Guided tour company Insight Vacations has hired Canadian actress and TV host Lisa Ray as its first global brand ambassador.
In her early career, Ray worked as a model and actress in India and later starred in Canadian Oscar-nominated film Water. For the past four seasons, she was the host of Food Network’s Top Chef Canada.
“Many of our trips are based in Europe… and India, Nepal and Bhutan have become very hot destinations. We needed someone who would be a bridge between East and West,” said Marie Anne MacRae, global VP, strategic partnerships at Toronto-based The Travel Corporation, which owns Insight Vacations. “Lisa was the perfect fit.”
Ray recently returned from India and Italy, where she experienced two of Insight Vacations’ most popular trips, Imperial Rajasthan and Italian Vogue. During her trips, she shared her experiences via her social media channels, which include more than 200,000 Facebook fans and 200,000 Twitter followers.
Ray will help create content for Insight Vacations, including videos, photographs and blogs. She will also be making media appearances across the globe and sharing her Insight Vacations adventures.
“Consumers want to feel a genuine connection to a brand and to have Lisa go on an actual trip… I think it’s much more compelling [than advertising],” said MacRae.
Ray is an avid world traveller and has lived in Paris, Milan, London and Los Angeles. She currently maintains residences in Mumbai and Toronto. “So there’s an authenticity to that as well,” said MacRae.
