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GoMedia Award Sparks Australian Connection

When Christine Little, owner of Encompassing Designs Rug Hooking Studio in Mahone Bay, was asked to hook a rug for GoMedia Canada 2017 she felt it was a “no ifs, buts, or maybes” kind of assignment. It simply had to be done, she said.

After weeks of sleepless nights, she created a unique and beautiful rug, showcasing Nova Scotia icons like Peggy’s cove, whales, and lobsters, that would be one of five awards given to travel media professionals being recognized by Destination Canada for their work promoting travel to Canada.

The rug was awarded to Max Anderson of Australia in the category "Vibrant Cities" for his article featured in the Sydney Morning Herald. While his article was about Winnipeg, his award, along with the others, was all Nova Scotian. Little’s work of art is now proudly on display down under, where it has attracted attention from Anderson’s wife and the Rugmakers Guild of Australia.

"Max Anderson's wife has sent several emails after I blogged about the experience (of creating this rug) as the Australian rug hooking guild shared it (on Facebook) and she has made my shop a bucket list place to visit the next time they visit Canada. They love the rug!” Little shared with Tourism Nova Scotia in an email. 

Tourism Nova Scotia actively reached out to the tourism industry and artisans across the province to supply unique and authentic products as event awards that would reflect our culture and history, providing a rich Nova Scotia storytelling experience. We also reached out for unique and authentic products to be distributed as gifts for delegates. The gifting table in particular was the first of its kind. Rather than supplying just one souvenir for delegates to take home, we offered twelve different, local souvenir options for them to choose as a Nova Scotia keepsake.

GoMedia has made a lasting impact on not only the Andersons and the Rugmaker’s Guild of Australia, but on over 100 travel media professionals from 12 international Destination Canada markets, many of whom were visiting Nova Scotia for the first time.

“We heard from visiting media and industry delegates that they felt this was the best GoMedia ever,” shares Pam Wamback, Travel Media Specialist with Tourism Nova Scotia. "We had exceptional weather, a convenient location with great historical connections, the Bluenose II as the backdrop and fabulous ambassadors around every corner."

GoMedia Canada 2017 was held at the Cunard Centre - a venue full of Nova Scotia history - from September 30 to October 5. The event was backdropped by the Bluenose II docked at Pier 23, which delegates could explore between their one-on-one meetings with industry partners from across Canada and around the world. Beyond their meetings, delegates had the opportunity to sign-up for a series of day trips and 13 travel media explored Nova Scotia on pre- and post-event familiarization tours that showcased as much of the province as possible. The event, fam tours, and day tours helped inspire delegates to come back and explore more of our beautiful province.

Hosting travel media is a way to bring influencers into a destination and share high-quality content for a fraction of typical ad and publication costs. Events such as Go Media have a long-term investment and Tourism Nova Scotia will be tracking results over the course of the next two years with a goal of Nova Scotia content reaching an audience of two billion by the end of 2019. 

Check out photos from GoMedia Canada 2017 held in Halifax from October 3-5.

Nova Scotia is set to host Destination Canada’s next big event, Rendez-vous Canada, in May 2018 at the new Halifax Convention Centre.