Who is Alexander V. Kammel?
Director and co-founder of the International Committee of Tourism Film Festivals CIFFT. He is also the owner and director of several corporate film festivals (Cannes Corporate Media & TV Awards, AutoVision, Grand Prix Victoria).
With a lifetime experience in the corporate film business, he is member of numerous festival juries around the world. He also consults new festivals and acts as a messenger for the effective and high quality corporate films, especially from the tourism industry.
What is the International Committee of Tourism Film Festivals – CIFFT?
AK: CIFFT is an international group of highly professional festivals promoting the excellence in the field of audiovisual tourism & travel communication. It is currently composed of 16 member festivals and 2 candidates aspiring to become members. Geographically we stretch from Los Angeles to the Maldives. We are encouraging the implementation of new Festivals in some strategically important regions.
Where did the idea for CIFFT begin?
AK: One day my father and I faced the challenge to visit 3 tourism film festivals at the same date, impossible. As we had our own Tourism Film Festival in Vienna, the “Festival of Festivals”, we invited the representatives of the most important festivals at the time to come to our festival and discuss this awkward situation. As a result, we formed the Comité International des Festivals du Film Touristique – CIFFT as an initiative of Filmservice, to create an international network of tourism film festivals.
What makes CIFFT unique?
AK: We know that, Video is King! It has a huge reach, is a powerful tool to promote a destination and according to some studies, more than 70% of travelers watch videos when choosing a destination to visit.
The Grand Prix CIFFT, according to my knowledge, is unique in the world of film festivals, offering a top-quality competition (18 festivals) and is the only film award given according to the results of an international network of independent tourism film festivals.
With more than 3000 entries each year to be among the first 10 on the rank list is a great achievement not to speak to be the number 1, the World´s Best Tourism Film.
Who can join the Grand Prix CIFFT Circuit? And why they must compete in the CIFFT circuit?
AK: The Grand Prix CIFFT is open for all audiovisuals promoting tourism & travel: commercials, promotional film, social media video, documentaries about travel & tourism. Films can be entered by producers, agencies, tourism organizations or others. It is the most prestigious award for audiovisuals in the Tourism Industry. We will enhance its importance with the upcoming implementation of a “People’s Choice Award” for all films choosing the Full-Service Package of the CIFFT.
Participating at the CIFFT Festivals can improve brand awareness and promote your destination or product to new audiences (Free marketing). Entering a film or a campaign can often force you to look at that from a different perspective and compare yourself to your peers (Benchmarking). Award winning is important in any sector, wins provide the opportunity to re-affirm the success to not only existing but potential clients (Increased credibility). The CIFFT Circuit is a brilliant tool to be able to say to the clients “we’re an award-winning”, highlighting the excellence.
