8-12 March.
The movie art form is becoming an increasingly important tool in tourism marketing with the growth of consumer DVDs, streaming video on the Internet and with television programs and whole TV channels devoted to leisure travel. New additions this year include categories for hotels, events and TV travel magazine pieces.
An indication of the importance of the tourism film festival is the fact that it has grown in each year since it started. This year's will be the fifth and over 300 videos have been submitted. The film festival is the brainchild of the award-winning German film-maker, Wolfgang Jo Huschert, head of Huschert Film+Medien, and three-times winner of the Kompass prix-ITB award for tourism promotion as well as 17 awards for media production.
"Video is the most powerful tool that the travel industry can offer," said Huschert. "Moving images and sound can convey so much more than even a glossy brochure so they are very important for promoting destinations and services. The industry can't do without video any more - just look at the huge interest shown in travel programmes on television, for example. Then there is demand for tourism web sites to carry videos now that technology makes it possible and relatively easy, said Huschert.
"Video is the ultimate tourism promotional tool, and holding the Golden City Gate festival within ITB Berlin brings it closer to the industry. The professionals in film-making and in travel and tourism can get together and share ideas about what is possible," said Huschert.
Prize winners in each category will benefit from six months free web video streaming through the video-on-demand portal Streaming Media. The competition is organised by Huschert Film Medien and the Conference of German State Film Distributors (Konferenz der Landesfilmdienst), under the patronage of the Federal Association of German Film and AV Producers (Bundesverband der Deutschen Film und AV-Produzenten).
"We are very proud of the fact that this year we will be celebrating our 5-year anniversary as an international tourism film festival at the ITB Berlin cinema," said Huschert, the festival's director. "This year we have expanded the film categories and reconfigured the daily programme. Celebrities from the worlds of national and international showbusiness, film, media, business and politics have agreed to take part as members of the jury. The prize-awarding ceremony will take the form of a dedicated multimedia event and is sure to be sensational," he said.
City tourist boards, location marketing organisations, hotels, airlines, airports, cruise lines, cultural groups and TV companies have already submitted their creations for consideration by the international jury, which this year includes eTurboNews president, Thomas Steinmetz, and leaders of Germany's tourism and media industries, including Klaus Laepple, president of the German Tourism Association, Heinz-Joachim Herrmann, managing director of the Konferenz der Landesfilmdienst in Bonn, and Armin Brysch, chairman of the German National Tourist Board, DZT, in Frankfurt.
Their task is to judge each video on its visual performance, sound track quality, emotional impact, information value and concept and creativity.
"A good tourism video would entice the viewer to visit the place - perhaps even get on the phone or the Internet to make a reservation before the end of the film," said a confident Wolfgang Huschert. "It should be well constructed with information presented clearly, but wrapped in a creative way to make the destination look wonderful.
"Information value is very important, and the jury will be looking for new ways of presenting a country with high quality filming, appropriate music tracks and an informative voice-over. A good film-maker will be aware of the emotional impact of a video on its viewers, so it is possible to achieve something that words on the printed page in a brochure cannot."
The film and video competition will take place from 8 to 12 March in the ITB cinema. All videos will be shown on a big screen and in stereo sound. The prize-giving ceremony is scheduled to take place on 11 March when selected videos will be awarded gold, silver and bronze awards.
In recognition of the fifth anniversary, this year's grand prix, The Diamond Award, will be given for the video judged to be the best submitted to the Goldene Stadttor in any of the five years that the festival has been held. Over 300 films are being appraised by the international jury, made up of celebrities, tourism marketing experts, journalists, hotel managers and travel industry representatives.
Among last year's prize winners were the Guadalpin Marbella hotel in Spain and Experience Berlin won the top spot for city tourism promotion. Other cities to win awards and recognition for the quality of their video presentations included the former German capital for Bonn in 14 Days, Belgrade, A Sport City, Baden Baden Magic Moments and Rudesheim for its presentation of a way of life in Rhine Culture.
"Europe Unplugged" was a prize-winning entry last year, produced by Andreas Thinius, founder of Cycolution, to promote the virtues of touring the rural landscape of European countries by bicycle.
The regions of Zurich in Switzerland, Graz in Austria, Hungary and the Dominican Republic also did well in regional and industry categories last year. "Tyrol - Harmony of Contrasts" won a first prize in 2004. A strong contender for the Diamond Gate prize could be a video promoting the German city of D?sseldorf as a business travel destination. "D?sseldorf - As Clear as a Diamond" won top placing in its category at the festival in 2003 and was praised for its cutting edge production and its modern approach to portraying the city as an international business center and a venue for meetings and conference tourism.
New entries in 2006 come from Korea, Finland, Thailand among many other countries that are showing their tourism promotion movies at the Golden City Gate festival for the first time.
The tourism film festival has opportunities for advertising, including visual clips screened in the ITB cinema between each of the festival entrants' videos. Das Goldene Stadttor is also looking for a sponsor. "We offer sponsors various opportunities to communicate their brands as part of the festival, and in the run-up to the event, during the exhibition and as a follow-up tool," said Wolfgang Huschert. "The media work is particularly important in the coming weeks and during ITB Berlin, because the international coverage for all parties involved is an important element in the overall concept."
There is still time to enter the Golden City Gate film festival and competition. Tourism promotion videos may be submitted up to 24 February for assessment and screening at ITB Berlin. Full details of the Golden City Gate tourism film festival are on a web site in German and English at
www.das-goldene-stadttor.de
Contact
Huschert Film+Medien GmbH
Wolfgang Jo Huschert
Organisationsburo- Das goldene Stadttor
HofstraBe 64 / Gebaude 10 C
40721 Hilden , Germany
Phone +49-2103 / 252688
FAX: +490-2103 / 252590
E- Mail: [email protected]
For more information, please contact
TravelPress.biz, eTurboNews, P.O.Box 208, Haleiwa, HI 96712-0208 USA,
PH: +1-808-521-2800 FAX: +1-310-362-8973
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