People from all over the world “LOVE NA”

People from all over the world “LOVE NA” in new online promotional campaign…

Israel, Romania, England, Canada, Tanzania, Thailand and even Hoboken, New Jersey will be featured in a new online promotional campaign for the city of New Albany which features people from all over the world who have visited the city.

“I don’t know if New Albany qualifies as an international destination,” says Sean Johnson, New Albany’s director of tourism, “but people might be surprised with the number of folks from other countries who do spend time in New Albany.”

Johnson said that he got the idea when looking through a new application the city has on their travel website, visitnewalbany.com.

Sandra Mardi from Kragujevac, Serbia

“We recently added a new feature to the website that allows us to find pictures of New Albany that are posted throughout social media. Generally, the pictures we all see on social media are the ones taken by friends or people we follow, but the new app that we have, called #GetSocial, allows us to see pictures of New Albany taken by anyone. One of the incidental benefits of the program is that it not only allows us to find and repost images, but it gives information about the people who took the pictures as well.”

Johnson said that he reached out to some of the folks he found on the app to ask them to do a little video from their country saying that they loved New Albany.

“The response has been really nice. I emailed them I love NA signs, but a lot of the folks have made their own, and that’s fun. Additionally, it’s really neat to see the backgrounds in the films. For instance, the folks from England, Anthony and Alma Stuchbury, did their film in Liverpool in front of the statue of the Beatles there…it’s the first time I’ve ever seen the statue.”

In addition to the people found on the #GetSocial app, friends and family members are submitting films, too.

Casey Martin braves the cold for New Albany in North Bay, Canada

“Atkins Trout, who is working with the Peace Corps in the South Pacific said that he would be sending one with school kids from Tonga. Joann Lesley suggested Aimee Bogtish and her family who have New Albany roots and are living in Thailand. They sent in a cute video from a restaurant in Thailand that will soon be posted and will be used as part of the larger campaign.”

Johnson says that a number of international visitors have come to New Albany for the Tanglefoot Trail and Faulkner, but most are just passing through.

Countries who’ve visited visitnewalbany.com this month.

“International travelers plan trips like anyone else. If they’re coming to Mississippi, they’ll get online and look at towns along the route to stop off during their trip. We’re on a major route, so we’re bound to get some visits. I’m just glad that when they get here they like what they see.”

While the videos are just being posted singularly now, Johnson says that they will be compiling the videos into a promotional piece to be used early next year.

“If any folks reading this have friends in other places who might make a video, we’d love to see it,” says Johnson.

To check out the #GetSocial app, visit New Albany’s travel site at www.visitnewalbany.com. To have your picture included in site, simply tag it with #NewAlbany or #IloveNA. To watch the videos, got the I LOVE NA page on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ilovenams/.