Tourism Trends & Tools to Reach Destination Target Markets

Social networking is growing fast and is taken further by smartphone and tablet rising usage which allows to connect on-the-go and interact in real-time. Mobile web browsing has been growing fast in the six months since August 2011 showing a significant shift away from browsing on traditional PCs (Nucleus). Since online conversion is key especially for travel and tourism brands mobile websites are becoming a requirement for many brands, in order to provide a mobile friendly browsing experience and engage their target audience.

At the same time that mobile social networking is becoming the wave of the future, video is definitely considered to be the highest ranking and most engaging content with YouTube considered the top content network for videos. Latest statistics show a dramatic rise in video activity with the U.S. online video audience reportedly cracking 100 million in December, 43 %  higher than one year ago (mashable.com).

For destination marketing organizations to reach and engage their target markets effectively, they need to go where their audience is, using what they use. Let’s see some new destination marketing initiatives responding to the latest trends, utilizing the appropriate tools.

It’s You…Vancouver with Music Video

Tourism Vancouver’s new destination film uses multiple platforms to send its message. Incorporating a local band and original song, “It’s You… Vancouver” is a professionally produced destination film in music video format.

Regardless the various music tastes, the song is performed by a Vancouver-based duo, Watasun, whose music fuses urban beats with traditional folk sounds. Throughout the three-minute video, the duo perform their catchy tune while making appearances in, near or atop of iconic Vancouver attractions.

Source: www.insidevancouver.ca

Costa Rica Targets Mobile with iPAd app

Following the “Million Dollar Gift of Happiness” marketing campaign and tapping the opportunity of the rising mobile devices and tablets usage, the Costa Rican Tourism Board has just launched an iPad application that mixes sounds from Costa Rican nature to create musical tunes.

“EnviroMixer” is the final segment of Costa Rica’s “Million Dollar Gift of Happiness”, which directly targets the growing mobile and tablet audience, inspiring and engaging.

EnviroMixer allows users to create music by dragging animal sounds to a screen, where they can be personalized by changing duration and volume. The result is a mix of sounds that users can share through social media networks like Facebook and Twitter.

EnviroMixer has nine animal sounds, including toucans, humpback whales and howler monkeys. The sounds can be mixed with melodies from the sea, from waterfalls and from an erupting volcano.

“Our target market for the Gift of Happiness campaign is both the U.S. and Canada, [where] mobile technologies like iPads and smartphones [are popular],” ICT Marketing Director Ireth Rodríguez said. “This app is a way of closely relating with our target market, because they are more aware of the aspects that make Costa Rica different.”

Source: www.visitcostarica.com

Tags: Costa Rica, destination marketing organizations, digital tourism marketing, mobile applications, social media, target marketing, tourism trends, Tourism Vancouver, video

Destinations Dressing up for Valentine’s Day

Since this is the “Love” week of the year, its a nice opportunity to have a look at some -Valentine’s special- online & offline marketing initiatives that caught our eye.

We liked what we saw, with VisitPhilly rolling out its first sweepstakes, a highly targeted initiative focused on couples, aiming to increased room nights and not missing the chance to lift Facebook engagement and destination awareness.  ”LOVE is in the Air” at the City of Waynesboro as well, where as part of the Virginia is For Lovers campaign, Virginians have the opportunity to put their love on display and drive visitation to the city.

‘Get a Room’ with 29 Nights of Philly Dates

The Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation (GPTMC) continues capitalizing on its successful 3 year old “With Love” destination brand campaign with a special “Love” Facebook contest running throughout February.

With this initiative is sends its sleepover message exclusively to couples, since according to a GPTMC hotel visitor survey, this was the most popular trip type from January through March.

The new 29 Nights of Dates sweepstakes, part of a $825,000 winter campaign—running January through March— feature more than 60 prizes on facebook.com/visitphilly, all aimed at getting couples to spend a night or two in a Philadelphia hotel this winter.

