The @Sweden Twitter scandal – did tourism officials handle it correctly?
NB: This is a guest article by Matt Rhodes, strategy director at social media agency FreshNetworks. How do you represent a region or a country in social media? A challenge to many tourist boards and...
View ArticleHow destinations can use data to reach their target audiences
NB: This is a guest article by Sylvia Weiler, general manager of the tourism division at Sojern. Over the past several years, attractive offers from across the entire tourism spectrum have made travel...
View ArticleDestinations failing to make most of technology to attract and engage visitors
Destinations – and those charged with promoting cities or countries – do not understand how to exploit the vast array of technology and techniques to attract visitors. This is one finding from a major...
View ArticleQantas launches Hooroo accommodation and social media spin-off website
In what is being billed as an attempt to boost domestic tourism, Qantas has unveiled a service called Hooroo combining hotel search and booking with a big emphasis on social media. Borrowing in parts...
View ArticleCzech Republic tourism drive targets Facebook mood, rebrands as Czech RepubLIKE
Either a very clever or a groan-inducing approach from the Czech Republic, with tourism officials paying homage to Facebook by making Czech RepubLIKE its new slogan. Despite the word “like” being...
View ArticleAre small tourism businesses lacking in best practice when it comes to the web?
Ask anyone who has worked with a variety of tour and activity operators and they will probably tell you that there are as many ways of doing business as there are operators. But why is this and why...
View ArticleMarketing a destination mobile app – the sweat equity approach
NB: This is a guest article by Adam Rugel, CEO of Trazzler, and Brendan McGuigan, director of interactive media at Mendocino County. More than half of the adults in the United States alone already own...
View ArticleAugmented reality and filters gone mad – add the Northern Lights to any...
Such is the craze for allowing the amateur photographer to turn their images into semi-professional masterpieces via filters, all manner of services are now hitting the market. This isn’t just confined...
View ArticleTurns out, social media is a pain in the ass for destinations
Okay, maybe not a total pain in the ass – perhaps massively confusing. ROI, influence, Pinterest, fans, followers, friends – where do we go from here? The promise of free promotion, easy communication...
View ArticleAustralian distribution strategy could be template for other tourism boards
The US government recently released its first progress report since launching its ambitious plan to brand America and grow visitor numbers to the country. Overall the results are positive and intent to...
View ArticleAfter letting locals run the Twitter account, VisitSweden now wants visitors...
Citizens of Sweden were thrust into the limelight this year when the national tourism authority gave them the chance to share their lives on its official Twitter profile. Each week a new individual...
View ArticleHey, tour guide, you are fired!
NB: This is a guest article by Dave Elchoness and Angus Shee, co-founders of Tagwhat. Traditional tour guides have made a living for centuries sharing the stories about locations. In some cultures,...
View ArticleNow travel agencies want to be like Apple Stores
Earlier this year a UK tourism board turned the idea of the traditional city centre bureau on its head - turning its Manchester facility into something closer to an Apple Store. Filled with technology...
View ArticleRecaptured: Tourism Australia steps into @Australia
.@seeaustralia is now @australia. Thanks to our colleagues @ausgovcto in Canberra. We’re working on something very special for you all. — Australia (@Australia) March 14, 2013 The above tweet is one...
View ArticleJapan brings its people to the fore in hit web promo to tourists [VIDEO]
Many tourism boards choose to focus on the locations and things to do rather than its habitants as a method of enticing visitors to a country. Not so at the Japanese Tourism Agency, which is putting...
View ArticleRIP Travelllll – quirky name, plenty of content, potentially a large,...
Somewhat ironic that in the week that BBC sold Lonely Planet to a little known digital publishing house that a site created to cover issues affecting travel writers and blogging revealed it would be...
View ArticleBest Jobs in the World stunt works wonders for PR again, but technology...
To thousands of eager travellers it is the chance of a lifetime – to many marketers in the travel industry it is the PR stunt that just keeps on giving. Again and again. After the success (at least in...
View ArticleHolland reminds everyone how cool it is, scores massive hit on YouTube [VIDEO]
Tourism bosses in Holland are celebrating after capturing nearly three quarters of a million hits in less than a week for a YouTube clip to promote the country’s apparent coolness. The tongue-in-cheek...
View ArticleA (very) deep-dive into using Facebook for marketing in the travel industry
NB: This is a viewpoint by Robert Patterson, vice president of social media and influencer marketing at MMGY Global. Since 2008, the growth rate for social media marketing spending has surpassed...
View ArticleDrum roll, drum roll – which country has the best reputation?
MARKETING: As it’s the Fourth of July and the self-proclaimed “world’s greatest country” celebrates its independence, travel brands should be pushing their customers in that direction, right? Research...
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