GLP Films & Visit Sedona Produce Video Series on Responsible Tourism Practices
The 3-part Video Series Encourages Sedona’s Visitors to be Responsible and Respectful Stewards of the Land by Exploring Lesser-Traveled Trails, Protecting Local Habitats, and Following Leave No Trace Principles.
Kennebunkport, Maine (August 10, 2022) -- GLP Films (GLP), an award-winning content marketing agency dedicated to sustainable tourism, is excited to announce the release of a new campaign, Soul of Sedona – a video series produced in partnership with Visit Sedona in an effort to educate visitors about protecting the destination’s local environment and landscape. The series highlights travelers’ responsibility to follow local tourism guidelines and sustainable practices in order to maintain the health and beauty of the region for generations to come.
Millions of visitors flock to Sedona each year to enjoy the stunning landscape and unique outdoor recreational activities. While many global destinations experienced a decrease in visitation during the pandemic, the lockdowns and travel restrictions in the US brought a record number of travelers to Sedona. This increase in visitation has placed a sizable amount of pressure on the destination, leading to crowded trails, degraded landscapes, and an uptick in off-trail bikers and hikers that have damaged local habitats–all of which threaten the health of the area that tourists seek to enjoy.
In an effort to combat these issues, Visit Sedona partnered with GLP to develop an innovative and engaging video series to educate visitors on responsible travel practices. The videos, centered around outdoor recreation, the arts, and spirituality, feature interviews with local community members and tourism industry stakeholders and encourage visitors to think critically about the positive role that they can play during their visit to Sedona.
“Destination management has increasingly become an important part of the work we do with our partners,” says GLP Founder and Chief Strategist, Rob Holmes. “We were excited to work with Visit Sedona to apply our video storytelling and content strategy to support their strategic communications. We directly engaged key community stakeholders to craft stories that were educational as well as inspiring. We always lead with positivity.”
GLP’s Sedona campaign was recently highlighted in the distinguished Destination Stewardship Report (DSR). A joint project of the Global Sustainable Tourism Project, Sustainable Travel International, and the Center for Responsible Travel, the DSR provides insights and cutting-edge research on improving destination stewardship in the post-COVID era. The article, “To Market Stewardship, Use Local Voices,” zeros in on how a strategic video campaign can leverage local participation in order to shift a destination away from “destination marketing” and toward “destination management.” This shift can help destinations all over the globe avoid overtourism, increase responsible stewardship, and ensure long-term sustainability.
Using its award-winning storytelling techniques, GLP’s new campaign celebrates Sedona’s natural beauty and unique outdoor experiences while also teaching travelers to be aware of the ways in which their travel choices impact the environment, their fellow visitors, and the local community. “At the end of the day, the most important thing is that tourism benefits the local community,” says Rob. “In order to make sure that happens, we have to start with community input – that’s what this project teaches us.”
About GLP Films
GLP Films (GLP) is the leading agency for sustainability storytelling. We empower brands to accelerate growth, increase their positive impact, and improve sustainability through award-winning storytelling campaigns.
In fact, since 2008 GLP has been telling local stories globally through beautifully crafted video, engaging content and communications campaigns, and a people-first approach. This unique fusion of creativity, strategy, and authenticity means we’re able to align content marketing campaigns with organizational sustainability objectives and activate local stakeholder ownership of destination management efforts.
We’re honored to work with top tier destinations and organizations like Visit California, Tourism Authority of Thailand, Georgia National Tourism Administration, National Geographic, UNWTO, PATA, Global Sustainable Tourism Council, Green Destinations, and more, to propel sustainability forward with expert sustainability strategy, content strategy, storytelling, trade development, and custom marketing and distribution.
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