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Lithuanian tourism brouhaha after photos used from elsewhere
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VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — The head of Lithuania’s state tourism agency has resigned after admitting her agency promoted the Baltic country in an international social media campaign by using landscape photos taken in other countries.
Jurgita Kazlauskiene resigned Friday after local media had blasted the State Tourism Department for its campaign “Real is Beautiful” for using stock images from Nordic and eastern European countries.
Kazlauskiene said she stepped down so “people who work here don’t become objects of ongoing attacks.”
When the 140,000-euro ($149,000) campaign was launched in October, it sparked dozens of ironic entries on social media.
Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis posted a tongue-in-the-cheek Facebook comment on Thursday. Next to a photo of the European Union’s headquarters in Brussels he wrote “we are moving government to this building tomorrow. Real is beautiful.”
- Destinations
Lithuania’s tourism boss quits after really embarrassing blunder
OF ALL the ways you could promote Lithuania as a tourism destination, this is probably the stupidest way to do it.
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LOOK, it wouldn’t be easy running a country’s tourism agency.
Tourism is a vital contributor to most national economies and a single strategy could make or break a country’s image. Some tourism campaigns, like Australia’s Where the Bloody Hell are You? and New Zealand’s almost-too-successful 100% Pure, are iconic. Others, such as Syria’s recent, tone-deaf efforts, at least have the basic idea of self-promotion down pat. And then you have the latest, ridiculous tourism campaign from Lithuania. The tiny country boasts a stunning Baltic coastline, lovely woodlands and exciting cities rich with culture, among other drawcards. Despite all this, Lithuania’s state tourism agency took the worst possible approach to promoting the country as a tourism destination — it used images of other countries instead. Head of the State Tourism Department, Jurgita Kazlauskiene, resigned on Friday after local media blasted the agency for the campaign, which used stock images from Nordic and eastern European countries, the Associated Press reported. And here’s the real kicker — the slogan of the dodgy campaign was “Real is Beautiful”. Kazlauskiene owned up to the blunder and said she’d step down so “people who work here don’t become objects of ongoing attacks”, AP reported. The $193,000 campaign was met with ridicule when it launched in October. Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis even had a dig with a tongue-in-the-cheek Facebook comment on Thursday, in which he posted a photo of the European Union’s headquarters in Brussels and wrote: “We are moving government to this building tomorrow. Real is beautiful.” The Lithuanian campaign now joins a rogue’s gallery of other tourism marketing campaigns that backfired in spectacular fashion. Last year, “The Swedish Number” — an amusing campaign that let would-be tourists call a random Swede to ask about their country — inevitably fell victim to merciless trolling. Volunteer ambassadors were subjected to an endless barrage of calls from foreigners more interested in grilling locals about European refugee crisis and sex. Also last year, Syria’s Ministry of Tourism copped criticism over an odd video that spruiked war-ravaged Aleppo as a destination for holiday-makers, using the Game of Thrones theme as a soundtrack. The video appeared to show off the city’s wide boulevards, impressive buildings and lush parks and cultivated in the words: “Aleppo: Will of Life”. But those scenes were presumably filmed quite some distance from the eastern, rebel-held areas of Aleppo, which has been a major flashpoint in Syria’s brutal, five-year civil war.
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Lithuania’s precedent: Will Tourism chief follow suit and resign over Love the Philippines campaign scandal?”
- July 8, 2023
Should the head of the Department of Tourism resign after the recent brouhaha over the stock photos of other Asian countries used by its ad agency to come up with a hype video for the new campaign “Love the Philippines?”
Netizens have been vocal about their less than stellar response to the new campaign slogan and stock photo fiasco but Tourism Secretary Christina Gracia Frasco found some support from local lawmakers who said she was not to blame for the mess.
As it turns out, this was not the first time that this has happened to a Tourism agency. In 2017, Lithuania Tourism Head of State Jurgita Kazlauskiene filed her resignation after the country’s “Real is Beautiful” campaign was also found to have used stock photos from Nordic and Eastern European countries.
