Comments on: Tourism boards are not doing their job http://www.travel-rants.com/2009/02/03/tourism-boards-are-not-doing-their-job/ Sun, 29 Jan 2012 01:52:48 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Caitlin http://www.travel-rants.com/2009/02/03/tourism-boards-are-not-doing-their-job/#comment-136743 Caitlin Thu, 05 Feb 2009 23:55:14 +0000 http://www.travel-rants.com/?p=3122#comment-136743 @Murray The "where the bloody hell are you?" campaign is a few years old now. While I also liked the ad, it apparently offended a lot of people around the world and did not boost tourism. @Darren There's a discrepancy with you saying that tourism boards should be on social media and then discounting the Tourism Queensland campaign because (you say) the average person doesn't spend their life online. (Although it actually made the TV news and the newspapers, as I said). @Murray The “where the bloody hell are you?” campaign is a few years old now. While I also liked the ad, it apparently offended a lot of people around the world and did not boost tourism.

@Darren There’s a discrepancy with you saying that tourism boards should be on social media and then discounting the Tourism Queensland campaign because (you say) the average person doesn’t spend their life online. (Although it actually made the TV news and the newspapers, as I said).

Report this comment

]]> By: Murray Harrold http://www.travel-rants.com/2009/02/03/tourism-boards-are-not-doing-their-job/#comment-136649 Murray Harrold Thu, 05 Feb 2009 05:17:06 +0000 http://www.travel-rants.com/?p=3122#comment-136649 I thought they did quite a good job, I must say. Australia, Austria, Turkey, Jersey, Israel, Indiahhhhh (who can forget that! ... And that great Aussie girl (who was she?? with her "so where the bloody hell are you? - a great Ad!) - and that's as a punter not as a travel agent .... I can remember their adverts and efforts. Come on Darren, fair's fair... Just because someone is not on social media doesn't mean they aren't making the effort. Tourist Boards don't get massive budgets and on balance, I think they work quite hard at it! I thought they did quite a good job, I must say. Australia, Austria, Turkey, Jersey, Israel, Indiahhhhh (who can forget that! … And that great Aussie girl (who was she?? with her “so where the bloody hell are you? – a great Ad!) – and that’s as a punter not as a travel agent …. I can remember their adverts and efforts. Come on Darren, fair’s fair… Just because someone is not on social media doesn’t mean they aren’t making the effort. Tourist Boards don’t get massive budgets and on balance, I think they work quite hard at it!

Report this comment

]]> By: Joe Buhler http://www.travel-rants.com/2009/02/03/tourism-boards-are-not-doing-their-job/#comment-136571 Joe Buhler Wed, 04 Feb 2009 15:30:27 +0000 http://www.travel-rants.com/?p=3122#comment-136571 DMOs are a very varied group of organizations with different structures, finance models and even overall objectives. It's hard to judge them with blanket statements of inefficiency or bureaucracy although that quite often applies. It is certainly true that most are not at the forefront of innovation when it comes to all things web related and tend to lag behind the industry leaders. That is not really surprising, looking at their legacy and the same can be said about private sector players in the industry like the traditional tour operators, travel agents, cruise lines etc. who have for far too long not realized the threat posed to them by the web based companies. The true innovators have been, and continue to be, new start-ups, often with leaders from outside the travel industry. Expedia being the poster child for web 1.0 and now we have the new innovators like Uptake, Tripbase, Travelmuse, Triporati, Tripwolf etc. who have entered the travel planning and research field where the web 2.0 battles will be fought using the tools of digital social media. DMOs are largely absent here and this time it will have a much bigger impact on their role. The first phase of the web was all about bookings, mostly of airline tickets, an area that DMOs really are not concerned with. The next phase will happen right in their playing field where the destination becomes the focus more than just the lowest airfare. I agree with Stephen that rather than trying to develop complex technology in-house they should enter strategic partnerships with the innovators, use APIs and other forms of integration to convert their content rich but still rather static sites into the interactive trip planning and travel research tools that will be expected by the next wave of online travelers. If they lag behind this time they will increasingly become irrelevant for the traveling public and their websites might well become ignored, isolated islands on the web with few reasons for potential visitors to use them. DMOs are a very varied group of organizations with different structures, finance models and even overall objectives. It’s hard to judge them with blanket statements of inefficiency or bureaucracy although that quite often applies. It is certainly true that most are not at the forefront of innovation when it comes to all things web related and tend to lag behind the industry leaders. That is not really surprising, looking at their legacy and the same can be said about private sector players in the industry like the traditional tour operators, travel agents, cruise lines etc. who have for far too long not realized the threat posed to them by the web based companies. The true innovators have been, and continue to be, new start-ups, often with leaders from outside the travel industry. Expedia being the poster child for web 1.0 and now we have the new innovators like Uptake, Tripbase, Travelmuse, Triporati, Tripwolf etc. who have entered the travel planning and research field where the web 2.0 battles will be fought using the tools of digital social media. DMOs are largely absent here and this time it will have a much bigger impact on their role.