Apart from the goal of increasing room nights around the region, at the same time VisitPhilly uses the contest as an opportunity to lift  its Facebook page engagement as well, showcasing the entire region and offering targeted destination information.

According to the survey, a winter “getaway with a spouse/partner” is the #1 reason people are traveling to Philadelphia in Q1 (39%). This figure gave VisitPhilly the incentive to run the promotion, engaging their visitors with something that they were already seeking, as Robert Pierson from GPTMC explained to us.

More than $13,000 in fun, romantic prizes have been offered from local businesses to be given away every day during the month of February, while most of the prizes are centered around visitor needs like hotel nights, restaurants, attractions, events, and things to do in the city.

Fans of facebook.com/visitphilly will have a chance to win one of 29 fun, romantic and inspired Philly dates (nice way to take advantage of the extra -leap year-February day. All who enter to win a date will also be eligible to nab the grand prize on February 29: a red two-seat Vespa and a couple of With Love-branded helmets.

Love is In The Air of Waynesboro

Waynesboro Tourism is holding a special photo contest dedicated to Love this month. In partnership with the Virginia is for Lovers campaign, they are giving Virginians the opportunity to put their love on display at their first annual Love is in the Air event and photo contest.

A 6 ft tall, 16 ft long Virginia is for Lovers LOVE artwork is on display for photo opportunities from Feb. 11-Feb. 15 at a central city location, while the photos can be shared on Your Waynesboro Facebook Page, Virginia is For Lovers Facebook Page and Twitter using #LOVEVA. The aim is to increase visitation to down town Waynesboro and enjoy a day filled with LOVE events.

Katie McElroy, tourism director for the City of Waynesboro and coordinator for bringing the LOVE artwork to Waynesboro, said this is the first year Waynesboro has planned this event.

The LOVE artwork is part of the “Virginia is for Lovers” campaign, which promotes the message that love is at the heart of every Virginia vacation,” McElroy said.

The LOVE artwork has made stops at Virginia Welcome Centers, attractions and localities throughout 2011 and will travel to more locations in the Commonwealth in 2012.

Source: www.virginia.org

Tags: Destination Marketing, digital marketing, DMO, sweepstakes, Valentine's Day, Virginia, visitor engagement, VisitPhilly

UK Global & Domestic Tourism Marketing Approach

Going Hostile Externally – Collaborating Internally

Going Global

Very soon “right across the world, there will be no escape from the message that Britain is great” as a new phase of the GREAT Britain campaign will see the New York Subway, Paris Metro, and 100 taxis across Delhi draped with the Union flag.

A series of GREAT images with also form part of the campaign, designed to encourage more international visitors to the UK.

The initiative will be rolled out in New York from Monday. It will see the inside and outside of a New York subway train wrapped in the GREAT branding, and adverts blitzed across key transit hubs including Grand Central and Stamford stations.

VisitBritain’s GREAT campaign aims to attract an extra 4.6 million extra visitors to the UK over the next four years, securing an additional £3 billion in visitor spend, targeting the 14 biggest and most lucrative tourism markets around the world.

The international reach of the campaign will be strengthened by a global partnership between VisitBritain and Yahoo!. As their largest ever online campaign, it aims to drive over five million views of VisitBritain content on the Yahoo! network and help drive 3.5 million visits to VisitBritain’s own online platforms.

Going Local

At the same time, tourism businesses across the UK are urged to Get Involved and join the new “Holidays at home are great!” campaign, the biggest domestic marketing campaign launched in the UK.   It is a partnership approach led by VisitEngland with Visit Wales, Visit Scotland, Northern Ireland Tourist Board and London and Partners as part of a wider initiative to use the London 2012 games to boost domestic tourism across the UK.

Scotland, Northern Ireland and the regions of England are putting significant resources behind recruiting businesses to the campaign with a 20.12% off or other great offers initiative, meaning that holidaymakers booking a UK short break before the closing ceremony of the Paralympic Games will be eligible for a money off discount or value-added offer.

