YVR's Summer Campaign Inspires British Columbians to Rediscover Asia

27 Finalists Compete at YVR for 9 pairs of tickets to Asia

RICHMOND, BC, Sept. 30, 2015 /CNW/ - Today, Vancouver International Airport (YVR) selected nine winners for its T-shirts to Paradise contest, sending eighteen people on adventures in Asia. This multi-platform media campaign inspired British Columbians to rediscover Asia as their next travel option by highlighting the unexpected in six destinations with direct access from YVR: China, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Korea and The Philippines. YVR airline partners including Air Canada, All Nippon Airlines, Cathay Pacific, China Airlines, China Southern Airlines, EVA Air, Philippine Airlines and Sichuan Airlines donated a pair of business class tickets to designated destinations.

"T-Shirts to Paradise was a big hit at every community festival we visited this summer," said Anne Murray, Vice President, Marketing and Communications, Vancouver Airport Authority. "To see thousands of eager contestants clamour for T-shirts and share their photos online was a great endorsement of both the popularity of the campaign and the allure of these Asian destinations served from YVR."

The T-Shirts to Paradise campaign focused on several unique and less talked about insights for each destination, like hiking mist-capped mountains in China, surfing the best waves on the planet in Taiwan or snowboarding through untracked powder in Japan. The campaign ran from July 20 to September 13, 2015 and included traditional advertising such as Skytrain billboard ads, video and static ads on numerous websites and paid social media as well as community engagement with a presence at Celebration of Light Festival, Take-Off Fridays at YVR, The Fair at the PNE and Richmond World Festival.

Designed to inform British Columbians about the different countries and their unique offerings, the public was asked to choose a country and a corresponding t-shirt, take a photo, and upload it to social media channels to be entered to win two business class tickets to that destination. Out of 5,907 entries, 27 finalists were selected and participated in a competition to win the tickets. For more information about the campaign, visit www.TShirtstoParadise.ca.

YVR has strong linkages to Asia, with up to 134 direct flights per week to Asia at the peak period in August and the most connections to Asia in all of Canada and the second most in North America with 13 airlines flying to 11 non-stop Asian destinations. YVR is also the only airport in

North America with service from four mainland China carriers: China Eastern, China Southern, Air China and Sichuan Airlines. The T-Shirts to Paradise campaign increased awareness of these unique offerings and will help YVR remain competitive as an airport.

About Vancouver Airport Authority
Vancouver Airport Authority is a community-based, not-for-profit organization that manages Vancouver International Airport (YVR). Canada's second busiest airport, YVR served more than 19 million passengers in 2014. Fifty-four airlines serve YVR, connecting people and businesses to more than 111 non-stop destinations worldwide. YVR was voted Best Airport in North America for the sixth consecutive year, and Best Airport in the World for its size category of 10-20 million passengers, in the 2015 Skytrax World Airport Awards. Vancouver Airport Authority is a dedicated community partner and in 2014 donated more than $900,000 to local organizations. We are committed to creating an airport that British Columbia can be proud of: a premier global gateway, local economic generator and community contributor. For more information, please visit www.yvr.ca.

SOURCE Vancouver Airport Authority

YVR Media Relations, 604.880.9815; [email protected], Twitter: @yvrairport