Kazlauskiene said that her decision to step down from her post was to protect the agency and its people from further criticism so that they may move forward with the bigger plans they had for the department.
Ad agency DDB Philippines recently acknowledged their responsibility for the mistake and said that they independently created the mood video to generate enthusiasm among stakeholders for the new campaign.
They have also expressed full cooperation with the Department of Tourism (DoT) in its investigation into the issue.
In a separate statement, the DoT confirmed that it will no longer continue its partnership with DDB for the production of the new campaign, citing their failure to prevent such an incident from occurring in a global initiative.
“As DDB Philippines has publicly apologized, taken full responsibility, and admitted in no uncertain terms, that non-original materials were used in their AVP (audio visual presentation), reflecting an abject failure to comply with their obligation/s under the contract and a direct contravention with the DOT’s objectives for the enhanced tourism branding, the DOT hereby exercises its right to proceed with termination proceedings against its contract with DDB,” the DOT said in a statement.
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The State Department of Tourism admitted that some of the pictures used on social media were taken in fellow EU states Finland and Slovakia.
Lithuanian Facebook users on Friday flooded their feeds with hundreds of international pictures, describing them as Lithuanian sites and captioning them with the hashtag #realisbeautiful.
Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis joined the trend, posting the EU Commission's Berlaymont building in central Brussels.
"From tomorrow, we start working in the new government building in Karoliniskes," said his caption, referring to a residential suburb of the capital Vilnius, and adding a smiley face for good measure.
Hours later, the prime minister slammed the ad campaign as "fraudulent" and demanded an investigation.
The tourism department and local media agencies defended themselves, insisting the pictures from other countries were good enough to "communicate emotion", a claim ridiculed by government officials and internet users.
Economy Minister Mindaugas Sinkevicius on Friday summoned tourism chief Jurgita Kazlauskiene who handed in her resignation, a ministry spokesman told AFP.
Lithuania, a eurozone member with population of three million, launched the brand "Lithuania. Real is beautiful" in October last year to highlight its natural wonders and culture.
The country boasts miles of sandy beaches on its Baltic Sea coast and swathes of forest, with woodland covering around a third of its territory.
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Lithuania tourism boss resigns after using photos of other countries in ad campaign
Look, it wouldn't be easy running a country's tourism agency.
Tourism is a vital contributor to most national economies and a single strategy could make or break a country's image.
Some tourism campaigns, like Australia's Where the Bloody Hell are You? and New Zealand's almost-too-successful 100% Pure, are iconic. Others, such as Syria's recent, tone-deaf efforts , at least have the basic idea of self-promotion down pat.
And then you have the latest, ridiculous tourism campaign from Lithuania.
The tiny country boasts a stunning Baltic coastline, lovely woodlands and exciting cities rich with culture, among other drawcards.
Despite all this, Lithuania's state tourism agency took the worst possible approach to promoting the country as a tourism destination - it used images of other countries instead.
Head of the State Tourism Department, Jurgita Kazlauskiene, resigned on Friday after local media blasted the agency for the campaign, which used stock images from Nordic and eastern European countries, the Associated Press reported.
And here's the real kicker - the slogan of the dodgy campaign was "Real is Beautiful". Kazlauskiene owned up to the blunder and said she'd step down so "people who work here don't become objects of ongoing attacks", AP reported.
The $193,000 campaign was met with ridicule when it launched in October.
Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis even had a dig with a tongue-in-the-cheek Facebook comment on Thursday, in which he posted a photo of the European Union's headquarters in Brussels and wrote: "We are moving government to this building tomorrow. Real is beautiful."
The Lithuanian campaign now joins a rogue's gallery of other tourism marketing campaigns that backfired in spectacular fashion.
Last year, "The Swedish Number" - an amusing campaign that let would-be tourists call a random Swede to ask about their country - inevitably fell victim to merciless trolling.
