MEKONG TOURISM BUILDS VIRAL SOCIAL MINI MOVIE CAMPAIGN

At Thailand Travel Mart Plus (TTM+), Mr Jens Thraenhart, the Executive Director of the Mekong Tourism Coordinating Office (MTCO) introduces their successful Mekong Mini Movie campaign, which leverages the power of storytelling through aggregating user-generated content. All over the world, people are sharing their experiences on social media, such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and more. 2.5 billion pieces of user-generated content are created every day.

The MTCO was looking for a format to promote the Greater Mekong Subregion as a single tourism destination, promote responsible travel and build capacity. In collaboration between the 6 governments of the region (Cambodia, China’s Yunnan and Guangxi provinces, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand, and Viet Nam) together with six private-sector and development organization partner, they developed “Mekong Moments,” a collaborative inspirational travel platform that helps to aggregate and curate social media content and allows any experience in the region to run social media contests for free. It integrates social media to generate social commerce by using hashtag #MekongMoments to pull in the already existing user-generated content.

Mr Thraenhart said, “To maximize the potential of Mekong Moments and make it sustainable, we are working with all stakeholders in the region and are inviting them to use the platform to inspire and engage their guests through social media contests. We want to build capacity especially for small businesses in the region because these are the experiences that are the true stars in creating memorable moments for travelers. The more businesses join, the larger the content cloud we build and thus the higher the relevance of the region online” He explained that the inspirational platform has a search filter using keywords and categories. With each photo associated with a link to experience pages, the platform generates direct bookings for participating businesses.

The Mekong Mini Movie Festival is the first regional campaign run through the platform. Since its launch in January 2018, it has already attracted 300 participants with over 300,000 followers, has generated over 600,000 video views and reached more than 6 million people worldwide. Mr Thraenhart said, “The campaign showcases the region via visual storytelling and showcases the power of films to promote destinations.” The Mekong Minis also partner with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to increase awareness of the endangered Mekong Dolphin (Irrawaddy Dolphin), which is the official mascot and trophy for the upcoming awards. The campaign is still running until January 2018. Details can be found on www.mekongminis.com. The first prizes are handed out at the Mekong Mini Movie Festival Screening and Awards Ceremony during Mekong Tourism Forum, 26-29 June 2018. Registration is free at www.MekongTourismForum.org.

Overall, collaboration is one of the key topics of the event. Through collaborative campaigns and social commerce, small tour operators and businesses in the region can be empowered and can reach and inspire their customers directly.

By Tassapon (Tass) Sutthidetkul, Destination Mekong
tass@destinationmekong.com

http://www.mekongtourism.org/