The world is in flux, so are professions too. Remember those days when you were compelled to watch TV ads during your favorite TV show? There was no “skip ads” option. Back then, patience was a must-have virtue. Today however, the consumer is versatile, busy and bombarded with choices. To keep up, technology keeps evolving to satisfy the discerning consumer.
Technology continues to revolutionize marketing, which is considered the key to the success of most businesses. When digital marketing was first being shaped, many overlooked its importance and continued their traditional marketing. But soon, everyone realized that online presence and reputation are indispensable.
The year is 2022 and today, it is your website, application, or e-commerce store in front of the world representing your business and its values. The outbreak of the COVID pandemic too, caused significant disruption to tourism and entire tourism value chain: airlines, hotels, restaurants, and other businesses have been and continue to be forced to adapt accordingly and keep up with the latest in tourism trends.
Considering that the tourism industry is extremely competitive, it behooves sector players to be intentional to maintain that competitive edge. Businesses operating within the industry need to continuously find ways to stand out from rivals, promote themselves as being the best option for tourists, and highlight some of the things that make them different, or superior.
Marketing is essential for achieving this and many of the best tourism marketing tips focus on helping businesses to find a unique selling point and promote it. Of course, it is also crucial that marketers keep up with the latest trends, so that they can create a diverse marketing mix and use the best methods for getting their message out.
I invite you to walk this journey with me and let’s go through a rundown of patterns that are important to the tourism industry, as well as developments that have arisen in reaction to the coronavirus pandemic.
Prioritizing Hygiene & Safety Messages
In response to the coronavirus, marketers have had to craft their messages with emphasis put on providers who have had to emphasize on how they have taken additional measures developed in consultation with global and local public health authorities (including the WHO and CDC). All forms of marketing communications have been put out there highlighting how the cleaning and hygiene protocols are now even more rigorous. Customers need to be convinced that they are going to be safe, so marketers continue to emphasize these concepts of hygiene and safety on all marketing collateral.
Local Focus
At the height of Covid, the travel restrictions that were in place and the overall reluctance to travel internationally, sector players resorted to local customers as a safer target demographic. The focus was heavily on emphasizing features of the business that were likely to appeal to local customers. For instance, rather than highlighting aspects like the weather and local attractions, which primarily appeal to international visitors, focus shifted to facilities, ability to host events of small crowds and supported virtually, or the luxury services available.
Artificial Intelligence (Chatbots)
Artificial intelligence has positioned itself among the digital marketing trends of 2020 & beyond and this includes the tourism sector. Chatbots are software capable of holding conversations almost as if they were human. They are the most frequent and recognized bot models. The aim of adapting this tech innovation is to automate communication; that is, using chatbots to create close messages and provide useful information to customers, improving service and support and generally enhancing the entire customer experience.
Importantly too, chatbots are a gem when it comes to data analysis. Chatbots can perform real-time analysis and they are able to store and process a large amount of information (for example, the conversations with prospects & customers). This will actually allow you to segment your database in detail; hence it will help you to work more effectively e.g. on your email marketing campaigns, among other strategies.
Prioritize Personalisation
Modern customers want to be treated as individuals, which is where personalization marketing comes in. The basic principle is to try to target people with more relevant marketing messages, which appeal to them on an individual level. This could mean, for instance, sending a personalized email, showing them a product they might like. To be effective, personalization marketing requires you to capture user data and make intelligent use of it, often through AI and automation. This data could be past bookings, web browsing habits, or activity on social media.
Content Marketing
Above all else, this is a worthy marketing strategy for this sector because it can not only be used to draw attention to the business; it can also help to position you as a credible industry expert. Furthermore, an effective content marketing strategy can also use SEO techniques to boost overall visibility. So through, the relevant and specific platforms: those blog posts, web articles, infographics, e-books, videos etc are a vital arsenal to fight and win this digital marketing war. The key here is to produce high-quality, genuinely useful content. Think about the expertise you have to share, keep customers up-to-date, and share knowledge about attractions, activities and experiences.
User Generated Content
This is a very trusted form of marketing this one; we are talking any form of content, such as images, videos, text, and audio that has been posted by users on online platforms. Trusted and budget friendly too, this is guaranteed to impact positively on that balance sheet if well executed. Think about it, perhaps having a digital photo booth in your resort/hotel? This will encourage tourists to take photos at your location and the booth can automatically add your company name or a hashtag to the photos. Digitally, you might also consider setting up a section on your website for users to upload their own videos, as you can encourage discussion on your company blog and on social media platforms.
All said and done, tourism industry is a highly competitive industry. To make it through this crowded space, it is important to stand out from competitors and promote the qualities that make your business unique. For optimum results, it’s critical you keep pressing refresh and updating your marketing knowledge in order to achieve your goals.