Volunteer ambassadors were subjected to an endless barrage of calls from foreigners more interested in grilling locals about European refugee crisis and sex.
Also last year, Syria's Ministry of Tourism copped criticism over an odd video that spruiked war-ravaged Aleppo as a destination for holiday-makers, using the Game of Thrones theme as a soundtrack.
The video appeared to show off the city's wide boulevards, impressive buildings and lush parks and cultivated in the words: "Aleppo: Will of Life".
But those scenes were presumably filmed quite some distance from the eastern, rebel-held areas of Aleppo, which has been a major flashpoint in Syria's brutal, five-year civil war.
- news.com.au
Daily Sabah
Lithuania tourism chief resigns over using fake pictures
Lithuania's tourism chief was forced to resign Friday after a state-funded ad campaign used photos from other countries to promote the Baltic state, under the slogan "Real is Beautiful".
The State Department of Tourism admitted that some of the pictures used on social media were taken in fellow EU states Finland and Slovakia.
Lithuanian Facebook users on Friday flooded their feeds with hundreds of international pictures, describing them as Lithuanian sites and captioning them with the hashtag #realisbeautiful.
Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis joined the trend, posting the EU Commission's Berlaymont building in central Brussels.
"From tomorrow, we start working in the new government building in Karoliniskes," said his caption, referring to a residential suburb of the capital Vilnius, and adding a smiley face for good measure.
Hours later, the prime minister slammed the ad campaign as "fraudulent" and demanded an investigation.
The tourism department and local media agencies defended themselves, insisting the pictures from other countries were good enough to "communicate emotion", a claim ridiculed by government officials and internet users.
Economy Minister Mindaugas Sinkevicius on Friday summoned tourism chief Jurgita Kazlauskiene who handed in her resignation, a ministry spokesman told AFP.
Lithuania, a eurozone member with population of three million, launched the brand "Lithuania. Real is beautiful" in October last year to highlight its natural wonders and culture.
The country boasts miles of sandy beaches on its Baltic Sea coast and swathes of forest, with woodland covering around a third of its territory.
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Tech Talk With Jess Kelly
20:00-21:00
Lithuania tourism advert used fake photos
19.24 10 Feb 2017
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Lithuania's tourism chief has been forced to resign after a recent ad campaign to promote the Baltic state used photos of other countries.
The images ran as part of a Facebook campaign and were posted under the slogan "Real is Beautiful".
The campaign page on Facebook reportedly used stock photos from Shutterstock and photo hosting site Flickr.
After Lithuanian's noticed the misuse of the photos, the Department of Tourism there admitted that some of the pictures shared on social media were of Finland and Slovakia.
Responding to the gaffe, the department and local media agencies insisted the foreign pictures were used merely to "communicate emotion" - an argument mocked by internet users and other government officials.
"I have decided to step down as the head of the state tourism department," Jurgita Kazlauskiene told Lithuanian journalists .
Local Facebook and Twitter users have seen the funny side - with many posting shots of international landmarks, such as the Parthenon in Athens, captioned as Lithuanian sights alongside the hashtag #realisbeautiful.
The country's Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis even joined in the joke , sharing a picture on social media of the EU Commission's Berlaymont building in Brussels and saying: "From tomorrow, we start working in the new government building in Karoliniskes."
Karoliniskes is a suburb in Lithuania's capital, Vilnius.
In a second more serious Facebook post, he said he was waiting for answers on "why it happened and who is responsible", and promised an investigation into the "fraudulent" episode.
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Lithuania tourism boss resigns after using photos of other countries in ad campaign
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Lithuania has come up with a pretty unique way of marketing the country. Photo / 123RF
Look, it wouldn't be easy running a country's tourism agency.
Tourism is a vital contributor to most national economies and a single strategy could make or break a country's image.
