TOURISM B.C. SCREENSAVER
By Adnews Staff
Tourism B.C. estimates that 25,000 copies of its its advertising screensaver have been distributed by the Internet. The interactive screensaver can be downloaded free. Left alone, it puts a new scenic picture of a B.C. locale on screen every 45 seconds. With the click of a key, the scenes change into a map of the province with addresses and phone numbers for more information. The move was made to boost tourism in the province. "We're not only the first tourism jurisdiction in the world to do this," project manager David Reilley says. "We're the first people to use it as a marketing device on this large a scale anywhere in the world. We've basically pioneered a new advertising medium." The screensaver went on-line in mid-June. To pick up some press coverage of the Web site, Tourism B.C. sent media kits promoting it to 1,000 publications around North America. On the Internet, the World Wide Web address was posted on 45 newsgroups and 125 web sites. The Internet address is http://www.tbc.gov.bc.ca/screensaver.html. Computer users with CD-ROM but no access to the Internet can obtain a disc by calling a 1-800 number.