The Global Tourism Film Festival (GTFF) recently concluded four days of worldwide destination discovery through enigmatic cinema screenings and in-depth seminars, facilitating destination film appreciation, in-depth tourism insight and professional development. 

 

GTFF 2023 hosted by the city of North Bay, Ontario, Canada, had been produced to engage proactive filmgoers, travel consumers, and travel and film industry professionals.

 

GTFF, held this year from April 27 to 30, is a global competition dedicated to the recognition of excellence in all audiovisual content related to tourism promotion and destination branding.

 

GTFF 2023 shone a spotlight on Canada with ‘Cinema Canada’, a segment of Canadian produced film promoting the destination’s heritage.

 

Highlights of GTFF 2023 included presentations from domestic and international tourism boards, professional development workshops, film production by film boards, and special event programming on indigenous culture, including an indigenous medicine bag workshop. 

 

The event was enhanced with unique elements including an opening gala featuring gastronomy of countries presented at the festival.

 

Professionals attending received firsthand introductions to North Bay touristic landmarks such as the Heritage Railway and Carousel Company, featured in numerous films; the Canadian Forces Museum of Aerospace, showcasing Canada’s air defense history from the First World War to modern day operations, and the Dionne Quints Museum that tells the story of the famous quintuplets that brought global attention to Canada and Ontario in the 1930’s. 

 

Included in the programme was a tour of the North Bay Museum which allowed for the discovery of the people and places of the city that is regarded as the Gateway to the North. The programme also included tours of the Canadore College’s postproduction facilities, local film studio visits, and a North Bay animation production seminar, that touts the city as an emerging film production hub of Canada.

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GTFF saw the world premiere of ‘Closer to Heaven’ by director Zara Janjua, attending with cast members, that went on to receive a Women Filmmaker Award. 2023 notable film category award recipients were Visit Cascais - Best Tourism Commercial (Portugal), ‘When the Southwind Blows’ - Best Short Film (Taiwan) and ‘Blueback’ - Best Feature (Australia). The Global Cine Award was presented to ‘Kumari’ (India). -TradeArabia News Service