User-generated content (UGC) is a powerful tool in the world of destination marketing. But more than just pretty pictures, it is something to be wielded with thought and — above all — with careful creativity. For these reasons, our second award category of EMEA Summit 2025, “Most Creative Content Collaboration,” celebrates a destination whose approach to UGC has not only ensured that it has become an integral part of its marketing strategy, but a platform for creating a positive perception of a brand and — most importantly — of the place and people it represents.
Finalists: Experience Sussex, Visit Belfast
Winner: Visit Belfast
Telling the story of a place, a people, and a brand
Over the last year, the team at Visit Belfast — the destination marketing organisation (DMO) that represents Northern Ireland’s capital — has sought to harness the power of UGC, using it to turn the city into a story told by its very own people. Thanks to scrupulous brand research, Visit Belfast knew social media would be the most powerful channel for making a positive impact on the overall perception of their city and their brand.
A three-pronged approach to creative content
As the team explained in their submission entry for this category, the idea was to harness the reach and span of influencers to build a sense of emotion among a wider audience of would-be visitors. As they put it, the greater objective, “was to deliver 22 million social impressions and 15 million video views through a fully integrated UGC model.” As such, Visit Belfast’s strategy involved the use of in-house creative to deliver an anchor for seasonal campaigns. But after this, a host of “carefully selected influencers were briefed to create real-time, platform-native content,” and finally, “public UGC was curated for resonance, diversity, and alignment with campaign themes, providing authenticity and reach.”
Tangible results, a shift in strategy
This content model was deployed throughout the summer months and scaled up at Christmas to highlight Belfast’s seasonal appeal. The effort paid off and, according to the team, “UGC-led content accounted for over 60% of all brand impact, with influencer collaborations generating more than 15 million video views and contributing to a total of 49 million views across channels.” But — more importantly — over the last 12 months, the DMO said it has “shifted from being a storyteller to a story-sharer, powered by the voices of those who live and love the city.”
With this approach, Visit Belfast not only highlighted authentic local voices and partner businesses, but has helped to give a new vision to how the city is experienced. Speaking of their tangible results, the team explained, “Partners saw measurable uplift, and sponsored UGC collaborations generated more than £38,000 in additional income.”
Because of these results, the DMO is firm in its view that “UGC is no longer a content tactic. It is now a strategic performance engine. This ambitious project reimagined user-generated content not as a creative extra, but as the foundation of Visit Belfast's destination marketing.”
Well done Visit Belfast! With a view to keeping this winning streak going, join us again soon to see who came tops in our next category, “Outstanding Customer Engagement.”