Nadine Sykora from Hey Nadine & Contiki's Lauren Howard
Contiki President, Brad Ford with Kayla Shubert of the Tourism Authority of Thailand
ApprenticeA Productions' Corey Vidal, Director & Tim Deegan, Television Host
Susana Sanz, José Manuel de Juan &
Sara Sanchez of the Spanish Tourism Office
It wasn’t the usual industry crowd at the launch of Contiki’s No Regrets Adventure Challenge last week. There were a handful of tourism reps and other travel professionals present at the trendy resto-lounge, Bloke & 4th (helmed by Jill Wykes’ talented son, Chef Adrian Niman). But the majority of the guests were fresh faced, aged 20 something, YouTube celebrities! Leave it to Contiki to do things differently from others and to lead the adventure travel pack with innovative ideas. The tour operator has partnered with several Canadian YouTube stars including Hey Nadine, the Sundayfundayz and ApprenticeA Productions to promote their video campaign.
“Today’s youth want to engage with friends and form their own opinions on where to travel. They don’t want to be told where to go or how to do it,” said Lauren Howard, Contiki’s National Brand & Marketing Manager. “So Contiki has partnered with a group of young people, who already have a following and a voice on YouTube and social media.”
Corey Vidal, founder of ApprenticeA Productions 1st partnered with Contiki 2 years ago. “We hit it off really well. I love how youthful the company is. It’s a balance of professionalism and seriousness, but they also know how to have a lot of fun,” he said. “ApprenticeA’s audience is young and through our partnership with Contiki, we want to raise awareness on why they should travel as well.”
Contiki’s 8 wk. No Regrets Adventure Challenge started last week. Each week, the tour operator will post a new video on their YouTube channel highlighting 1 of 8 destinations. Viewers must follow the videos that feature their partnered YouTube celebrities and answer simple trivia questions for a chance to win a Contiki trip for 2 to Europe. Agents may want to take advantage of the weekly booking discounts, promotions and incentives Contiki is featuring alongside the challenge.
“Our #1 mission is to focus on our worldwide travellers in the youth category and give them or connect them to the time of their lives,” said Contiki President, Brad Ford. “What we’ve seen with these YouTube videos is exactly that. The Adventure Challenge has given the power back to our consumers, our youth demographic, aged 18-35. We’re giving them the information and we’re giving them the experience.”
Taking digital media by storm, Contiki’s YouTube campaign really is the 1st of its kind. An exciting endeavor for the tour operator made for an exciting evening. Guests were just leaving Bloke & 4th when the venue’s nightlife patrons started to filter in. Like I said, it was an unusual crowd for an industry event. But if anything, it made the over 35’s feel young again, because Contiki sure knows how to throw a party.
