New York State announced a partnership between Empire State Development’s (ESD) Division of Tourism / I LOVE NEW YORK and Beautiful Destinations, an award-winning social media agency for travel brands. The new partnership will tap into Beautiful Destinations’ Instagram portfolio, totalling over 10 million followers, to build awareness of the numerous attractions, stunning landmarks and unique destinations found across New York State’s 11 vacation regions.
“This partnership will give new meaning to the phrase, ‘a picture is worth a thousand words,’ by showcasing the magnificent regions of our great state to support the continued growth of New York’s booming tourism industry,” said ESD President, CEO & Commissioner Howard Zemsky. “We are thrilled to partner with Beautiful Destinations, which allows us to benefit from their 10 million followers to increase awareness of New York’s world-renowned destinations and attractions.”
Beginning on 1 April 2016, Beautiful Destinations will post one image on Instagram every week for eight weeks, to showcase the state’s diverse vacation regions. An average Beautiful Destinations post on Instagram generates over 100,000 likes and 3,000 comments, which will support increased awareness of I LOVE NEW YORK. Through the use of awe-inspiring photos, Beautiful Destinations aims to increase travel to and within New York State, drive tourism spending, and boost the number of I LOVE NEW YORK Instagram followers and user engagements.
In addition, I LOVE NEW YORK will feature photos on Instagram taken around the state by Beautiful Destinations’ network of influencers and followers. Photos will be posted daily promoting the #beautifuldestinations, #iloveny, and #ispyny hashtags. The partnership will build awareness of New York State by posting curated photos on the fastest growing social media network in the world, to expose travelers to breathtaking views and experiences from across the Empire State.
“I LOVE NEW YORK’s social media presence continues to grow and encourage people all over the world to travel to the state and experience our 11 diverse vacation regions,” said ESD Executive Director of Tourism / I LOVE NEW YORK Gavin Landry. “Our partnership with Beautiful Destinations will produce spectacular images from around New York to better promote our award-winning destinations and attractions, gain Instagram followers, and inspire travelers to experience New York State first hand.”
“Beautiful Destinations could not be more excited to partner with New York State. For us, it’s all about working with the best and most progressive brands in travel and the I LOVE NEW YORK brand is arguably one of the most iconic in the world,” said Tom Jauncey, co-founder, Beautiful Destinations. “We have the opportunity to make a difference by inspiring and educating the world about the beautiful places within New York. Advertisements are no longer inert, but rather living, breathing stories and Beautiful Destinations will be creating these authentic stories through powerful, engaging, genuine visuals to inspire the world to visit New York State.”
Photos can be viewed on Beautiful Destinations’ Instagram @beautifuldestinations and on I LOVE NEW YORK’s Instagram @iloveny beginning 1 April 2016.
Since 2013, the number of Instagram users following I LOVE NEW YORK has increased 619 percent, to 17,200 followers at the end of 2015. Today, there are more than 23,300 followers and the number continues to grow.
I LOVE NEW YORK is one of the most popular travel destinations on social media, ranked the number one state tourism organization on Twitter and number two on Facebook. I LOVE NEW YORK’s Twitter following has increased 28 percent since 2014 from 250,405 to 321,000 followers, and Facebook has increased to more than 1.3 million fans and continues to grow.
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