Get the Most out of Your Tourism Marketing

Like most industries, the travel & tourism has had to adapt to changes in technology. Rather than visiting travel agencies, consumers have moved to self-researching online when planning or booking a trip. This has had an enormous effect on tourism marketing strategies. In an increasingly technological world, digital campaigns are the best way to get your destination in front of eyeballs. Here are a few ways to create successful destination marketing campaigns:

 

Adapt to consumer trends. We’ve already mentioned that individuals planning a vacation turn to the Internet for direction. At Velocity Agency, we dive in deeper. Knowing when your target audience is booking their trip can be the key to success. The peak season for vacation is typically summer, unless you are a winter destination. Prepare your campaign months in advance from when you expect to see traffic. Those scouring the web for the best vacation destination will be doing so long before they commit to a trip. Be the first thing they see and you’re more likely to convince them to book. In the event of last minute bookings, your campaign is already in full swing and you’ve already got them covered.

Spend accordingly. If your paid search budget is evenly distributed, reconsider your spending. Front-load the months leading up to the peak season of interest for your destination. Again, summer is the season for travel, so focus on the months leading up to summer, and continue through August.

Encourage shared content. Everyone loves showing off on the internet, so give people a way to do this that benefits you. Provide a place on your website to share their memories and experiences. Doing this will make your website look more fun and inspire future clients, as well as promote great brand image and keep visitors interacting with your page longer.

 

While these are easy concepts to integrate into your tourism marketing campaign, they are often underutilized. Something as simple as a hashtag or travel blog can help you keep track of your campaign’s success by having travelers share their experiences with you. Having one space to keep track of all your travelers can provide you with a sizable amount of data to help show what worked best, and what should be left out of the next campaign.