Some tourism campaigns, like Australia's Where the Bloody Hell are You? and New Zealand's almost-too-successful 100% Pure, are iconic. Others, such as Syria's recent, tone-deaf efforts , at least have the basic idea of self-promotion down pat.
And then you have the latest, ridiculous tourism campaign from Lithuania.
The tiny country boasts a stunning Baltic coastline, lovely woodlands and exciting cities rich with culture, among other drawcards.
Despite all this, Lithuania's state tourism agency took the worst possible approach to promoting the country as a tourism destination — it used images of other countries instead.
Head of the State Tourism Department, Jurgita Kazlauskiene, resigned on Friday after local media blasted the agency for the campaign, which used stock images from Nordic and eastern European countries, the Associated Press reported.
And here's the real kicker — the slogan of the dodgy campaign was "Real is Beautiful".
Kazlauskiene owned up to the blunder and said she'd step down so "people who work here don't become objects of ongoing attacks", AP reported.
The $193,000 campaign was met with ridicule when it launched in October.
Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis even had a dig with a tongue-in-the-cheek Facebook comment on Thursday, in which he posted a photo of the European Union's headquarters in Brussels and wrote: "We are moving government to this building tomorrow. Real is beautiful."
The Lithuanian campaign now joins a rogue's gallery of other tourism marketing campaigns that backfired in spectacular fashion.
Last year, "The Swedish Number" — an amusing campaign that let would-be tourists call a random Swede to ask about their country — inevitably fell victim to merciless trolling.
Volunteer ambassadors were subjected to an endless barrage of calls from foreigners more interested in grilling locals about European refugee crisis and sex.
Also last year, Syria's Ministry of Tourism copped criticism over an odd video that spruiked war-ravaged Aleppo as a destination for holiday-makers, using the Game of Thrones theme as a soundtrack.
The video appeared to show off the city's wide boulevards, impressive buildings and lush parks and cultivated in the words: "Aleppo: Will of Life".
But those scenes were presumably filmed quite some distance from the eastern, rebel-held areas of Aleppo, which has been a major flashpoint in Syria's brutal, five-year civil war.
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The ad describes Lithuania's capital as the "G-Spot of Europe" as "nobody knows where it is, but when you find it it's amazing."
By Russell Hope, news reporter
Tuesday 7 August 2018 20:28, UK
Tourism chiefs in Lithuania's capital have been criticised for using a picture of a woman apparently in the throes of sexual ecstasy to publicise the city.
Playing on Vilnius' out-of-the-way location, the campaign poster to be launched on Thursday shows a red-haired woman lying on a map of Europe with her hand gripping Lithuania.
Only the top of her head can be seen, but it appears she is having sex.
The poster proclaims: "Vilnius, The G-Spot Of Europe. Nobody knows where it is, but when you find it it's amazing."
The campaign, which comes ahead of the Pope's visit to the largely Catholic country next month, has been condemned by the Catholic Church.
Priests expressed concerns that the ad used "women's sexuality for advertising" and gave "wrong ideas" about the city.
However, it has been backed by the country's prime minister, Saulius Skvernelis.
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"I think it's a strange advertising choice, but I believe it does not cross the line in a democratic country," Mr Skvernelis told Lithuanian public broadcaster LRT.
Pope Francis' three-day tour of Baltic states is due to start in Lithuania on 22 September and ministers earlier asked city officials to postpone the ad's launch until after the papal visit.
"As to the timing, we are speaking about a very important visit to Lithuania, so perhaps these steps should have been co-ordinated, but that's the decision of Vilnius," Mr Skvernelis said.
It is not the first time a tourism campaign has caused controversy in Lithuania.
In 2017, the country's tourism chief resigned after an ad campaign to promote the Baltic state used photos of other countries, such as Finland and Slovakia.
The images used on social media ran under the slogan "real is beautiful".
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Lithuania tourism chief quits after PM mocks ‘fake’ ads
Travel & tourism.
