What: A Luxury-Based Experience

According to the National Travel Association and Virtuoso’s 2024 Luxe Report, the top reasons behind high-end travel include:

• Exploring new, off-the-beaten path destinations
• Rest and relaxation
• Seeking authentic experiences in new destinations
• Rediscovering previously visited destinations
• Personal enrichment

“Travel & hospitality is going beyond the experience economy to the ‘transformation economy,’ where an experience changes us in some way during a particular moment in time. When travel brands can design the experience to be so significant for a particular person and provide the exact experience that they need at a particular moment in time, it becomes easier to deliver a life transforming experience. That aspiration can range anywhere from desiring to be a more creative person to being a better parent, so travel brands have an opportunity to support that evolution.”

The Evolution of Luxury Hospitality Whitepaper VERB, 2017

With this travel trend, it’s all about what the destination can offer to travelers. A smaller, lesser-known destination can be as highly successful as a luxury destination if they offer consumers unique and high-end experiences. There are a few different ways you can emphasize the high-end experiences your destination offers:

• Personalization: nothing says high-end like an experience that has been tailored for you and only you.
• Exclusivity: an exclusive experience can make a consumer feel special which is what justifies the price of luxury. 
• Authenticity: consumers are looking for authenticity from the brand selling their experience.
• Sustainability: the pandemic has inspired travelers to seek destinations that prioritize climate-conscious options in their accommodations and attractions. 

How Consumers are Finding Luxury Travel

In the niche market of luxury travel it’s important to know how consumers are finding this product.

Digital & Social Media. The most common place for consumers to research luxury experiences is through digital and social media. Luxury travelers are highly influenced by authentic brands and experiences they see on social media.

Travel influencers are a great way to pique the interest of consumers. People love consuming content that is extravagant, expensive, and unique.

Word of Mouth. Consumers also love posting that extravagant content. It is important to take into consideration how “Instagram-able” an experience is. A consumer is more willing to book a luxury experience based on how it will make them look on social media.

Find more ways to tap into a niche travel market.

Who are Luxury Travelers?

There are many different types of luxury travelers, so it’s important to first understand how luxury your target audience is. For example, one person could see a private jet as their everyday type of travel, while another could see it as a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

With so many differences, we look to similarities between luxury travelers and who is booking the most luxury travel to define the market.

Middle class. The emerging middle class is a huge market for luxury travel. This group has disposable income and wants to spend it on exclusive experiences.

Older Millennials are the most willing to spend their money on luxury travel.

Personal vs Business. There is a difference between the personal luxury traveler and the business luxury traveler, although this distinction is beginning to overlap.

By better understanding your audience’s spending habits, consuming habits, types of cars they drive and so forth, you can narrow in on how and where they spend their money or how they spend their time. Then, you can advertise on the most relevant websites, pitch stories to specific publications, and target their interests in digital advertising. For example, if they are more likely to own a Porsche, you can target publications that focus on Porsches.

Line up with the customer’s journey.

The post Luxury Travel Trends appeared first on Travel Alliance Partnership.

Connecting with Gen Z Travelers: 

In an era defined by digital connectivity and experiential exploration, Gen Z travelers are emerging as the trailblazers of the industry. They are revolutionizing traditional norms and driving unprecedented change. The rise of trends like sober-curious travel, ecotourism, and TikTok-driven exploration transform the landscape of travel. By embracing these changes, you can create a strategy geared toward more mindful, sustainable, and authentic experiences. 

Harnessing the Power of AI: 

The integration of AI technology has emerged as a game-changer in reshaping the way brands connect with their audiences. As this technology develops, it offers PR practitioners an innovative way to increase efficiency, accuracy and authenticity. Companies like Muck Rack have even integrated AI technology to assist in writing efforts. By leveraging AI’s capabilities, the future of travel PR is characterized by streamlined processes, deeper connections with audiences, and a commitment to delivering genuine and meaningful interactions 

Investing in Influencer Relationships: 

Influencer marketing isn’t just a buzzword—it’s a powerful tool for expanding reach and enhancing brand visibility. More and more influencers charge fees for their services, reflecting the professionalization of the field. Brands must recognize their worth and invest accordingly. This evolution underscores the importance of aligning values with influencers and fostering authentic relationships. By prioritizing transparency and authenticity, brands can navigate this landscape successfully and unlock the full potential of influencer partnerships. 

Prioritizing Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Inclusion (DEAI):  

Inclusivity isn’t an afterthought; it’s a fundamental pillar of PR strategy. We all need to be committed to elevating diverse voices and narratives reflecting the richness and diversity of the destination. By collaborating with writers, content creators, and publications that champion DEAI principles, you will ensure stories reach and resonate with audiences from all walks of life.  

Preparing for the Unexpected with Crisis Management: 

In an era of instant information and viral spread, crisis management is no longer a reactive measure but a proactive necessity. Dedicate time to developing robust crisis communication plans that safeguard reputation and integrity in the face of adversity. Anticipating potential challenges and preparing agile response strategies means you can overcome crises with an improved reputation and united community. 

