World’s largest human smiley face set World Record - Baltimore’s tourism agency

World’s largest human smiley face set Guinness World Record by Baltimore’s tourism agency

Baltimore’s tourism agency, Visit Baltimore plans to release a $500,000 marketing campaign on Thursday, with the catchphrase “Find Your Happy Place in Baltimore.” The campaign’s goal is to attract residents of nearby states.

The agency will attempt to set a Guinness World Record by having 250 people come together to create the world’s largest human smiley face! This will be part of the campaign’s debut. If the group is able to set the record they plan to release 19 dozen butterflies into the air.

Sam Rogers, Chief Marketing Officer, says that people are in search for happiness and simple pleasures in the current climate. “Has the economy got you in a slump?” reads one of the web spots.

Last year, Baltimore was one of just five states that saw an increase in tourism. A report released Tuesday by the Maryland Office of Tourism shows the state had 29 million visitors in 2009, a 3.5 percent increase from 2008.

Leisure trips were up by 5.2 percent, while business trips displayed a decrease of 1.5 percent in 2009. With its new campaign, Baltimore is likely to see another in tourism for 2010.

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World's Best Job - Salary USD110000

World's Best Job
** A British charity fundraiser was appointed caretaker of a tropical island on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef today, beating more than 34,000 applicants for what’s billed as the “best job in the world.”

Ben Southall will be paid A$150,000 ($110,000) to live on Hamilton Island in the northern state of Queensland for six months. His job will include exploring white sand beaches, sailing, snorkeling and scuba diving -- and promoting the island to tourists in a weekly blog, or online diary.

** “Everything that is offered out there I want to grasp with both hands,” the 34-year-old from Hampshire, southern England, who lists his hobbies as marathon running and climbing, said in comments broadcast live around the world from the island.

The appointment is the culmination of a marketing campaign that aims to defy the global recession and boost the number of tourists to Australia. Tourism Queensland estimates the A$1.7 million campaign generated more than A$100 million worth of publicity and may help reverse a forecast 4.1 percent decline in international visitors to Australia this year.

** “We’ve certainly got a good return on our investment,” Bruce Wallace, director of market activation and publicity, said in a telephone interview. “There were only two countries in the world that our Web site didn’t receive hits from, Somalia and North Korea.”

Global Recession

** Tourism Queensland unveiled its “Best Job in the World” competition in January, in the midst of the northern hemisphere winter and the gloom of a global recession.

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