We thought Orlando's inadvertently raunchy billboard was the greatest travel advertising of the year, but this ad from maverick LCC entrepreneur and washing machine salesman Tony Fernandes has just surged into the lead.

It should come as little surprise that this billboard is in Queensland, Australia, a country known for edgy advertising.

Related Stories:
· Hesitant to Travel? [Seattle P-I]
· Tourism Marketing and Double Entendres [Jaunted]
· Travel Advertising coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Beth Whitman]]]> pbb 2008-07-21T13:12:43-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/7/14/134147/817

The Baltimore Area Convention and Visitors Association has gussied up its website, adding all sorts of fun web tools. We're particularly big fans of the new videos, including this strangely compelling tour of the city.

Also available are older videos introducing you to Baltimore people like Cal Ripken, Jr. and David Simon, who explains that "The Wire" is a love letter to his hometown:

If you come from DC, you sort of have to admit you're not from a real place. You acknowledge that our food is better, that our beer is colder, that our neighborhoods are worth living in and that this is a city more real than yours. Once you do all that, you know, we're ready to embrace you!

More from Simon after the jump.]]> pbb 2008-07-14T13:45:16-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/7/7/15500/86985

Cardiff International Airport is looking to sex up its name. After all, when Liverpool changed its old name ("Speke") to something more flashy ("John Lennon"), it saw a jump in passenger numbers. (Though we've gotta wonder if it's really due to the name--or an expansion finished in 2002 that drew a number of new LCCs.)

High in the running at Cardiff, it seems, is "Gavin & Stacey," after the title of a BBC cult comedy shot in Wales. Other names under consideration are Dame Shirley Bassey, who did three James Bond theme songs, and Catherine Zeta-Jones, who was born in Swansea, Wales.

But not everyone at the airport thinks slapping a celeb's name on the terminal is a good idea. Says one local:

I would like to see the late Richard Burton or Roald Dahl be considered. I hope they don't succumb to the current celebrity-craved popcorn culture and choose someone like Zeta-Jones or Shirley Bassey.

Related Stories:
· Gavin & Stacey Airport on the Way? [Metro UK, via]
· Toursim Board Travel: Happy Birthday Liverpool [Jaunted]
· Liverpool's Big Year of Culture [Jaunted]

[Photo: Wikimedia]]]> pbb 2008-07-07T16:05:12-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/6/6/81050/29065

Given that for most of us women, vacationing with a head to toe cloak isn't our top priority, we haven't often considered Saudi Arabia as a destination. But maybe that's about to change.

The Saudi government is pushing to attract more tourists to the country, aiming for 1.5 million a year, not including the Muslim tourists who come on pilgrimage. Three new training colleges will teach the locals to work as tour guides, airport officials and travel agents.

But it's not "tourism at any cost": The government will tell tourists what we can expect (we're waiting to hear) and that includes somewhat restrictive cultural norms. Probably not a destination for a beach vacation but you might get to run up and down a sand dune fully clothed.

Related Stories:
· Saudi Arabia a Sleeping Giant [The National]
· Saudi Arabia Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: zedorwin]]]> amandak 2008-06-06T09:45:01-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/6/5/162345/0457

A tipster just sent us this snap, taken near McCarran International in Las Vegas. Why advertise one sunny destination in another? The Travel Industry Association's annual conference was on in Nevada, and Orlando didn't want to miss out on the fun.

Oh, and you're not the only one with the dirty mind. Liz Benston at the Las Vegas Sun is right there with you. The ad may work for Orlando, she writes, but it'd never fly in her hometown:

Take the double and potentially negative meaning of "stays with you forever" when applied to a whirlwind trip to Las Vegas, for example.

Related Stories:
· Orlando Spikes Vegas Rivalry with Humor [LVS]
· Meanwhile in Orlando [Gridskipper]
· Tourism Marketing coverage [Jaunted]]]> pbb 2008-06-05T16:30:01-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/5/28/1281/89653

If Betsy Ross and Ben Franklin were alive today, for what cause would they advocate? The Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation thinks they'd join gay and lesbian Pennsylvanians in a new promotion called "We Your People," which encourages LGBT travelers to look at the City of Brotherly Love when making those summer travel plans.

The campaign also has help from Southwest Airlines and is timed not-at-all-coincidentally with Gay Pride festivities in many cities. (Philly's Pride Day Parade is June 8.) Local business owners, boutique moguls and even one journalist (Philadelphia Gay News founder Mark Segal) are helping the GPTMC spread the word that Philly is a LGBT-friendly destination.

And the poster children are getting something for their trouble: Campaign spokesman Matthew Izzo reports getting fan mail, site traffic and MySpace and Facebook requests aplenty since getting involved. Since we're feeling the love, too, we've got a video with Izzo right after the click.]]> egw 2008-05-28T13:00:01-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/5/20/54119/8256

Japan is a magical place, really, where grown-ups can love kiddy cartoon characters without being embarrassed. And that's the angle Japan is about to use to promote itself to potential visitors from China and Hong Kong, because like the Japanese, they also love Hello Kitty.

Yep, the cartoon cat has just become an official tourism ambassador. It's all part of the simply-named "Visit Japan" campaign that hopes to increase tourist numbers to 10 million a year from the 8.35 million that visited last year.

It seems a pity, almost, that a country so rich in interesting culture and history resorts to a thirty-something-year-old cartoon kitty to bring in the tourists, but if it works, it works. And we admit we'd be persuaded to return to Japan if we got a free Hello Kitty key chain at passport control.

Related Stories:
· Hello Kitty Named Japan Tourism Ambassador [MSNBC]
· Japan Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: colodio]]]> amandak 2008-05-20T09:30:02-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/