As we venture into the future of public relations, it’s clear that adaptation is integral. The convergence of digital platforms, influencer marketing, AI integration, and a commitment to diversity and inclusivity are shaping the trajectory of the industry. By embracing these trends and proactively preparing for the unexpected through crisis management strategies, PR professionals can navigate the evolving landscape with agility and integrity. This is how brands will remain relevant and resilient in an ever-changing world. 

The post Navigating the Future of PR appeared first on Travel Alliance Partnership.

– Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D.

Growth Mindset

We have seven core values at Break the Ice Media that we strive to uphold, one of which is “Growth-Minded.” This is a focus that challenges our team to keep learning, growing, changing and adapting to shape our skills and keep up with an ever-changing industry. It’s a reminder that we never stay still. We’re lifelong learners who seek out learning opportunities and seek to share those learnings with our clients, partners and followers.

In early 2021, our team read the book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D. We learned that having a growth mindset – or calling yourself “growth-minded” – is more than just forward motion. It is a willingness to work, learn, grow, fail, and try again.

We’ve pulled out five lessons for destination marketers to help you adopt a growth-mindset and set your destination up for success:

Keep Finding the Fun.

After a few years of marketing the same destination, attraction, restaurant, winery, brewery, etc. it’s easy to fall into a rut and feel like your marketing has gone stale. We hear it all the time – clients will tell us about something and automatically downplay the “cool” factor.

But what’s normal for us is exciting to someone learning about, visiting or experiencing it for the first time. Be a student in your own destination. Visit your partners, walk your trails, take a workshop, stay overnight and remember how it feels to be a tourist. And keep finding the fun, the new, the exciting, over and over again – whether it’s your first time or your 50^th telling your destination story.

Pivot to the Positive.

Challenges will inevitably come your way – whether we plan for them or not. The COVID-19 pandemic caused a crisis across the travel industry, but it also revealed an opportunity to refocus and pivot for most destinations. Those with the growth mindset were some of the first to find the sunny side – whether through a support local push, a new virtual offering, a community campaign or a partnership that shed new light on how we talk about our destinations and how to best serve our visitors. 

Your destination or organization will face a variety of challenges over your tenure. Set a plan in place that allows your team to pivot to the positive and reframe challenges in a way that opens up the door for new opportunity.

Read about how the National Comedy Center pivoted to the positive, building an online streaming service around the “Healing Power of Laughter” mid-pandemic in our case study.

Embrace Change.

What may have worked for marketers five years ago may not reach audiences in the same way today. The pandemic has changed the way people find and consume information. A recent study by the Outdoor Industry Association showed 46% of respondents are “spending more time online since the onset of the pandemic than before” and 51% of are spending the same amount of time online. In that same vein, the Facebook generation is growing up and those coming after it are ripe for travel messaging in new, highly digital ways.

Consider what this can mean for your organization instead of following your tried and true. Maybe you go fully digital with your travel guide – or move to a two-year model – and cut down on printing and shipping costs. Maybe you shift more media dollars into working with influencers who can provide video content for Instagram and Tik Tok. If you follow the consumers’ lead and embrace the change, the possibilities are endless.

Read about how the Apple Tasting Tour embraced change in 2020, creating a digital passport and introducing gamification into the Trail experience in our case study.

Take (the Right) Risks.

Mindset is a book full of stories and examples of leaders who took risks, and those who did not. But in many of those cases, the leaders who didn’t “take the leap” were actually taking a much greater risk, forcing their companies into a holding pattern that resulted in less overall success.

Take the story of Kroger. The grocery store chain saw the signs of change and realized that the store model of old was becoming outdated as consumers began to favor a new kind of superstore. Kroger moved swiftly to eliminate or change every single store that did not fit the new superstore model – and ultimately became the number one grocery chain in the country. In contrast, A&P shut its eyes and drifted slowly into oblivion.

Don’t let your destination or tourism organization avoid risk to the point that you fade into the background. Evaluating opportunity and taking the right risks can be just what you need to push yourself above the competition.

Read about how Visit Syracuse took a risk and positioned their destination around the winter season in our case study.

See the Opportunity in Failure.

And finally – view each failure as an opportunity. Not every risk or change is going to result in perfection, but what it does lead to is something greater – perspective. Ask yourself and your teams why a campaign, a message, or a tactic fell flat. What did you learn about the consumer? Why didn’t your audience embrace the message or take the action?

Each failure is a chance to do better and learn from mistakes. Those with a growth mindset find ways to profit from the failure, not shy away from the final outcome.

The post Mindsets & Marketing: How Embracing a Growth-Mindset Can Set Your Destination up for Success appeared first on Travel Alliance Partnership.

How to find local influencers

Identifying influencers in your community can feel like the biggest hurdle to overcome. First, define what an influencer means to your organization- is it 2,500 followers? 5,000? 10,000? Is it important for them to be on multiple channels, or is Instagram enough? Once you’ve figured this out, the search begins.

• Search by top posts on Instagram. Look under “places” to find geotagged locations, or “tags” to search by your own hashtags or similar/relevant hashtags.
• Google them. There’s a good chance your local news has covered one or more influencers in your area. The search results for “Rochester NY influencers” yields lists of influencers in the area from aggregating websites and local news channels, reddit threads and more.
• Use influence.co to filter by location, number of followers, platforms, reach and more.
• Ask around! Who do your coworkers, neighbors, friends, and family follow in the area? What do they like about them?
• Look at your own followers. As a destination or attraction, local influencers may already be following you!

