Tourism marketers have been given a gift and it’s called social media. You see, ever since Homer’s Odyssee people talk about there travels. I’ve been in tourism marketing for a long time and every time people talk about their travels, it’s a mini-focus group session for me.
I’ve said it before and I’m going to say it again. A destination brand is:
- The sum of experiences of a traveler during a trip (but not all experiences are equal)
- The sum of all stories somebody has hears about a destination (but not all sources are equally credible)
I’ve also said before that, like it or not, you’re already in social media.
The result of this gift is that the travel conversations happen in real time, in social media, all the time. Conversations that generate awareness without anybody spending a dime.
The way your tourism brand is build outweighs the messages you can throw into the mix.
