The DIA Awards showcases digital innovation in Asia Pacific travel and tourism in five categories across the five DIA pillars, including “Most Impactful Digital Innovation”, “Most Engaging Digital Presence”, “Most Relevant Chinese Digital Presence”, “Most Socially Responsible Digital Initiative”, and “Most Captivating Digital Storytelling”, as well as the well Top 5 Digital Innovators. Last years winners included Tourism Authority of Thailand, Tourism Malaysia, e-Visa Cambodia, and Air New Zealand. 2014 nominations are open until April 30th via www.DIAawards.com.

THE TOP 5 DIGITAL INNOVATORS plus FIVE Awards, including:

• DIGITAL INNOVATION ASIA AWARDS: Most Impactful Digital Innovation
• E-TOURISM ASIA AWARD: Most Engaging Digital Presence
• E-TOURISM CHINA AWARD: Most Relevant Chinese Digital Presence
• DIGITAL AID AWARD: Most Socially Responsible Digital Initiative
• BLOGGER MATCHUP AWARD: Most Captivating Digital Storytelling

THE TOP 5 DIGITAL INNOVATORS IN ASIA: The Top 5 Digital Innovator Award recognizes outstanding individuals that have showed innovation, creativity, leadership, and commercial impact, as well as achievements in challenging situations. The Top 5 Digital Innovators are our annual hot list of leaders that have truly raised the bar for the travel and tourism industry in Asia Pacific when it comes to digital innovation.

MOST IMPACTFUL DIGITAL INNOVATION: This award recognizes online travel ventures that have leveraged technology in innovative ways in order to develop tourism, enhance the travel experience, improve guest services, and drive consumer engagement.

MOST ENGAGING DIGITAL PRESENCE: This award recognizes the most viral campaign, most engaging website, most innovative mobile application, or most creative use of social media, promoting Asia Pacific as a tourism destination.

MOST RELEVANT CHINESE DIGITAL PRESENCE: This award recognizes the most relevant mandarin-language website, most creative use of Mainland China social media, or most impactful campaign, marketing to Chinese consumers.

MOST SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE DIGITAL INITIATIVE: This award recognizes the most impactful and creative campaign, venture, or initiative in promoting and stimulating responsible and sustainable tourism development in Asia Pacific, as well as social and community-based tourism practices, and engaging consumers in being more conscious travelers.

MOST CAPTIVATING DIGITAL STORY TELLING: This award recognizes the most riveting digitally published storytelling piece, from blog post, video, photo, review, and audio, discovering new and exciting destinations in Asia Pacific.

The E-Tourism Asia Boot-Camp will provide hands-on practical training for the travel and tourism industry in the areas of digital marketing trends, social media, mobile, distribution, search, influencer marketing, and China digital marketing.

Leveraging digital, social, and mobile to drive PROFITABILITY for your business – from small to large, restaurant to hotel, retail store to tourism organization, travel agency to airline – the digital landscape has transformed how we do business today, and more importantly, it has changed how consumers research, make decisions, and purchase.

The E-Tourism Asia Boot-Camp is focused on hands-practical content that will help your business to be relevant to today’s consumer.

ETA Certificates

Online micro-certification enabling professionals to get certified in areas such as China Digital, Social Media, CRM & Loyalty, Search Engine Marketing, Online Advertising, and Revenue Management. Certificates are low cost for DIA members, and further subsidized based on location and position.

BLOGGER MATCHUP Destinations and companies now often cooperate with bloggers as some of the bloggers have a wide reach via their blogs and also via their social media channels. Cooperation may range from blog trips and campaigns to content development and virtual focus groups. What do bloggers want and what are brands looking for? How can both sides benefit from each other? What would a successful cooperative effort between brands and bloggers be like? What are the possibilities in 2014? How can the new Blogger Matchup platform and services help global bloggers connect with brands in Asia?

DATABASE – BLOGGER MATCHUP CONNECT Online database with relevant self-publishing digital influencers from all over the world, who are creating engaging content in words, photos, videos, and voice, leveraging social media channels and influencing consumers when it comes to travel and tourism purchase decisions. The service allows companies to search and connect with relevant bloggers by segment, interest, lifestyle focus, and location, as well as source market.

CONSULTING – BLOGGER MATCHUP INTERACTIVE Blogger Matchup offers services to help companies to source relevant bloggers, plan blogger familiarization trips, and execute blogger campaigns, as well as monitor ROI and ROE.

EVENTS – BLOGGER MATCHUP EVENTS Blogger Match-Up Event is a unique event to connect influential citizen journalists, bloggers, and self-publishers with travel brands and tourism organizations.

Bloggers have been selected from all the world, based on relevance to Asia, their quality and engagement of their blog, their focus and lifestyle niche, as well as their influence and following.

Blogger Matchup events can be private-labeled by tourist boards, as well as as co-located with travel trade shows and conferences. The Blogger Matchup Boot-Camp educates closes the gap between brands and bloggers on how to best work together, and sets expectations on how to build long-term beneficial relationships. It provides hands-on practical information travel and tourism organizations including hotels, destinations, airlines, restaurants, tours, and retail shopping, on how to do blogger outreach, build blogger engagement, develop blogger campaigns and trips, and answers questions from ethics to compensation, and much more.

The Blogger Matchup Speed-Dating is a high-energy exchange to matchup bloggers with brands via a 6-minute rotation.

Organizations are able to get to know and connect with bloggers, and have the opportunity to further develop relationship that may turn into mutually beneficial business deals. Hailed by last-year attendees as one of the most engaging and productive events, Having an intimate understanding of both bloggers and tourism brands, Blogger Matchup is unique globally and in Asia due to its focus on creating value to both stakeholder groups.

E-Tourism China Boot Camps offer hands-on practical content how to market to affluent Chinese consumers leveraging digital, social media, and mobile.

As the second largest economy in the world, Chinese netizens intend to travel in 2014, with 51 percent planning to take three trips or more this year, according to an online survey by Ctrip.com, the leading Chinese online travel agency (OTA). Therefore, it is of absolute importance that travel and tourism brands entering the Chinese market take the time to learn how to successfully connect with Chinese consumers through social media.

Although many social media strategies work across global markets, China deserves a targeted approach because of its unique social media landscape. How can you develop a relevant online presence in China from website to social media, what role do platforms like Weibo and Weixin play, and how to engage with KOLs (key opinion leaders, or Chinese influential bloggers)?

Have a look at this article if you are interested in the Digital and Social Media landscape in China.

Digital Aid Asia bridges intersection of technology and CSR

Sustainable Tourism 2.0 – digitally powering and taking responsible tourism development to the next level. The first ever Digital Aid Asia Forum focused on responsible tourism development and capacity building via technology, social media, and mobile

Digital Aid Asia has a mission to help digitally powering responsible tourism development and capacity building in emerging tourism destinations across Asia. Technology and digital can be a catalyst to alleviate poverty and drive responsible tourism practices as an enabler from e-Visa access, community based online distribution, social media powered crisis management response systems, e-learning driven human resources development, mobile alerts combating child prostitution, and crowd-funding to alleviate poverty

Digital Aid Asia Forums discuss issues from crisis management, human trafficking, human resources development, capacity building from micro-financing and e-Visa, and how internet and emerging technologies, mobile, and social media can act as an enabler and catalyst to drive positive economic growth supporting the visitor economy.