Also consider local groups or individuals that may be part of your target market and have influence or clout in the community. A networking group of executives? Maybe a foodie group exists or craft beer club. Keep the search going on Facebook, LinkedIn and Meetup – all popular sites for getting together.

Starting the conversation

Cultivating a relationship is key to any partnership and influencers are no different. Start the conversation by supporting their work or letting them know how much you appreciate what they’re doing for the destination.

• Engage with their work. Like or comment on their posts to show support for what they’re doing. Make sure that your comments are genuine and valuable- not repetitive or canned. This added engagement is good for their metrics, so it’s win-win.
• Repost their photos (with permission!). Comment or DM them and ask to share their work. Most influencers are happy to share and show their work to a new audience. These photos, videos, or blogs are great user-generated content (UGM) for your channels.
• Send them a message. A short and sweet note that says how much you love the work they’re doing in the area is all it takes. Everyone likes to be recognized!
• Send them destination swag. A branded pen, notebook, or reusable bag is a great way to show your appreciation. You might even get a post out of it!

Collaboration opportunities

Once you’ve initiated a conversation, the next step is showing them how you can add value to their content and audience. An influencer’s brand is themself, so authenticity is key above all else. They want to provide value to their audience in the same way you do. Offering them something exclusive or special is a great way to do this. For groups and other individuals in the community, it’s still about value and often about content, too.

• Ask them to do a takeover of your blog or social channels. A guest post or day-in-the-life creates variety for your content and pulls in a new audience.
• Invite them to an event as a special guest. If you’re attending a festival, celebration, or exclusive event, consider adding them to your invite list. Any kind of special showing or behind-the-scenes peek is great content for their channels. Maybe it’s a soft opening of a new restaurant, backstage tour at a concert, or VIP area at a festival.
• Take them on a mini-FAM. They already do a great job promoting the area, but you know it better than just about anyone else. What hidden treasures can you show them they may not be aware of?
• Cultivate a partnership. What opportunities for an ongoing partnership can you offer? You can offer value to them through the platform you provide, payment, or whatever works best for you. They can offer authentic reviews, a different perspective and a fresh audience. Examples include:
  • Speaking at a local event
  • Producing a video series highlighting things to do around your city
  • Partnering with a stakeholder to host a VIP event

Curious to learn more about working with influencers? Check out our Influencer Marketing eBook, with 30 pages of tips, tricks and advice based on our experience.

The post Identifying Local Influencers appeared first on Travel Alliance Partnership.

What has been the biggest change in your digital strategy that has resulted in big wins for your organization or destination?

Increased use in user-generated content.

Chris Lukenbill, co-founder of Sherpa, focused heavily on user-generated content when helping different communities connect with their travelers better during times of uncertainty. Chris said “User-generated content is where we’re seeing the big changes, in more people getting into that and excited about that opportunity.”

More investment in social media

In terms of change, CEO of Discover Lancaster, Ed Harris, has invested more into social media in order to drive enthusiasm for his destination. Ed stated “We have seen a huge uptick as we’re continuing to experiment with things like video and uncovering a lot of hidden gems at our destination to make people aware of. We’re getting really strong engagement in comments, likes, and shares.” With Lancaster being so close to Amish communities, the interest throughout social media of that culture helped Ed boost Visit Lancaster’s own awareness.

A full-funnel marketing strategy

Emilie Harris, Director of Marketing at Bandwango, took a look at the full-funnel marketing strategy and decided to flip it on its head. She stated “The big change in strategy for our clients has been instead of focusing on top-of-the-funnel inspiration-focused marketing, we pivoted to tracking conversations at the bottom of the funnel, which has required a lot of creativity in how people are spending their digital media dollars.” In times of change, it’s important to think outside of the box and look at things we have always done in terms of strategy and consider a different perspective.

Using data to inform and prioritize markets

Data is one of the best assets to use, especially in times of change. Victoria Simmons, a Senior Vice President at BVK shared how the use of data has helped their clients during those times of uncertainty. “What we have been focused on as an agency is creating a dashboard that synthesizes all of that data, but more importantly, investing in analysts. They are the ones who understand how to interpret that data and translate it into strategy.” An abundance of data is a great asset, but without the knowledge to translate it, that data will not help to the fullest extent.

Collaborating with locals

Maria Skrzynski at Destination Ann Arbor, gave us some insight into how her destination has been collaborating with locals during COVID. She stated, “when we are collaborating with our residents, we’re able to showcase our destination in a new light, support our local businesses, strengthen our connection with our communities, and help uplift and support our destination.” It was a win-win situation with Ann Arbor by not only steering their marketing in a direction it has not gone before, but also help local businesses during such a hard time.

Marc Garcia, CEO of Visit Mesa, brought the community together to help market the destination during COVID. Marc said “We developed a local steering committee made up of Mesa residents, really bringing them into the marketing process, helping us advance our digital strategies, particularly in social media.”