The first phase of the web was all about bookings, mostly of airline tickets, an area that DMOs really are not concerned with. The next phase will happen right in their playing field where the destination becomes the focus more than just the lowest airfare.

I agree with Stephen that rather than trying to develop complex technology in-house they should enter strategic partnerships with the innovators, use APIs and other forms of integration to convert their content rich but still rather static sites into the interactive trip planning and travel research tools that will be expected by the next wave of online travelers.

If they lag behind this time they will increasingly become irrelevant for the traveling public and their websites might well become ignored, isolated islands on the web with few reasons for potential visitors to use them.

Report this comment

]]> By: @toddlucier http://www.travel-rants.com/2009/02/03/tourism-boards-are-not-doing-their-job/#comment-136567 @toddlucier Wed, 04 Feb 2009 14:37:48 +0000 http://www.travel-rants.com/?p=3122#comment-136567 Are you trying to get me going today? I work with hundreds of tourism businesses each year and a handful of dmo's, regional tourism associations and the like. There are too numerous gaps to mention in comment form, but I have been encouraging regional associations to take on projects that help individual operators by providing value-added for their clients - the operators! Too may boards think their clients are only the travelers, but indeed the traveler needs to have thier needs met too. Each of these questions is a raging stream. How can you build a bridge to help your operators and travelers make the most of a visit to your region? A few questions for consideration by regional associations: What do your members need from you? Can your members process online payments? How do you handle inquiries? Are you spamming people by passing inquires on to all operators at once? How are you leveraging e-news to get exposure for your members? How well are your members representing themselves with multimedia - audio, video, photos? How ready are you and your operators for the handheld - always connected cellphone / web enabled traveller? Does your information / communication plan touch travelers before, during and after they travel? Do you have relevant content for each of these circumstances? How prepared are you to deliver information to a traveller as they stand in your community wondering - where to eat, what to do, where to stay? What do your members think your job is? What percentage of your spend is web-based? Are you proud of the deliverables you have provided? How do you track the success of your marketing strategy? How quickly do your members respond to inquiries? What are you doing for your members that they can't do for themselves? What keyword phrases does your community rank well for - that are not place names? How do locals feel you are representing your community? Are you engaging local residents to help tell your story? How? I could go on and on, but my day has just beginning and I tackle issues like this often. If you represent a regional marketing organization, you might appreciate the podcast episode featured here: http://www.tourismkeys.ca/blog/2009/01/cvbs-tourism-associations-regional-marketing-folk-whos-your-ideal-client/ Are you trying to get me going today?
I work with hundreds of tourism businesses each year and a handful of dmo’s, regional tourism associations and the like.
There are too numerous gaps to mention in comment form, but I have been encouraging regional associations to take on projects that help individual operators by providing value-added for their clients – the operators!

Too may boards think their clients are only the travelers, but indeed the traveler needs to have thier needs met too.

Each of these questions is a raging stream. How can you build a bridge to help your operators and travelers make the most of a visit to your region?
A few questions for consideration by regional associations:
What do your members need from you?
Can your members process online payments?
How do you handle inquiries? Are you spamming people by passing inquires on to all operators at once?
How are you leveraging e-news to get exposure for your members?
How well are your members representing themselves with multimedia – audio, video, photos?
How ready are you and your operators for the handheld – always connected cellphone / web enabled traveller?
Does your information / communication plan touch travelers before, during and after they travel? Do you have relevant content for each of these circumstances?
How prepared are you to deliver information to a traveller as they stand in your community wondering – where to eat, what to do, where to stay?
What do your members think your job is?
What percentage of your spend is web-based? Are you proud of the deliverables you have provided?
How do you track the success of your marketing strategy?
How quickly do your members respond to inquiries?
What are you doing for your members that they can’t do for themselves?
What keyword phrases does your community rank well for – that are not place names?
How do locals feel you are representing your community?
Are you engaging local residents to help tell your story? How?

I could go on and on, but my day has just beginning and I tackle issues like this often. If you represent a regional marketing organization, you might appreciate the podcast episode featured here:
http://www.tourismkeys.ca/blog/2009/01/cvbs-tourism-associations-regional-marketing-folk-whos-your-ideal-client/

Report this comment

]]> By: Simon http://www.travel-rants.com/2009/02/03/tourism-boards-are-not-doing-their-job/#comment-136558 Simon Wed, 04 Feb 2009 12:16:30 +0000 http://www.travel-rants.com/?p=3122#comment-136558 @Darren I'm not saying that interacting with customers should be low on their priorities, I just think it is. If you ask most tourist boards what their main priorities are, I would expect most would say marketing and promoting the country. To them this means advertising, organising press trips, PR and setting up fancy stands and acting all important at trade fairs. @Darren
I’m not saying that interacting with customers should be low on their priorities, I just think it is. If you ask most tourist boards what their main priorities are, I would expect most would say marketing and promoting the country. To them this means advertising, organising press trips, PR and setting up fancy stands and acting all important at trade fairs.

Report this comment

]]>