TravMedia's IMM Virtual Australia Exceeds All Expectations

This week, TravMedia Australia conducted its inaugural International Media Marketplace (IMM) Virtual Australia Sponsored by Tourism Australia. IMM Virtual played host to more than 150 media and PR industry representatives on 21 and 22 October 2020.

The innovative virtual platform, allowed for 16 sleek, effortless interactive meetings that ran over two days from 11am – 3pm. The event included a Welcome Address from TravMedia's Regional Manager, Blake Riddington, press conferences from Tourism Australia and Destination NSW and sponsored lunch breaks by Visit Utah and Tourism and Events Queensland. Day two of IMM Virtual Australia kicked off with an editor's panel hosted by TravMedia's CEO, Nick Wayland interviewing Australian Traveller's, Quentin Long, Grin Creative's Justin Jamieson and Wayfarer's James Wilkinson.

"Now, more than ever, we need to come together as an industry to generate great stories and pave the road to recovery. IMM Virtual is the ideal tool to relaunch travel and communicate brand stories amongst the community,” said Nick Wayland, CEO and founder of TravMedia.

“TravMedia aims to be the conduit for idea generation and relationship building globally. While we can't meet face-to-face right now, we were able to host PR and media attendees tuning in from Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Korea, the US, Switzerland, Greece and around the globe. We have the ability to connect brands and media anywhere in the world.”

TravMedia's IMM Australia is the travel industry's only global media networking event connecting travel and tourism brands with Australia and New Zealand's top-tier media titles. In response to COVID-19 and border closures, IMM Virtual provides destinations, hotels and tour operators the opportunity to pitch recovery stories and develop lasting relationships with key media contacts, through the comfort of their computers. Hosted in the same trusted format of previous IMM's, IMM Virtual is run through TravMedia's bespoke Media Marketplace platform now enhanced with video conferencing capabilities. Customised virtual meeting spaces enabled attendees to share press releases, stories, web links, images and videos before, during and after their appointments.

Sponsored by Tourism Australia, the two-day virtual event provided a spring board for industry professionals to reboot travel bookings through 16 prescheduled, one-on-one appointments with top travel journalists, editors, broadcasters and digital influencers. Tourism Australia's Executive General Manager, Corporate Affairs, Bede Fennell addressed attendees on how travel in Australia looks now and after COVID-19 with the launch of their Holiday Here This Year campaign. Bede touched on Tourism Australia's recent pivot to the domestic market and their plans for the newly launched campaign helping to inspire travellers to book their next domestic holiday.

Destination NSW inspired attendees to explore the lesser-known regions of country NSW through a 30-minute video presentation ahead of day one's appointments. The 80+ publishers, editors, journalist and freelance journalists in attendance were captivated by the rugged landscape, artisan culinary experiences and unique seasonal offerings on show in NSW.

IMM Virtual provided journalists the opportunity to fill their notebooks with ideas, stories and contacts in this new reality. It enabled them to plan their next years' worth of stories, features and press trips, without leaving their chairs. Media attendees met some of the world's biggest travel brands from hotels, cruise lines, tour operators and tourism boards and heard how they've adapted due to Coronavirus and their plans to promote their products.

IMM Virtual Asia will be held on 27 and 28 October, IMM Virtual France on 17 and 18 November and IMM Virtual USA from 27-29 January, 2021

Website: www.theholidayandtravelmagazine.blogspot.com.au
Website: www.travmedia.com