Using Influencers

Leena Riggs, Director of Marketing and Partnership at Visit Rancho Cordova, also collaborated with locals. “Our residents become micro-influencers when we need them to,” she told us.

Mark Romig, CMO for New Orleans and Company, used influencers to bring more families to the area. Mark said, “we delved into utilizing influencers to come in and help tell this story and to work with them through their platforms, through how they speak with their followers, the story of New Orleans as a family destination.”

Learn how to find, vet and work with influencers using our step-by-step process in our Influencer Marketing ebook.

Looking into the future, what innovations are happening now that you think will impact digital marketing for your organization or destination?

Better use of data to measure ROI

Data and its analysis show up again in our conversation with Jake Brown from Visit South Bend. He is excited about the vendors that are helping better analyze data in terms of ROI. “I think we are getting close to closing that circle of saying okay, we served people this ad, did they come and spend money in the destination? I think as an industry we are getting close […] and that’s going to be a really big moment for all of us.”

Expanded focus on converting visitors to residents

Kyle Johnson, Digital Strategy Manager for Visit Indiana, is excited about using location tracking data to help convert visitors into residents. “We are no longer just trying to attract visitors, but we’re also trying to convert visitors and attract talent to the state. So, the innovation perspective that location tracking data is going to be very important for us.” This type of data can help convert visitors into residents, and deepen the ties between tourism and economic development organizations.

Take a look at ideas for applying tourism marketing strategies to talent attraction.

Development of dashboards to help destinations show their value

Jason Holic, Vice President of Business Applications and Insights for Experience Kissimmee, talked to us about a product they created. The Impactulator helps destinations defend their government funding. Jason said “we have colleagues that need to have something in place to help defend their funding. But also those other destinations that have seen record visitation and occupancy tax collections as the economy has recovered, and don’t know what to do with the money. They don’t know what the best use for it is, and this tool helps them navigate that.”

Podcasting becoming more important in the digital marketer’s toolkit

Ralph Thompson, Operating Partner of Traveling Tourism for Street Sense Consulting, is excited to see how podcasting is changing into something the travel and tourism industry can leverage. “It’s important to find a way that’s not forcing communications, but also a little laid-back way to have a conversation and talk more about this. I think that podcasting is going to be great for destinations.” With the constant innovations happening in how we communicate digitally, podcasting can become a beacon of information to visitors of a destination.

To hear more from industry professionals at the eTourism Summit, listen to our 2-part Roadshow series:

Episode 252: Insights from the 2021 eTourism Summit (Part One)

Episode 253: Insights from the 2021 eTourism Summit (Part Two)

More trends for the travel, tourism and hospitality industry: 10 themes from our interviews at the Destinations International annual convention.

The post 10 Digital Marketing Trends from Destination Marketers appeared first on Travel Alliance Partnership.

At Break the Ice Media we are committed to ongoing professional development of our team within tourism marketing. Each year, we invest more than 450 staff hours staying up-to-date on trends, new marketing tactics and deeper learnings. That is why the first Destination on the Left Virtual Summit we hosted in December 2019 was extra-special for us. Not only were we able to bring 16 presentations filled with great learnings on proving relevancy and ROI to our audience, but we were also able to participate and learn new ideas ourselves.

Below is a recap of the 16 presentations and the concepts that stood out to me the most.

Destination 2030: Readiness for Tourism Growth

Dan Fenton, JLL

A recent study that JLL and the World Travel and Tourism Council published identified a framework for assessing a community’s readiness for tourism growth and identified 5 typologies based on their level of readiness. Two of the typologies that stood out to me are the dawning developers and emerging performers. I see these two typologies in a lot of the clients that we serve. Increasing awareness of where you are in development of tourism is the first step to knowing how and where you can grow.

Dawning developers

These are communities with an emerging tourism infrastructure, gradual tourism growth and lower visitor concentration but with potential to grow. I can think of many Destination on the Left podcast guests who represent communities that look like this. Brook Kauffman from Visit Casper Wyoming on episode 159 talked about how preparing her community for the influx of visitors from the eclipse in 2017 shined a light on where they need to build up infrastructure and where they can find new opportunities for tourism growth.

Emerging performers

These are communities with an emerging tourism infrastructure, growing tourism momentum and the start of increasing pressures related to tourism growth. This brought to mind the interview that I did with Andrea McHugh from Discover Newport in Rhode Island when we talked about managing the ebb and flow of visitors to a destination and gaining support from local residents. You can listen to Andrea McHugh’s interview on episode 124.

The Future of Travel as a Brand—Emerging Sentiments Posing Challenges

Erin Francis- Cummings, Destination Analysts

As we look 5 years out for our destination plans, there are several things we should be thinking about. In particular, the contrast between generational perceptions around the impact travel has on the environment. For example, 1 out of 5 Millennials and 1 out of 4 Gen Z travelers think that travel has a negative impact on the environment. These generations are also the most concerned about the environment when they travel. They believe that climate change will have an impact on their travel in the next 5 years. Destinations and businesses that rely on the visitor economy need to be thinking about what they are doing now to help negate these perceptions. Environmental changes take time and changing a perception takes time. How is your destination working to negate the impacts of climate change? What are you doing as a community to help improve your destination overall?