State Department of Tourism admitted that some of the pictures used on social media were taken in fellow EU states Finland and Slovakia
Vilnius: Lithuania’s tourism chief was forced to resign on Friday after a state-funded ad campaign used photos from other countries to promote the Baltic state, under the slogan “Real is Beautiful”.
The State Department of Tourism admitted that some of the pictures used on social media were taken in fellow European Union (EU) states Finland and Slovakia.
Lithuanian Facebook users on Friday flooded their feeds with hundreds of international pictures, describing them as Lithuanian sites and captioning them with the hashtag #realisbeautiful.
Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis joined the trend, posting the EU Commission’s Berlaymont building in central Brussels.
“From tomorrow, we start working in the new government building in Karoliniskes,” said his caption, referring to a residential suburb of the capital, Vilnius, and adding a smiley face for good measure.
Hours later, the prime minister slammed the ad campaign as “fraudulent” and demanded an investigation.
The tourism department and local media agencies defended themselves, insisting the pictures from other countries were good enough to “communicate emotion”, a claim ridiculed by government officials and internet users.
Economy Minister Mindaugas Sinkevicius on Friday summoned tourism chief Jurgita Kazlauskiene who handed in her resignation, a ministry spokesman told AFP.
Lithuania, a Eurozone member with population of three million, launched the brand “Lithuania. Real is beautiful” in October last year to highlight its natural wonders and culture.
The country boasts miles of sandy beaches on its Baltic Sea coast and swathes of forest, with woodland covering around a third of its territory.
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TUI Group Chief Resigns After Nearly 10 Years at the Helm
TUI Group CEO Friedrich Joussen. Photo Source: TUI Group
After almost a decade at the helm of TUI Group , one of the world’s largest travel operators, Friedrich Joussen announced on Friday that he would be resigning in the fall.
Sebastian Ebel, TUI Group’s CFO, will step in as new chief executive officer on October 1, 2022. The Presiding Committee of the Supervisory Board will propose to the Supervisory Board of TUI AG the appointment for a period of three years.
“When the pandemic in spring 2020 turned us into a company without a business virtually overnight, all our attention was focused on one goal: rescuing TUI,” Joussen said. “Now that the existential crisis has been mastered, the time is right for a change at the top of TUI.”
Sebastian Ebel
Mathias Kiep will take over the role of chief financial officer from Ebel in October, TUI said.
“The restructuring, digital transformation and rescue of TUI in the corona crisis are lasting achievements of Fritz Joussen. The acute phase of the crisis is over. With Sebastian Ebel, a strongly entrepreneurial CEO is ready for the new start after corona. Strengthening the balance sheet and profitable growth are his focus,” said Dieter Zetsche , chairman of the Supervisory Board of TUI AG.
According to the Group’s announcement, “the Supervisory Board regrets Fritz Joussen’s decision”, Joussen “is exercising a right of resignation granted in connection with the conditions of the corona stabilization measures”.
It should be noted that TUI Group is one of Greece’s key partners . Earlier this year, the leisure travel giant said it was planning to bring more than 3 million visitors to Greece in 2022 with a goal to exceed pre- Covid 2019 levels.
In May, Joussen said the tourism industry was getting back on track , adding that he expected to see the sector recoup 80 percent of pre-pandemic 2019 levels this year or even reach 100 percent. Joussen made the forecasts in a LiveChat to his team after Easter.
“TUI is now starting the next chapter: a return to profitable growth – of course coupled with tasks from the crisis: reducing debt, strengthening the balance sheet and the further transformation of TUI,” he said this week.
“I have now decided to hand over my role as CEO of TUI to other hands at the end of the current financial year, on 30 September. The decision is not easy for me. However, I am convinced that now is a right time for a change at the top of the Group Executive Committee and the Executive Board. In making my decision, I have been guided by several questions that I have thought about a lot over the past weeks. Fortunately, I was able to do this at a time when the existential corona crisis is over. This makes it easier to think about the future and to reflect on personal life planning, which I have of course also discussed with my family,” Joussen said in a letter to employees of the Group.
