Montreal is about to appoint a small army of bloggers, videocasters and networkers to promote tourism in the city.
Together with agency of record Sid Lee, Tourisme Montréal will be hiring five “brand ambassadors” who will blog, post videos online and use social networks to promote the city as a must-see destination.
From March to December 2009, they will be the “Montreal connectors” on topics like food, arts and culture, nightlife, shopping and the gay scene.
Each ambassador will have a dedicated page on Tourisme Montréal’s website to blog and videocast. They will also use social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, Yahoo Answers and other blogs to connect with possible tourists. They will report on what’s hot in the city each week.
“Our connectors will also have a dedicated cellphone which people can call anytime,” said Emmanuelle Legault, director of communications at Tourisme Montréal. “They will answer people’s questions and, if they can’t pick up, they will always have a message to let people know what’s happening in the city.”
The decision to ramp up the blogging efforts came out of a grim perspective for the year ahead.
“Our budget comes from taxes on hotel stays,” said Pierre Bellerose, vice-president, public relations, at Tourisme Montréal, a private organization of over 750 members and partners. “Since we expect a slow year due to the economic troubles, we planned on a smaller budget.”
This year, brand building efforts will only take up 20% of the marketing budget, while the rest will be used for direct response initiatives.
The move to a web-only focus is also in line with tourism clientele. According to Tourisme Montréal, over 80% of Americans and 75% of Canadians plan their trips online.