This topic reminded me of the conversation I had on episode 154 with Brian Bossyut from the Poconos region in Pennsylvania. He described a program that his organization started to help beautify the gateways into the region by addressing a litter problem. Their approach involved many community-wide organizations including the DOT, government agencies and the United Way.

Becoming a Shared Community Value

Bill Geist, DMOProz

 I just love the title of this presentation and it is so true. Bill talked about elevating the importance of tourism in our communities to a shared value in a similar way that we prioritize fire, police, emergency services and education. He talked about getting to the “why’ of what we do beyond heads in beds. A focus on heads in beds seems like we are a special interest group and doesn’t resonate with community residents.

What really stood out for me is how far-reaching destination marketing can be and how communities can lean on tourism marketers to help tell their story. This reminded me of my conversation with David Gilbert from Destination Cleveland on episode 128. I loved hearing how Destination Cleveland was working on recruitment and retention strategies with area businesses and economic development folks. We are in the people business and the business of telling our communities stories, why not expand it to help with talent? Also, I encourage all of you to add Bill Geist’s podcast DMOU to your list of must-listens.

Tracking Results from Integrated Campaigns

Julie Gilbert, Destination Niagara USA

 I found Julie’s session particularly interesting because she was able to measure impressions, clicks and even hotel bookings as a direct result from her 2019 campaigns. I also appreciated her insights on choosing to run an Expedia campaign around the World Pride event that took place in NYC last June. She pointed out that although Expedia did not drive direct traffic to her website, she thought the platform was perfect for this campaign based on the international reach that Expedia has. She compared how NYC & Co was marketing internationally when World Pride was taking place in the city.

I love how Destination Niagara USA was able to leverage such a huge event to help draw visitors from NYC to Niagara Falls. I talked to the team at I Love NY on episode 149 about how they leveraged this huge event with the milestone anniversary of the 50th anniversary of Stonewall and used it to draw attention to the whole state of New York.

Understanding Facebook Advertising for Destination Marketing

Camille Zess and Jess Reilly, Break the Ice Media

Camille and Jess took attendees behind the curtain of how they run successful Facebook ad campaigns for our clients.

What stood out for me was the discussion on target audience and the different ways that you can develop audiences in Facebook. If you get the audience right, you will have a much more successful campaign that will bring you stronger results. Of course, this reminded me of the very successful golf getaways campaign that the Genesee County Office of Tourism runs each year, which is supported by a Facebook ad campaign.

I interviewed Lauren Humphrey from the Genesee County Office of Tourism on episode 149 and she explained how her office runs the program, how it converts to packages sold, how they manage the fulfillment of the packages and the benefits it brings to their stakeholders.

Using Live Videos at Events and Tourism Destinations

Reagan Burns, Lime Creative

Reagan shared great insights into creating live video and how video can help improve exposure and attendance at events and destinations. Some of Reagan’s pro tips included a framework of preparation, recording, editing, posting and engaging. In particular what stood out to me was the tip on engaging. This includes online comments, tagging participants and sponsors, adding captions, creating unique tracking links for measurement and repurposing the video. 

Many of our past podcast guests have shared their successes with video. One that comes to mind is a recent interview that I did with Ben Handfelt from Catch Des Moines on episode 157. We talked about the humorous video content that they developed under the new Catch Des Moines’ the “S’s are Silent” brand campaign in an effort to draw more visitors. In addition, Break the Ice Media used live video for a virtual toast to celebrate our tenth year in business last October and I go into detail about how we celebrated our business anniversary in episode 155.

Going Beyond Demographics

Susan Baier, Audience Audit

Susan shared a different way to think about visitor research with a framework for getting to the “visitor’s why’. Focusing on the problems you solve for the prospective visitor is a great way to think about how you target in a different way.

For example, you may be an outdoor destination and one of the problems you solve is to help busy professionals slow down and experience the simplicity of the outdoors. In this case, your target audience is a “busy professional,” and you may have a lot of demographic data on who they are in terms of where they live, work, income levels and so on. Understanding that the problem they have is slowing down changes how you communicate with them, the messages that you send, the content you develop, the creative that you use and so on. 

This concept reminded me of my conversation on episode 140 with Gina Nacey from Adventure Creative when we talked about Minnesota’s “Find your True North” campaign.

What Destination Marketers can learn from non-Destination Marketers

Matt Stiker, Capital M Media

Matt took us through many examples of breakthrough creative campaigns from destination brands and non-destination brands to illustrate how brands can really stand out in a crowd. You know that is a favorite question that I like to ask on my podcast. There are so many choices out there; how can you break through the noise and the clutter to stand out?  I loved the ideas that Matt shared and appreciate his encouragement to look outside our industry for creative inspiration. 

This session reminded me of a conversation I had with Adam Johnson from Visit Sant Paul and the chance they took when they created an Adele parody “Hello Minneapolis, Love St. Paul”. The parody played on Adele’s hit “Hello from the other side” and was a way to remind folks in Minneapolis, just across the Mississippi river, there is a lot to do in St. Paul. The video took off and on episode 98 Adam Johnson shares his experience of the parody video from creating it through to its results. Breakthrough creative doesn’t have to be at a high cost. It is looking at something with fresh eyes and thinking outside of the box that can help you create something that stands out.

