MSC Cruises: Proud Sponsor of the Social Travel Summit

 

The Social Travel Summit team is excited and very proud to announce a new Premium Sponsor: MSC Cruises. In the past several years, MSC Cruises has stepped up its collaborative efforts with travel bloggers, inviting bloggers to experience the ‘Mediterranean Way of Life’ on board their cruise ships.

“We are delighted to attend the first edition of “The Social Travel Summit” in Leipzig. This is another great opportunity to meet Travel Bloggers from all around the world. MSC Cruises have already organized various activities with travel bloggers in the last couple of years to enlighten diverse online communities about the unique travel experience that cruising provides. Moreover, I believe that by giving bloggers a hands-on experience to write about we can engage with communities we may never have reached with traditional marketing techniques”. – David Arcifa (Corporate Social Media CRM Manager, MSC Cruises)

 

The Social Travel Summit offers MSC Cruises  a unique opportunity to connect with leading bloggers from around the world, learn about digital marketing trends as well as participate in discussions and brainstorming sessions. Representatives from MSC Cruises will also share their experiences of working with travel bloggers during the ‘Working with Travel Bloggers and Measuring Results’ session on Day 2.

MSC Cruises and travel bloggers: what’s the connection?

We know what you’re thinking.

You hear “cruise” and images of white-haired pensioners playing shuffleboard automatically spring to mind, along with stuffy dining rooms, outdated dress codes and excruciating dance classes.

“Travel blogger,” on the other hand, conjures up images of young, bold, tech-savvy adventurers. You can imagine them backpacking around Mongolia, climbing Mount Kilimanjaro or hitchhiking through South America with their smartphones at the ready, keeping their followers up to date with a steady stream of Instagram photos and witty blog posts as they go.

What you really can’t imagine is that same travel blogger walking voluntarily up a ship’s gangway to embark on a cruise; which is precisely why MSC Cruises decided to invite a group of international travel bloggers on board MSC Splendida in 2012, on MSC Preziosa for the Christening last March 2013 and onboard of MSC Divina during her arrival in Miami last November.

This was the first in a series of blogger events and competitions from MSC Cruises in which we aim not only to change bloggers’ own views on cruising, but to change the views of their networks and online communities.

MSC Cruises is in fact making it a priority to engage with the travel blogosphere. We know that blogging is one of the most effective ways of communicating the reality of the cruise holiday experience, as well as one of our greatest tools for dispelling the many myths which surround it.

Cruising combines travel, fine dining, adventurous excursions, relaxation and cultural discovery. It really is the perfect 360° holiday experience for any traveller of any age – and we need bloggers to help spread the word.

As more and more bloggers discover what MSC Cruises has been hoping for all along – that cruising and bloggers are actually compatible – larger and more diverse audiences will learn what cruise lovers have always known; that cruising really can capture the authentic art of travel, if only you let it.

About MSC Cruises

MSC Cruises is the market leading cruise company in the Mediterranean, South Africa and Brazil and operates across the globe. MSC Cruises sails throughout the year in the Mediterranean and in the Caribbean and offers a wide range of seasonal itineraries in Northern Europe, the Atlantic Ocean, the French Antilles, South America, Southern Africa, as well as Abu Dhabi and the Emirates. Its modern fleet comprises twelve ships: Fantasia-class MSC Preziosa, MSC Divina, MSC Splendida and MSC Fantasia; Musica-class MSC Magnifica, MSC Poesia, MSC Orchestra, and MSC Musica; Lirica-class MSC Sinfonia, MSC Armonia, MSC Opera and MSC Lirica. MSC Cruises is the only company in the world to receive the “7 Golden Pearls” award from the Bureau Veritas in recognition of its high level of quality management and environmental responsibility. MSC has also achieved ISO 9001 and ISO 22000 certification for the quality and food safety of all aspects of its catering, both on shore and on board. MSC Cruises believes that global leadership brings increased responsibility towards the physical and human environments in which it operates. As such, a long term partnership with UNICEF was undertaken in 2009 to support educational programmes for children in Brazil, for which almost three million euros were raised. The partnership was renewed early 2014, this time to support UNICEF’s efforts to tackle child malnutrition in developing countries and in emergency situations.

Follow MSC Cruises on: twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

Press information:

 

GNTB brings first Social Travel Summit to Leipzig

 

Frankfurt am Main, 24 February 2014

Social media marketing (SMM) is becoming increasingly important for the travel industry. According to a recent study by Google, 85 per cent of all travellers are already researching their destinations online. It is for this reason that the German National Tourist Board (GNTB) is bringing the first Social Travel Summit http://thesocialtravelsummit.com/ to Leipzig on 15 and 16 April 2014. The event is being run by blogger and media network ‘iambassador’ in partnership with the Reiseblogger Kollektiv. Destination partners are the GNTB and Leipzig Tourismus und Marketing GmbH.

During the SMM conference, attendees will have the opportunity to speak with the world’s 50 top travel bloggers and to gain insights into the future of social networks and the potential they hold for global marketing. In workshops, social media experts will be presenting best practice examples of how to generate online content, discussing strategies with participants and developing ideas with them on how collaborations between the travel industry and social media can be improved. The event is aimed at experienced users of new media as well as beginners. This is reflected in the broad spectrum of themes, which range from practical guidance on how to use the photo and video sharing platform Instagram or the social network Google Plus through to digital storytelling and talks and discussions on the future of social media.

“Travel and tourism are highly relevant in Facebook. Word-of-mouth marketing through social networks therefore plays a major role in travel planning – around 60 per cent of prospective travellers call upon peers and social networks for this, according to a study by Google. I am delighted that we were able to attract an event as groundbreaking as the Social Travel Summit to Germany,” says Petra Hedorfer, Chief Executive Officer of the GNTB.

Volker Bremer, Managing Director of Leipzig Tourismus und Marketing GmbH, adds that “Few other cities hold as much fascination for bloggers as Leipzig with all its many facets. We are thrilled that Leipzig will be hosting the first Social Travel Summit.”

After the Social Media Summit, 25 bloggers will be discovering Destination Germany for themselves between 17 and 19 April when they will be reporting live via Twitter, Facebook or their blogs. During these blogger tours, the focus will be on the UNESCO World Heritage sites and the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, as well as nature and culture in Destination Germany.