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Lithuanian Tourism Department chief resigning. 2017-02-10; BNS/TBT Staff; VILNIUS - Jurgita Kazlauskiene, director of the Lithuanian State Tourism Department, has announced plans to resign after meeting with Economy Minister Mindaugas Sinkevicius on Friday.
The head of Lithuania's state tourism agency has resigned after admitting her agency promoted the Baltic country in an international social media campaign by using landscape photos taken in other countries. Menu. Menu. World. U.S. Election 2024. Politics. Sports. Entertainment. Business. Science. Fact Check. Oddities. Newsletters. Video. Health.
Lithuania's tourism boss quits after really embarrassing blunder. ... Jurgita Kazlauskiene, resigned on Friday after local media blasted the agency for the campaign, which used stock images from ...
As it turns out, this was not the first time that this has happened to a Tourism agency. In 2017, Lithuania Tourism Head of State Jurgita Kazlauskiene filed her resignation after the country's "Real is Beautiful" campaign was also found to have used stock photos from Nordic and Eastern European countries.
Fittingly, the publicity campaign in question is titled "Lithuania. Real is beautiful". Despite claims by the department and local media agencies that the images served their purpose to "communicate emotion" — an argument met with derision by many online — such was the scandal that the tourism chief felt forced to resign.
Lithuania's tourism chief was forced to resign Friday after a state-funded ad campaign used photos from other countries to promote the Baltic state, under the slogan "Real is Beautiful". The ...
Despite all this, Lithuania's state tourism agency took the worst possible approach to promoting the country as a tourism destination - it used images of other countries instead. Head of the State Tourism Department, Jurgita Kazlauskiene, resigned on Friday after local media blasted the agency for the campaign, which used stock images from ...
Lithuania's tourism chief was forced to resign Friday after a state-funded ad campaign used photos from other countries to promote the Baltic state, under the slogan "Real is Beautiful". ...
Lithuania's tourism chief has been forced to resign after a recent ad campaign to promote the Bal...
Lithuania tourism boss resigns after using photos of other countries in ad campaign. news.com.au. 14 Feb, 2017 03:00 AM 3 mins to read. Save share. Share this article.
Lithuania caught using fake tourism snaps 02/11/2017 February 11, 2017. The head of Lithuania's state tourism department has quit after admitting she promoted the Baltic nation with landscape ...
It is not the first time a tourism campaign has caused controversy in Lithuania. In 2017, the country's tourism chief resigned after an ad campaign to promote the Baltic state used photos of other ...
10 February 2017. AFP. Vilnius, Lithuania's capital, has an attractive Old Town area. Lithuania's tourism chief has been forced to resign after an ad campaign to promote the Baltic state used ...
State Department of Tourism admitted that some of the pictures used on social media were taken in fellow EU states Finland and Slovakia
103 votes, 24 comments. 4.9M subscribers in the europe community. Europe: 50 (+6) countries, 230 languages, 746M people… 1 subreddit.
I Googled Lithuania's tourism slogan "Real is beautiful" after seeing that post with each country's slogan the other day and found out that a car thiefian had to resign as tourism chief in 2017 for stealing pics of Finland & Slovakia to promote Lithuania.
Photo Source: TUI Group. After almost a decade at the helm of TUI Group, one of the world's largest travel operators, Friedrich Joussen announced on Friday that he would be resigning in the fall. Sebastian Ebel, TUI Group's CFO, will step in as new chief executive officer on October 1, 2022. The Presiding Committee of the Supervisory Board ...
It is not just a word, and not even just a slur word, it is a slur word from Russian language. The inspection he is chief of calls such word a linguistic barbarism and even can fine for its usage in certain cases. Yet, chief of this inspection nonchalantly uses it on camera in public conference. It is like cop on crack.