The Changing Chinese Traveler and Travel Trends

Humphrey Ho, Hylink

China is an important international market for the U.S. and will continue to grow. What I found exciting about the changes that Humphrey shared with us is the shift in the types of travelers that are coming to the U.S. from China. Historically, Chinese travelers came to the U.S. in large groups. Sometimes multiple motor coaches would be necessary to tour them around to the top U.S. sights including destinations such as NYC, Las Vegas, LA and others. Humphrey shared that 60% of Chinese travelers are now considered FIT, free independent travelers. They are increasingly booking through Online Travel Agents and doing research on their own, versus relying on large tour operators. This provides an opportunity for smaller destinations and attractions to capture this lucrative travel audience as they do not have to be the largest destinations or have capacity for multiple motor coaches all at once.

I see this as a tremendous opportunity for beyond the gateway destinations. In episode 118, I talked to Sally Berry about the China market and how she has helped smaller destinations attract the Chinese traveler. We focused a lot on how she grew the international marketing program at the Corning Museum of Glass in the Finger Lakes of NYS, a great example of a smaller destination getting a share of this market.

Using Pop Culture to Market your Brand

Stacy Jones, Hollywood Branded

Stacy went into detail about how destinations can use celebrities and influencers to elevate awareness and drive visitation. Influencer marketing grew immensely in 2019 and we expect it to continue to be an important part of the marketing mix in 2020. We have covered this topic a lot over the past few years on the podcast and there are so many episodes that can help you learn more. One of my favorite episodes that provided so much insight was episode 83 with Dalene Heck. She is a travel influencer who has built her career around travel, helping brands work with influencers and helping influencers be better partners. Dalene’s answers gave marketers insight into how influencers operate, how to find the right ones and other useful tips.

Building Relevancy with an ROI Plan

Jennifer Barbee, Destination Innovate

I love Jenn’s smart, no-nonsense approach to marketing. Her presentation on building relevancy with an ROI plan was full of great advice and new ways to think about your marketing plans. What really stood out to me was the importance of setting your KPIs, or key performance indicators, up front and thinking all the way through the campaign to what matters the most for measurement. There are a lot of tools that you can use to measure campaign success but Jennifer pointed out you need someone on your team that can interpret the data. They need to be able to look at data and read it with logic and behavior analysis. 

She also suggested the most coveted position for future DMOs are data storytellers. And I love that concept! This presentation reminded me of the conversation I had with Erin Francis-Cummings from Destination Analysts on episode 89. She described using Google Analytics, the voice of the customer and the advertising campaign to get insights into the mindset of the consumer and what they are truly looking for from your digital footprint. This type of data storytelling can help us see if the advertising is indeed delivering new customers to a destination.

The Evolution of Destination Marketing Funding

Tiffany Gallagher, Civitas

In her presentation on the evolution of destination marketing funding, Tiffany gave a great overview of the process that communities can go through to form a tourism improvement district and the benefits to forming those districts. She reported that there are now 16 states with TIDs, with recent ones being Baltimore, Maryland and Newport, Rhode Island. I was excited to hear that Newport Rhode Island recently passed a tourism improvement district, remembering all of the exciting developments that they have. Andrea McHugh from Discover Newport shared these with me on episode 124.

Evaluating Public Relations

Sarah Blackwell and Colleen Onuffer, Break the Ice Media

This presentation covered the Barcelona Principles 100-point scoring system for evaluating PR campaigns. What I loved about this approach is that it forces you to consider what you are really looking for from a PR campaign. In order to apply these principles, you need to first identify the top media outlets where you would like to receive a placement and identify the geographic areas that are most important to you. Points are assigned based on a placement getting into one of your top outlets, meeting your geographic locations, inclusion of a link, hashtag, photo, quote etc. Gone are the days that just knowing impressions is good enough to measure success of a PR program. When you take the time to think about your goals before starting a PR campaign, you will have greater success.

That reminded me of a successful PR campaign Visit Ithaca did around being the birthplace of the Ice Cream Sundae. There were two communities that laid claim to that historical fact: Ithaca, New York and Two Rivers, Wisconsin. With planning and strategy, the two communities gained national exposure on CBS Evening News and other national news outlets. You can learn more about how this PR stunt played out in my conversation with Fred Bonn in episode 110.

Vibrant Destinations

Josh Collins, Streetsense

This presentation gave us a lot to think about. Specifically, Josh dove into the evolution of the experience economy and how destinations can capture more visitors by building trust, listening to the data, curating the culture and embracing the challenges.

This reminded me of the conversation I had with Paul Leone from the New York State Brewers Association on episode 122 when we talked about marketing the hyper-local through cold, locally crafted beer.

Measurement Tools and Responsible Metrics

David Holder, JLL

I loved how David broke down measurement tools into three buckets. One bucket represents the overall destination condition metrics such as travel spending, visitor profiles and lodging performance. A second bucket represents travel activity indicators such as website activity, social media engagement, sales leads and travel media coverage. And a third bucket includes the annual market results such as group bookings, data driven results of campaigns and using technology to measure ROI. And then analyzing all of the data compared to the business plan. A destination’s ability to get buy-in from its funders and stakeholders is crucial for its ability to be successful in attracting visitors.

