May 12th, 2009 | 
Author: Footage of a girl walking along the Canada coastline on a still day has been revealed to have been filmed in Northumberland, England.
The footage was part of a new promotional package that had been commissioned by the Alberta tourist board costing around $25m. It was intended to show the best features of the Alberta province in Canada and increase levels of Canada holidays in the region. However, when keen sailor Peter Bailey investigated the location as a possible site for spending time on his boat, he found out all was not as it seemed. He initially thought it was one of Canada’s many lakes but on closer inspection he discovered it was actually the North Sea. Confident that the middle of Alberta was at least 300 miles from the Pacific Ocean and 450 miles from the Atlantic Ocean, Bailey thought he should let the relevant people know.
When Peter approached the Northumberland Tourist Board they instantly saw the funny side of the matter. “ we think it’s quite humorous – the fact that Canadians want to present one of their landlocked areas as having a coastline” said Sheelagh Caygill. The majority of the people of Northumberland were more flattered than annoyed. Saying that it’s great that Canada views this part of the world beautiful enough to use as their own.
A rather more defensive response was given by Ottawa government when Bailey announced his findings to them. It was simply included to “symbolise the fact Albertans are a worldly people” claimed one spokesman.Tom Olson who looks after media relations for the Prime Minister suggested “There’s no attempt to mislead here. The images were utilised because they represented the tone and mood that we were after.”
Rather than remove the footage from videos sent out since the discovery, they have opted to simply include a credits section that thanks the English Tourist Board. The embarrassment caused to the travel board in Canada has led them to go over past video releases to check for continuity. Among other promotional sets that Canada has recently released include one showing Alaskan cruises therefore there will surely be people keeping an sharp eye out for passing flamingos in the Alaskan cruises footage
Posted in Travel Tips