Mekong Tourism launches new visual storytelling campaign ‘Mekong From Above’ to showcase the best aerial photos and videos in the Southeast Asian Subregion. Mekong From Above invites the public to capture and post their best aerial photos and videos from the six-member nation regions to showcase the beautiful life and landscapes of the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) in Southeast Asia.
The “Mekong From Above” aerial photo and video contest, the first of its kind in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS), provides an opportunity for amateur and professional photographers to compete by capturing aerial photos and videos of the amazing landscapes, astonishing heritage, and numerous rich traditions of the region.

Aerial photos and videos can be posted on personal Instagram, Twitter and/or YouTube accounts by tagging the posts with #MekongMoments, #MekongFromAbove, and # from December 15, 2018, until March 31, 2019. Qualifying photos and videos will be aggregated via a feed into the official campaign website www.mekongfromabove.com, where public voting will determine the Public Choice Award. The Editor’s Choice Award will be determined by an expert panel of photographers, travel and tourism executives, bloggers, and media – chaired by Mr. Jaffee Yee, CEO of Knowledge Media Group Thailand (KMG), the co-organiser and initiator of the “Mekong From Above” contest.

“Aerial photographs and videos with a free-ranging camera on a versatile drone afford otherwise unobtainable vistas and perspectives of the Greater Mekong Subregion’s dramatically beautiful landscape. We are excited to be partnering with Mekong Tourism to showcase these photos and videos with the world,” said Jaffee Yee.

Ahead of the contest’s final result announcement in April 2019, 180 photo entries will be shortlisted and featured in a special-edition ‘Mekong From Above’ book, published by Knowledge Media Group. Additionally, select and inspiring photos, at the consent of each participant, may also be showcased in a number of regional and international exhibitions including one at the 2019 Mekong Tourism Forum in Dali, PR China from May 21-22.

The “Mekong From Above” contest is the second regional visual storytelling social media campaign hosted on the award-winning Mekong Moments social commerce campaign platform. The first campaign, the 2018 Mekong Mini Movie Festival, generated over 300 eligible videos of 60 seconds or less, reached over seven million people, and is being recognised with a prestigious HSMAI Gold Award. The 2019 Mekong Mini Movie Festival will officially be launched at the ASEAN Tourism Forum on the 16th of January, 2019 in Halong, Viet Nam. This event will also be the location at which the Public Choice Winners of the 2018 Mekong Minis will be announced.

Jens Thraenhart, Executive Director of the Mekong Tourism Coordinating Office and the co-organiser of the Mekong from Above campaign said: “We are excited to leverage our award-winning and innovative Mekong Moments campaign platform, to enable any organisation to execute campaigns to showcase the amazing and inspiring experiences shared by residents and travellers alike.”
“We were pleased when Knowledge Media Group approached us about launching an aerial photo and video campaign on MekongMoments.com, and we welcome any organisation to work with us on other campaigns. Our strategy is to execute a collaborative and inclusive platform enabling anybody to promote their business, their destination, and our Mekong Region via visual storytelling,” said Thraenhart.

MekongMoments.com recently featured as a leading exponent of innovative best practice in the PATA and Oxford Economics Report on Digital and Data Platforms in Asia Pacific Tourism. It was developed as a true public-private partnership between the tourism ministries of the six-member countries of the GMS (Cambodia, PR China, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand, and Viet Nam) and the private sector organisations Inter-Continental Hotels Group, Small Luxury Hotels of the World, Yaana Ventures, Odynovo, Tours China, SwissContact, GIZ, and UNWTO Affiliate Member Chameleon Strategies.
Chameleon Strategies Managing Director Gerrit Krueger remarked: “We are very excited to be executing yet another campaign to showcase the amazing experiences to be had in the Mekong Region, leveraging our ENWOKE social commerce technology.”
It is to be noted that any aerial photography and videography, as well as the use of drone-like equipment must adhere to national and local rules and regulations of the participating member countries of the Greater Mekong Subregion. The contest organisers explicitly ask participants to respect the privacy of residents and organisations when publishing any footage.
For more details on sponsorship, partnership, judging, rules & regulations and information on prizes and awards, please see www.mekongfromabove.com.