The US Travel Association has a lot of data and information around this on their website. I had a great conversation with David Huether, Senior Vice President of Research on episode 101 where we dove into many of the metrics that US Travel is tracking.

If you missed the virtual summit, you can still access all of the presentations by purchasing an all-access pass. We will be hosting a second virtual summit in the Spring of 2020, stay tuned for the announcement coming soon!

The post Proving Relevancy and ROI: Key Takeaways from the first Destination on the Left Virtual Summit appeared first on Travel Alliance Partnership.

It has been a decade of tourism marketing! The official date of incorporation for Break the Ice Media is October 14, 2009 which makes October officially our “birthday month”. As the marketing and tourism industries have changed, we have evolved right along with them. When we started our company, we were focused on integrating social media, which was basically Facebook at that time, with public relations to help small businesses reach new customers. Small businesses and the communities that they support are at the heart of what our company is built on. We have learned and grown alongside our clients and I wanted to share ten key changes that we believe have made an impact on tourism marketing.

Digital marketing is the new standard in marketing

Ten years ago, tourism brands and businesses in the industry were trying to figure out what to do about Facebook and Twitter. One article in PCWorld, “2009: the year of the Social Network” described it like this:

“It looks like 2009 will be known as the year that social networking went mainstream,” said Dan Olds, an analyst with the Gabriel Consulting Group. “This was the year when Mom, Dad, and even Grandma found Facebook and Twitter, and used them to make the Web a part of their lives — often for the first time.”

Flashforward 10 years and there are countless social networks with more than 4.4 billion users. More people are online than ever before and we have changed the way we search, recommend, shop and buy products, services and travel. Digital is no longer an added tactic in a strategic marketing plan, it is now central.

Greater focus on measurement and attribution

Return on Marketing Investment (ROMI) is not new. The importance of measuring results from a campaign or marketing program has always been on the minds of marketers, business owners and destination marketers. But with the advent of digital marketing and technology, there are more ways than ever to measure a campaign’s success. Tools like Google Analytics, Facebook, email marketing platforms and others offer resources for tracking and understanding campaign effectiveness. New tools and technologies such as Adara’s destination marketing cloud and Arrivalist help marketers understand how marketing campaigns convert target audiences from awareness to action. 

Expanding tourism product

We are seeing more destinations developing tourism product. From explosive growth in the craft beverage industry (think wine, beer, spirts and cider) to new hotel developments, to new tour products, to new ways to experience a destination (think AirB&B), we have been on an upward curve of tourism product development. This development brings new opportunities; new reasons for visitors to come to a destination and greater reach of tourism markets as this development hits second- and third-tier markets.

On the other hand, this growth has also provided some challenges as attractions and tourism businesses have seen declines in visitation because there are more places for people to be. This is especially noticeable in smaller markets where tourism product development may be outpacing visitation growth.

The insider trend

As more product and information becomes available online, visitors have been increasingly turning to the DMO for help and guidance. DMOs have found creative ways to deliver insider information to the public, basically sharing the inside secrets about where the locals go. We have seen this through focused blogs, newsletters, Instagram takeovers, video series and more.

Rise of the Influencer

Visitors and consumers are looking for ways to help them navigate the many choices available to them and Influencers have been able to fill that gap. Influencers come in many forms, from micro to macro, serving niche audiences from families to girlfriends to LGBTQ and covering topics from fashion to consumer goods to travel. With different needs and expectations than traditional media, reaching and working with influencers successfully has become an art in itself. To help our team and our clients approach this market, we wrote an ebook offering every tool in our toolbox.

Less focus on the press release

In 2009, one of the key tools in our PR toolbox was the press release. We used it as our cornerstone piece of content and then re-purposed it into social posts, email marketing and follow-up pitches. That is not the case anymore. One can no longer rely solely on a press release to do the trick. Most PR placements that we receive are accomplished through a strategic PR plan. That includes direct pitching, desk side visits, FAM tours, Influencer visits, media shows, reactive PR to inquiries from resources like HARO and occasionally a press release.

Changing local media landscape

As local newspaper, TV and radio outlets race to adapt to a digital world, we have seen a shift in focus, high turnover in journalists and strengthening of niche publications. National corporations have been buying local media outlets and centralizing reporting. Many times, those reporters are no longer in the local market. If they are, there are fewer of them and they are stretched thin. This has caused us to change our approach to local media, including keeping up with the changes as many news reporters leave. We work to pitch those local niche publications in a similar way that we approach national travel media. We have found success in helping overstretched reporters through release style outreach that they can repurpose into a story with little editing.

Marketing automation

Marketing automation is no longer just a B2B tactic. Today it allows marketers to automate tasks that guide individuals through the visitor journey. Effective digital campaigns use automation to increase conversions through on-going nurturing campaigns that lead a visitor from consideration to the decision to visit. Tools like Salesforce, Hubspot, Infusionsoft, and Sharpspring have made this tool more accessible and easier to learn and use.

