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The Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI) will honour the Mekong Tourism Coordinating Office (MTCO) with a Gold Adrian Award for digital marketing excellence displayed in its 2018 Mekong Mini Movie Festival, a social media campaign that has earned a global reach of over 7 million people to date.

Over 300 videos submitted, 220,000 followers, and nearly 800,000 video views are the numbers gathered from the MTCO’s latest report on the 2018 festival. These stats earned high praise from industry professionals worldwide including the HSMAI ahead of its 2019 Adrian Awards ceremony set to take place in New York City.

The public contest, conducted by the MTCO in collaboration with the tourism ministries of Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) member countries, had participants post 60-second (or less) videos showcasing one or more GMS countries to their social media accounts. By requiring each video to be posted with the hashtags #Minis, #MekongMoments, and #[subject country], the MTCO had created a searchable and hugely scalable social media community that helped bring attention to the many wonders of the GMS.

“This campaign was unique in that it enabled businesses to get involved to drive business by promoting the campaign on their own behalf,” said Jens Thraenhart, Executive Director of the Mekong Tourism Coordinating Office. “Further, we engaged not only our expert Mekong Minis advisory board but also the tourism industry to vote for the winners by hosting film screenings at the Mekong Tourism Forum and other travel trade shows, in partnership with the tourism ministries of the Mekong countries.”

The Mekong Mini Movie Festival campaign is hosted on the MekongMoments.com collaborative social commerce campaign platform, which was executed by a public-private partnership involving GMS tourism ministries as well as travel firms including Inter-Continental Hotels Group, Small Luxury Hotels of the World, Yaana Ventures, Odynovo, Tours China, SwissContact, and GIZ.

“What makes this year’s recognition extra special is the fact that festival campaign was a true public-private partnership with collaboration from six tourism ministries, the private sector, as well as the World Wildlife Foundation to highlight conservation and wildlife protection,” said Thraenhart.

A special prize to highlight the best video focusing on conservation was sponsored by WWF and Khiri Travel, and a special luxury award was sponsored by Rosewood Hotels & Resorts.

Recognised globally as the largest and most prestigious global travel marketing competition, The HSMAI Adrian Awards celebrates industry innovators who successfully find and create new ways to influence growth in the hospitality industry as a whole. This is the second HSMAI Adrian Gold Award within the past four years for the Mekong Tourism Working Group and its secretariat the Mekong Tourism Coordinating Office.

The previous award recognised the 2015 release of its www.mekongtourism.org website, which incorporated a number of innovative features including the popular e-library and the Mekong Tourism Contributor Program. “The Adrian Awards celebrate travel marketing innovators whose awesome creativity and hard work are integral not only to the success of their companies but to the continued growth of the hospitality industry as a whole,” said Robert A.

Gilbert, President and CEO of HSMAI. The MTCO will officially be honoured during the 62nd annual HSMAI Adrian Awards Gala on January 22, 2019, at the New York Marriott Marquis, at which nearly 1,000 hospitality, travel, and tourism marketing executives are expected to attend.