ON-LINE PHOTO LIBRARY OF VANUATU SOON TO BE LAUNCHED

The Vanuatu Tourism Organisation (VTO) is soon to have an On-Line Photo Library (above) which will see hundreds of high resolution photographs made instantly available to media, publishers and travel agents to promote the South Pacific destination worldwide. The library is the culmination of three dedicated assignments (the third due in August) to update the photography used to promote the destination.

The password protected library – which we build as a service to tourism authorities – is expected to be formally launched next month.

In the old days, I used to have to scan all of my photographs and burn them to a CD, then send them to my clients by post. I’d have to allow for at least two weeks. Nowadays, thankfully, all that has changed and advances in technology have created the opportunity for tourism authorities to have high resolution images of their destination made instantly available worldwide. So you can imagine the convenience to, say, a  travel magazine editor in London desperate to fill a gap on page three, who will soon be able to go to the Vanuatu tourism authority’s Photo Library and instantly download an appealing, high resolution photograph to fit the spot. Or the travel wholesaler wanting to fill their latest brochure. Or the travel writer (many who pretend to be photographers, I might add) who needs quality images to support their article. All the images are copyright and model released, they are supplied in high resolution and they have been processed by professional photographers who are prepared to put their names to the photographs.

The fact is, tourism marketing is highly competitive and there are obvious promotional opportunities for tourism authorities that have a range of appealing images of their destination conveniently available to media and travel agents who are prepared to use them.

Expect to be seeing a lot more of Vanuatu shortly.

Next Assignment: Timor-Leste