Mobile websites are now table stakes

Most visitors’ first impression of a business is its website. More and more often, they are browsing those sites through their mobile devices, which can include phones, tablets and e-readers, rather than a desktop. That means it is no longer acceptable to have a website that does not adapt for mobile viewing. Many website designs are starting with a mobile first approach to ensure clients don’t lose potential business before they’ve even explored the site.

Freestyle trips in the group market

The groups and motorcoach market is stronger than ever. On a recent episode of Destination on the Left, a tour operator told me that these are not the golden years of travel, but the platinum years. Tour operators have been seeing steady growth over the last decade. What has changed is the types of groups that are traveling, their interests and how they want experiences. Group tours are starting to add in more “free time” and more “choice,” allowing individuals the ability to customize portions of their trip such as meals and excursions. This freestyle approach was taken right from the cruise industry where you see more choice for passengers than ever before.

The next 10 years

It has been a fun decade of growth, learning and evolution. We are excited about the next decade of tourism marketing and are already watching some trends that we believe are going to make a huge impact on the future. A few of those include:

• AI
• Data science
• Increased international visitors to U.S. 2^nd and 3^rd tier markets
• The evolving role of the DMO
• Accessible tourism
• Overtourism

But more on those trends later.

The post A Decade of Tourism Marketing – 10 Key Changes Making an Impact appeared first on Travel Alliance Partnership.

When it comes to destination marketing, most tourism organizations are working with limited budgets, small staff size and big goals. In order to reach, engage and encourage large audiences to visit your destination, you have to be strategic with your marketing plan and spend. That means choosing marketing tactics that provide the biggest bang for your buck.

Public Relations

Public relations is a relatively cost-friendly way to reach large audiences. Time is spent creating relationships with media, writing and distributing press release and pitching stories to publications. The result is earned media – publicity gained through promotional efforts rather than paid.

Hosting Media and Influencers

In response to your efforts, you may have the opportunity to host media members, bloggers or influencers. Depending on the agreement, this would require your destination to cover the hosting costs – a combination of accommodations, meals, activities and travel expenses. In return for hosting, your destination will receive coverage in a publication, blog or on social media.

Public relations is smart investment for your budget for a couple of reasons.

1. Instead of paying for an advertising, you are getting a blurb or article detailing your destination, telling your story and explaining your experiences. This narrative helps the reader picture themselves in your destination, which is more impactful (and memorable) than a print advertisement.
2. In many instances, an article printed in a publication, posted on a website or shared on social media has a longer “shelf life” than a traditional advertisement. That means it has the opportunity to be seen by a larger audience.

If you’re curious to learn more about influencer marketing, check out our new eBook!

Email Marketing

Email marketing is a fast and low-cost way to market your destination to a list of engaged subscribers. It directly promotes an event, attraction or trail, etc. (Not to be confused with content marketing, see below.) Emails put your destination in front of your audience. They keep your subscribers up to date on new things taking place and encourage them to visit. (Or purchase a ticket, download a brochure, etc.)

Select an email marketing service to manage subscribers, create templates and schedule email campaigns. There a variety of email marketing services to choose from, many of which that come with a free subscription for basic service.

Choose subject lines that are both informative and entertaining. Those will grab subscribers’ attention and encourage them to open your email. Track open rates to see what works best with your audience. Keep your content brief and to the point. Provide enough details to interest readers and then include a call to action to direct them elsewhere.

Facebook Advertising

Facebook Ads are a great way to reach a large, targeted audience. The Audiences tab in Ads Manager allows you to create and save audiences based on specific demographics, locations and interests. You can also upload a custom list (think: email subscribers, website visitors, brochure requests) and target those individuals. Or use that list to find other people with similar characteristics across the country. Is your head already spinning? Learn how to get started with Facebook Ads.

Let’s be honest, Facebook will take as much money as you are willing to give. Be prepared to test a few campaigns to understand the best objectives, audiences and budgets for your goals. Once those pieces are in place, your dollars will work hard to give you results.

Content Marketing

Content marketing is a way to create and share content or materials that are beneficial or educational in nature, rather than promotional. Examples include videos, blog posts, social media posts, magazines and newsletters that provide value to the reader. These pieces share helpful information that the reader is looking for and interested in. In return, the reader becomes loyal to the brand.

Think about your key assets. What is your destination known for? Which questions do visitors ask most often? What are visitors most interested in? Start with the answers. Destinations known for outdoor activities – hiking, biking, kayaking – can produce a series of videos or blogs that answer common questions. Highlight what to wear or pack, the difficulty of the various trails and what flora or fauna one would see along the way.

When it comes to content marketing, it’s very important to stay away from promotional or sales-y speak. Quality content is what will keep readers coming back (even looking forward to your content!) and keep your brand on their minds.

Partnerships

Lastly, partnerships are a great way to combine budgets and efforts to collaborate on an initiative. We call this co-opetition, when perceived competitors collaborate on something to create bigger results than what either could achieve on their own.

Partnering with other organizations help stretch your dollars. This could mean joining a larger co-op program, creating your own initiative with a nearby destination or bringing similar stops together to form a trail. By tapping into everyone’s strengths, the individual lift and spend is smaller across the board. This makes the end goal easier to reach.

The post Marketing Tactics for Small Budgets and Big Reach appeared first on Travel Alliance Partnership.