Chalk one up for Brazilian tourism board Embratur in getting creative about travel inspiration and trip planning.
The board launched a YouTube brand channel which enables travelers to create itineraries by viewing and adding videos to their prospective trips.
The idea is to promote Brazil tourism, especially in light of the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games in the country.
When you navigate to Visit Brazil on YouTube, you can input information about when you want to travel, how long the trip should be, who you are traveling with, and your type of desired vacation (shopping, hanging out, sports, beach, nature and/or culture), and then choose from among 141 videos about the destination and its attractions.
From there you view and then add videos about various attractions and create an itinerary based on your video selections.
The final step is to name your tour and edit the itinerary, which may include stops in Recife, Conde and Olinda, for example. You can save your tour, create additional trips or view suggested itineraries.
Embratur's idea to use videos as a source of travel inspiration may be a good one. What the strategy is lacking for now is the logical next step -- providing travelers with ability to book their chosen itineraries.
However, that capability may be added in the future, a spokesperson says.
In addition to launching the YouTube brand channel March 20, Embratur was slated to launch a free game app, Brasil Quest, for iPhone, iPad and Android beginning March 23. It is already available in iTunes.
Going along with the football theme, the app follows the travels of an alien named Yep, who searches for happiness in the 2014 FIFA World Cup's 12 Brazilian host cities.
Needless to say, Yep becomes bedazzled by the country's charms and attractions.
But, villains intervene, placing obstacles in Yep's quest to enjoy himself in Brazil.
Hence, game on.
Embratur kicked off the launch of its brand channel with some offline activities -- in Manhattan's Grand Central Terminal March 20, the board presented live Brazilian music, speakers, interactive demonstrations and was to give participants a chance to try out the site.