It seems like a necessary initiative against the issue of high prices in London and the UK in general during the Olympics, especially when Asia and travellers from China and Japan are reportedly avoiding travel to the UK during that period mainly due to the increased costs.

The reach to all types of tourism businesses and the guidelines are simple. To Get Involved, be prepared to offer money off discounts or other value added benefits such as:  20.12% off hotel stays, meals, and other goods and services; Offers and deals like three nights for the price of two at hotels, or two-for-one entry at attractions; Value-added offers, where the customer pays the usual price but receives something extra for example a free lunch or a special meal for £20.12, a free bottle of wine, a guided tour, or a pampering spa add-on.

All these offers will then be displayed together on the campaign website, to create a ‘one-stop shop’ where visitors can browse and select the offers they like best. On choosing an offer, they’ll be taken to the offer supplier’s site, where they’ll be able to sign up.

Sources: www.visitbritain.com, www.visitengland.org

Tags: collaborative marketing, domestic marketing, global campaign, Olympics 2012, tourism campaign, Tourism partnership, UK, visitbritain, visitengland

New Reputation Management and Targeted Marketing Campaigns

Japan Going Social to Revive Image

Engaging influencers to suppress negative sentiment and creating brand ambassadors to promote a positive image of the destination, is certainly one of the crucial steps of online reputation management.

Japan National Tourism Organization is inviting international bloggers and twitterers to visit areas devastated by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami. The goal is to write about the progress made in rebuilding disaster-ravaged communities and let the world know that the area still remains an appealing holiday destination.

Deciding to mobilize the immense communicative -better yet influential- power of blogs and Twitter, the Foreign Ministry earmarked some 21.5 million yen for the project for the current fiscal year through March, while it aims to invite a total of over 10 influencers by the end of March.

According to a recently announced draft tourism plan, Japan sets a goal of increasing the annual number of foreign visitors to 18 million by 2016. The number of foreign visitors to Japan, which hit a record high 8.61 million in 2010, is estimated to have dropped to 6.22 million in 2011 following the serial disasters while the previous plan aimed to increase the annual number of foreign visitors to 10 million by 2010.

The new plan’s implementation is set to start in March, which shows that the bloggers initiative, expected to be completed by then, is put forward to prepare the grounds. So, planning, an indispensable part of reputation management, is on the making, which it reportedly also calls for the launch of a public-private sector partnership to swiftly disseminate accurate information on natural and other disasters.

As for the initiative announced by JNTO a few months earlier, offering  10,000 Free Round-Trip Tickets to Japan, the plans are yet to be officially confirmed. The concept and aim however was quite similar as the selection of international travellers to get the tickets would be based on their online influence and their ability to share their experiences through social media.

More information: www.jnto.go.jp

Aruba Making the Most of Super Bowl

Even though they lost Super Bowl, New England players can still find something to smile about this week on one happy island.

As part of their marketing campaign, and in a clever attempt to draw some of the enormous Super Bowl attention towards their side, the Aruba Tourism Authority has extended a complimentary vacations offer to every member of the New England Patriots team.

The Aruba Tourism Authority is offering them the chance to touch down and score some happiness with all-expense paid trips to the tropical island known for its cheerful vibe.  At the same time, Aruba is poking fun at the fact that Disney World only offers a vacation to the winning team’s MVP by extending the offer to everyone on the Patriots team.

“While only the MVP of the winning club has the opportunity to jet set off to another well-known destination, Aruba is making the offer to the entire New England squad”, the ATA said in a press release

Source: www.prnewswire.com

Jump into Ireland

Tourism Ireland has unveiled a new integrated campaign, ‘Jump into Ireland’, in a bid to raise the profile of the island internationally over the next three years.

