Yes, we know … “there’s never been a better time” is such a cliché. But after two years of hellishness, we think it’s OK to use just one little trite phrase (as long as we stay away from “unprecendented” and “pivot.”) The point is, there are opportunities to support and praise one another. We can all use some of that. So, let’s keep our eTourism Community strong and growing, finding and applauding excellence and new talent wherever it’s found. And let’s keep learning.
eTSY Awards
Reminder: The Fifth Annual eTourism Summit eTSY Awards for excellence in digital marketing are accepting submissions through March 25, 2022. In partnership with Expedia Group Media Solutions and Zartico, the community will recognize and celebrate the best of 2021-2022 campaigns and programs with awards in eight categories.
All entries will be judged by a jury of your peers on a scale of 1-10 (1=bleh to 10=heavenly) based on the following:
- Strategy and objective
- Creativity
- Impact/Measurability
Seeking innovation in:
- Brand Refresh
- Campaign That Went Viral
- Influencer Marketing
- Podcast
- Social Media
- Video
- Website
- “Best of the Best” (a new award that eTourism Summit attendees will vote for at the live eTourism Summit event in Orlando, June 6-8, 2022)
Last year’s winners? See them here. More details and entry form? Click here.
Emerging Tourism Stars
Remember the high school yearbook tag, “most likely to succeed”? That’s who we’re looking for and we need you to tap them, please.
Are you impressed by an up-and-coming colleague? Do you know someone who is new to the industry and deserves a shout-out for their enthusiasm and creativity? Perhaps there’s a social media manager who kills it day-in and day-out. Or maybe it’s a tourism partner who always has a fresh, new idea…
In partnership with MMGY Global, eTourism Summit launched the Emerging Tourism Stars program in 2021 to recognize astute individuals in the eTourism Community of digital travel and tourism professionals.
BENEFITS FOR EMERGING TOURISM STARS
– Winners will be directly connected with a travel and tourism leader as a mentor
– Winners receive a scholarship to attend eTourism Summit on June 6-8, 2022 in Orlando, FL ($1495 value)
– Winners are recognized at eTourism Summit 2022 where they share personal stories during a panel conversation moderated by presenting sponsor MMGY Global
– Each winner is featured in a personal profile article in The Travel Vertical and in a conversation on The Travel Vertical Podcast
– Opportunity to fill the eTS Emerging Tourism Star Advisory Board Seat (annual appointment)
See the 2021 inaugural class of winners here. Note: Nominations close March 1, 2022. Those selected will be notified by March 22.
Hey, all the wonderful marketing and data nerds turned up for Straight to the Point eSessions on 2/22/22 via the eTS 365 platform and we’ve got some takeaways to share from five presentations with their DMO partners.
And thanks for playing along during the eSessions. We’ve also got a trivia winner getting a free registration at the 2022 eTourism Summit to be announced in The Travel Vertical next week.
BOUND:
- Take time to identify your current site traffic through different lenses like geo-location, on-site engagement, paid media and social campaigns.
- Analyze potential content gaps starting with entry points and overall site engagement. Dig deeper into these audiences using Google Analytics’s segmentation tool.
- Review your current content strategies for email, advertising and your website to ensure there is content tailored for each audience.
- Remember that Bound is here to help with customer success.
BVK:
No-cost things that anyone could start to do as they assess their destination and begin a process of gauging whether a rebrand is necessary:
- Do you know what your organization’s cultural values are? Have a discussion with staff, do a quick survey, and maybe a workshop to uncover what values your own employees hold. Start to coalesce as a team around these values.
- Dig deeper into your existing visitor audience research. Do you have any data points that may begin to uncover your visitors’ own personal values? Start discussing how these align or not, which your organizational values. If not, plan for the future, budget for that in your next fiscal.
- Analyze how the destination brand is perceived in the media. How do regional and national travel publications/websites speak of the destination as a place to visit? Is it safe, quirky, cool? How do your local media and local residents feel about tourism in general? Are they supportive or do they hang “Tourists go home” signs in their windows. Getting an honest and complete assessment of how you’re portrayed in the press will be an indicator of where you are, and may hint towards how much work may be required.
- Calling BVK costs nothing, and we’ll gladly walk you through our process and approach so you can determine its value to your organization, industry and brand.
ROVE:
- Ask how is your destination monitoring consumer confidence to accelerate your recovery?
- Look for ways to support your local partners in improving the visitor experience? Using data keeps the conversation objective and straight to the point!
- Develop a plan to efficiently manage your data so it’s easy to access, leverages automation to optimize workflow, can be shared with stakeholders, and you have full control over it!
- Reach out to Rove if you want to learn more about using Rating and Review data to monitor consumer confidence.
ZARTICO:
- Limit your focus. Don’t attempt too much too quickly.
- Focus on the five fundamentals of a contemporary DMO, described in more depth here.
- These are: Generating Demand, Accountability, Opportunity, Distribution, and Stability.
LONGWOODS INTERNATIONAL:
- The last two years has shown us that the desire for travel is indeed pandemic proof. Now it’s a question of destinations understanding evolved consumer demands and changing travel patterns.
- The resident is central to travel recovery: they are our ongoing visitor, generator of valuable VFR travel, and key to travel industry employment rebounds.
