FAM-tastic: how CTC builds awareness and advocacy in international media.

New quarterly series highlights global media influencers and their adventures in Canada that bring our country to audiences of millions. 16 April 2014 Stories can move mountains (or move people to them). As part of its ongoing efforts to build awareness and advocacy across its international markets, the Canadian Tourism Commission (CTC) organizes FAM (familiarization) trips for leading media and bloggers in each market. This new quarterly series of reports spotlights those trips and the multi-million audiences that will see the resulting stories. UK: Five European bloggers (Caspar Diederik, Nienke Krook, Keith Jenkins, Rebecca Enright and Melvin Boecher) learnt to love winter, Canadian-style, in Montral, QC, Feb. 3-9. Their experiences included learning to snowboard on Mont Tremblant, ice fishing, learning about maple syrup at La Sucrerie de la Montagne and much more. They shared their adventures on social media using the hashtag #lovewinter. Germany: Seven German national and regional newspaper and magazine journalists, with a combined circulation of two million, including reps from Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and America Journal, discovered winter magic in Alberta. On their itinerary: skiing and snowboarding in champagne powder as well as snowshoeing, dogsledding and a Maligne Canyon Icewalk at Sunshine Village, Marmot Basin, Lake Louise and Jasper. South Korea: There was a hat-trick of FAM trips by major South Korean TV networks in Q1 2014. SBS travelled to Vancouver and Whistler, BC, to film culinary and outdoor experiences before heading to Northwest Territories to capture the aurora borealis and the unique northern lifestyle. The work has already been broadcast. EBS flew to Canada to experience winter in the Canadian Rockies and Yellowknife, NWT, for a future series. EBS captured a wide range of footage, including skiing, dog sledding, ice climbing, hot springs and ice fishing. And KBS TV took actor and model JongWook Cho to Yellowknife, NWT, to immerse himself in Canadas north by working as an aurora campsite manager, tipi manager, kennel manager, dog trainer and dogsled racer. The footage will be used in two 50-minute episodes to air in the spring.

Brazil: Two groups of Brazilian travel agents, drawn from Canada Specialist Agent training sessions at Showcase Canada-Brazil in 2013, went on trade FAM trips to BC and Alberta in January and Toronto and Quebec in February. Also in February, a TV crew from TV Cultura teamed up with bloggers from A Janela Laranja to learn about Quebec and Nova Scotia. They enjoyed many authentic Canadian experiences, including Igloo Fest, Hotel de Glace,Carnaval de Qubec and Montral cuisine. Australia: Well-known Australian blogger and travel writer Christina Pfeiffer travelled to Quebec in February for skiing and other winter activities at Mont Tremblant, Montrals Mount Royal Park and Carnaval de Qubec. Japan: CTC supported several Japanese broadcasters in Q1 2014. An NHK film crew went to Manitoba to capture wildlife footagein particular polar bears and their cubsfor two new documentaries, Wildlife and Darwin has comeNew Legend about Wildlife. An NTV crew travelled to the Magdalen Islands, QC, to film harp seals, in particular the baby whitecoats. Finally, food and winter were the themes for BS Fuji, which went to the Fairmont Banff Springs to film chef Jacques Borie for an upcoming show.