On October 1st, the winners of the Tourfilm Riga, the Latvian Stage of the CIFFT Circuit, were revealed. The 14th edition of the festival featured 300 entries from 40 countries.
The international panel of judges, which gathered experts in Tourism, Journalism, Audiovisual and Cinema, assigned 1st, 2nd and 3rd place awards in 6 thematic categories: Tourism Destination City, Region and Country, Tourism Products, Tourism Services and Independent Filmmakers.
The production "Vilnius: Amazing Wherever You Think It Is", produced by Wide Wings and Bechtle & Milzarajs for Go Vilnius, from the neighbour Lithuania, received the 1st place in the Tourism Destination City category and the most relevant award of the night: the Grand Prix.
With the sense of humour that usually marks its communication strategies, the city addresses that statistically, less than 5% of Western Europeans know where Vilnius is. A fact that could be a nightmare for a city looking to increase its appeal as a tourism destination was used creatively in the production, which also won other international awards in the CIFFT Circuit and assured the 1st position in the CIFFT Ranking List of best videos promoting a city.
Also, in the categories dedicated to promoting destinations, the highlights were "Lithuania. Discover Colours You Never Knew Existed" (Lithuania) as the 1st place in Tourism Destination Country, and "Seek Different"(Australia), which achieved the 1st place in Tourism Destination Regions.
The video "Culinary Cultural Heritage of Greece" (Greece) received the 1st place in the Tourism Products Category while "Mykonos Cruise. 2 . Sailing Tours" (Greece) was awarded with the 1st place in the category focused on promoting Tourism Services.
In the Independent Travel Videos category, the 1st place went to "The Nameless Call" (Italy). The documentary "Slow Travel vs Fast Tourism" from Germany received the Jury Award.
Among the awarded countries are Australia (1), Austria (2), Croatia (1), Germany (1), Greece (2), India (1), Italy (3), Japan (1), Lithuania (2), Maldives (1), Slovenia (1) and Spain (3).
The Tourfilm Riga is organized by the Riga City Council and has been an official member of the International Committee of Tourism Film Festivals (CIFFT) since 2009, alongside other festivals from four continents, at the most prestigious award and recognition initiative for the Travel Video Marketing Industry - the CIFFT Circuit.
Meet the winners
All the winner’s of the 14th Tourfilm Riga can already see reflected their awards in the CIFFT Ranking List, which will determine the World’s Best Tourism Films of the year.
Check out the 6 CIFFT Ranking Lists
About CIFFT
Created in 1989, the International Committee of Tourism Film Festivals (CIFFT), brings together the World’s Best Tourism Film Festivals from four continents at the most prestigious awards and recognition initiative in Travel Video Marketing Industry - the CIFFT Circuit.
In partnership with the endorsers UNWTO (World Tourism Organization), ETC (European Travel Commission), CTO (Caribbean Tourism Organization), and CATA (Centro America Tourism Association), CIFFT works to encourage tourism destinations to achieve excellence in promoting their products, services, and locations using video.