Created to reflect the island’s sense of playfulness and its natural beauty, the ‘Jump into Ireland’ campaign is being rolled out online first in Australia and New Zealand.  Targeting experienced travellers, the campaign will also celebrate key cultural events taking place in Northern Ireland this year, including the Titanic Belfast Festival, Peace One Day concert and the 50th Belfast Festival at Queen’s University.

The new initiative had been designed to build on the increase in visitor arrival numbers achieved last year, and to regain market share over rival destinations. The campaign spans TV, radio, press, cinema and online advertising and will include ramped up social media activity as the tourism body looks to make the channel a more integral part of its marketing.

Source: www.tourismireland.com

Guam targets Japanese Families

The Guam Visitors Bureau (GVB) recently launched the “Omoide Guam” campaign in Japan, Guam’s largest visitor market.

Omoide is the Japanese word for memory and “the idea behind this campaign is to invite our Japanese visitors to come to Guam with family and friends to make memories that will last a lifetime,” said GVB General Manager Joann Camacho. “After the triple disasters, we wanted to continue offering our Japanese visitors a way to recuperate, but at the same time to be sensitive to the issue and show support for their efforts to rebuild.”

The campaign kicked-off with a new interactive website which has several features that allow potential travelers to discover more about Guam, and is highly integrated with social media. Visitors can create custom postcards and albums with photos uploaded direct from Facebook, and then share what they create on Facebook, Twitter and Japan’s most popular social media site, Mixie.

Source: www.visitguam.org

Relevant Posts:

New Inclusive, Targeted & Reputation Management Marketing Campaigns

New Marketing Campaigns- Listen, Engage & Inspire!

Online/Offline Marketing Integration Case Study: This is Athens

Tags: Aruba, Destination Marketing, digital tourism, Guam, Ireland, Japan, reputation management, social media, Super Bowl 2012, targeted marketing campaigns

abouTourism on Territorial Reputation Management in Davos

Manolis Psarros will be in Davos this week for the 3rd World Communication Forum “Communication on Top” which takes place on 9-10 February, sharing his expertise on destination marketing and reputation management.

Manolis has been invited to join three top experts on a panel titled: Territorial Reputation Management.

Focusing on city/district positioning and communications strategies in promoting territorial reputation showcased through case studies analysis the Territorial Reputation Management panel presentations and discussion will be taking place on Friday 10 February, 09.30 a.m. at the Davos Congress Center.

This year’s “Communication on Top” Forum will discuss different aspects of: privacy vs. publicity, new challenges to the PR consultancies - global vs. local , territorial reputation - the synergy between global brands, producers and country/region image, communicating scientific breakthrough, interactions in virtual economics - social media games and online trading (Second Life, Online IPO), virtual vs face-to-face communication in PR and marketing, internal communications, communications associations’ mission today…. and more.

During the “Communication on Top” Forum, Manolis will join dedicated professionals and skilled trend-makers for sharing best practices, new strategies, insights and creative ideas that will help improve the world of communications. The core of the summit is an open dialogue uniting CEOs of leading companies and communication experts from high-rank world organizations, political and state-run institutions, NGOs, research centres, media units, and Internet communities.

Global communications no longer distinguish a sharp difference amongst public, corporate, marketing, financial or political. Today’s new generation of “digital natives” have a different perception of reality, genuineness and borders and are the current and future citizens, employees, consumers, electors.

The goal is to have a global network for distributing best practices in crisis, change or reputation management, as well as useful strategies in investor relations, employee motivation, government lobbying, etc. Equally necessary is to foresee the upcoming communication trends and secure a successful method for analyzing problems, finding solutions and offering best tools to serve top managers in their decision-making or daily professional tasks and, through the exchange of ideas and opinions, help them improve their own corporate and social efficiency.

Follow abouTourism and Manolis on Twitter for latest updates from the 2012 World Communication Forum.

Tags: 3rd World Communication Forum “Communication on Top”, communication strategies, Davos Forum 2012, destination branding, reputation management