The New Mexico Tourism Department`s (NMTD) Moby Vic, the department`s first mobile visitor information center and winner of the 2002 Mercury Award by the National Council of State Tourism Directors…
The New Mexico Tourism Department`s (NMTD) Moby Vic, the department`s first mobile visitor information center and winner of the 2002 Mercury Award by the National Council of State Tourism Directors, naming it the best creative, innovative or unique idea, is back under wraps.
But that`s a good thing, said Jon Hendry, marketing director for NMTD. With its new images and bright red color, it is incredible; no way are people going to miss seeing the new `Moby` as it travels the state and the nation promoting the scenic highways and byways of New Mexico.
Moby Vic (mobile visitor information center) is a 27-foot 1998 Ford conquest, purchased in late 2001 as a major player in NMTD`s 2002 Enchanted Tour of Texas media tour, promoting New Mexico`s multicultural heritage at cities throughout the Lone Star State. It was wrapped with images illustrating that heritage.
Since then, Moby Vic has transported NMTD staff, industry partners and promotional materials to the New Mexico State Fair, the International Balloon Fiesta, and the annual Trek for Trash, the Inter-Tribal Ceremony in Gallup, Festival of the Cranes, the Roswell UFO Festival, trade shows in Mexico and a host of other trade fairs and shows.
In 2003 it was joined by Big Red, NMTD`s new mobile visitor information center, a 1998, 34-foot Fleetwood Bounder. While Moby Vic still accommodates travelers, Big Red is a walk-though center equipped with brochure racks and other equipment that help showcase New Mexico. It is wrapped on the outside with scenic views of the Land of Enchantment and images of some of the state`s unique destinations and activities, paid for by tourism industry partners who took advantage of the special advertising opportunity offered by the department.
`Moby` is now wrapped in images of the state`s scenic byways, Hendry said, part of a joint marketing with the New Mexico Department of Transportation (NMDOT). New Mexico`s Scenic Byway program, which was under the auspices of NMTD, is now under the Tourism Department, where it belongs. Its director, Laurie Frantz, has also joined us, and we are looking forward to helping the Scenic Byway supporters in their efforts to promote the uniqueness of rural New Mexico.
Moby Vic`s coming out party is a trip to Alamogordo and Las Cruces October 8-9, 2005, to help celebrate the Countdown to E-Prize Cup. The Countdown is the first in an annual series of New Mexico-based X Prize Cup events that will showcase and celebrate the growth of personal space tourism, which state tourism officials agree will create a major tourism event in southern New Mexico. Future plans include trips to the Governors Conference on Tourism in Bernalillo at the end of October, all the way to Washington, D.C. with the National Christmas Tree and to Pasadena, California for the 2006 Tournament of Roses Parade.
If New Mexico`s would-be visitors have yet to come see us, then we`ll go to them, said NMTD Secretary Michael Cerletti. `Moby Vic` and `Big Red` are great marketing tools. They give us a unique opportunity to take our message of enchantment everywhere we go.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
