Embed Size (px)
DESCRIPTION
This presentation was part of the Luckie summer of 2009 speaking circuit to tourism groups in the Southeast. It covers the emergence of what we call Traveler2.0 and how they use social media and networking tools to not only plan their own vacations, but how they influence likeminded travelers. The back half of the presentation gives practical tips and examples of how tourism marketers can become involved in a meaningful way in this congested social media world. The presentation of this deck has a joint effort between Luckie’s David Stutts and David Griner.
Citation preview
Leisure travel planning has changed drastically in the past 15 years
Power has shifted
From the advent of buses, trains and planes, travel
agents have really played a big roll in planning and
steering travelers to destinations. You walked in, said
you wanted a beach vacation and you were off to
some island
And even with consumers in control, there has been a rapid evolution
(especially in the past couple of years)
But first let‘s go way backto the mid-1990s wherethe power shift started
It started with getting info about a destination (online brochure) – freedom to get info when they wanted versus when the travel agent wanted
To booking an airline ticket or hotel room
To using travel aggregators to see all options in one
place and get a good deal
To using evolved travel aggregators that bundled flights,
hotels and rental cars into one package and offered a
really good deal with a little destination insight
To using chat rooms to see what other travelers were
doing or thinking regarding travel planning
To reading consumer-generated blogs about potential destinations
Then the pipe reached critical mass
Opening the door to easily accessible user-generated
content like pictures and videos
Which tells a very different story than just words in a blog and the
pretty pictures that marketers show on their Web sites
THENEarly Adopters
36% of U.S. adults had broadband access
17% of the total U.S. Internet audience viewed online video in June 2005
Source: Pew Internet Life Dec. 2005, comScore March 2004
NOWMainstream
63% of U.S. adults have broadband access
78% of the total U.S. Internet audience viewed online video in April 2009
AND
Watched 16.8 BILLION videosSource: Pew Internet Life April2009, and comScore April 2009
This broadband penetration and acceptance of UGC led to an
explosion of UGC sites in many categories, especially travel
And a new breed of leisure traveler was born
Traveler2.0
Web savvy
Broadband connected
Social media initiated
In control every step of the way
And most importantly …
Willing to seek out and share travel information with like-minded travelers
So where online does Traveler2.0hang out?
Travel Aggregators
http://www.travelzoo.com
http://www.hotelicopter.com
http://www.seatguru.com
http://www.sidestep.com
http://www.kayak.com
http://www.yapata.com
http://farecast.live.com
http://www.mobissimo.com
http://www.hotwire.com
http://www.luxurylink.com
http://www.momondo.com
Social Networks
http://www.iloho.com
http://www.traveltogether.com
http://realtravel.com
http://www.flyertalk.com
http://www.tripconnect.com
http://www.virtualtourist.com
http://www.travbuddy.com
http://www.gusto.com
http://www.dopplr.com
http://www.tripwolf.com
International Traveler
http://www.citytherapy.com
http://www.wayn.com
http://gridskipper.com
http://www.bootsnall.com
Reviews
http://www.tripadvisor.com
http://www.travelpost.com
http://www.rummble.com
http://www.hotelchatter.com
http://www.igougo.com
http://www.jaunted.com
Trip Planning/Sharing
http://www.mytripbook.com
http://www.tripcart.com
http://www.tripology.com
http://triptie.com
http://www.lonelyplanet.com
http://www.concierge.com
http://www.pastigo.com
http://www.traveltip.org
http://www.tripit.com
http://www.planeteye.com
http://www.nileguide.com
http://www.toandfromtheairport.com
Of the thousands of travel/tourism sites out there, these are the slightly more than 50 we think Traveler2.0 will find the most useful, interesting or engaging
Blogs/Travel Journals
http://www.vcarious.com
http://www.gadling.com
http://www.mytripjournal.com
http://www.travellerspoint.com
http://www.traveljournals.net
Green Travel
http://www.viator.com
http://gogreentravelgreen.com
http://www.greenicious.com
Regional
http://goseeoregon.com
http://71miles.com
http://www.everyblock.com
http://www.going.com
http://flyspy.com
Interesting
http://www.mp3travel.com
http://www.couchsurfing.com
http://www.1sthomeexchange.com
http://www.vrbo.com
http://www.shawguides.com
Group Travel
http://www.triporama.com
http://www.groople.com
http://www.triphub.com
http://www.imin.com
A social networking site that helps users plan their trips by
getting tips from other users, by browsing photos and
videos. You can look for travel mates and even book hotels
or hostels
A blogging site that travelers can use while actually on their trip to keep
friends and family up-to-date on what they are doing
Another social networking and planning site that offers
information on the people, the culture, how to get around, and
how to avoid problems, as well as suggestions for itineraries,
accommodations, dining and things to do
A newer site that combines UGC and reviews with professionally
generated travel tips.
Not just Web sites
Traveler2.0 is becoming highly mobile too
Smart phones are finally giving travelers access to interactive tools
when they need them most
RoadTrippr – Everyone can
find the main attractions, but
most of the time the most
interesting places to visit are
off the beaten path.
UrbanSpoon – Randomly select a nearby restaurant based on a few criteria, such as price or cuisine type.
Yelp – Find directions and reviews for restaurants, hotels or almost any other business nearby.
iPhone travel tools
5,000+Travel Apps Available
Smart phones aside, how many options does Traveler2.0 have?
In the U.S., there are more than 5,000travel-related Web sites
Containing 20,000,000+ opinions
On 750,000 or so destinations to visit, things to do and places to stay
And this doesn‘t count blogs
Source: www.uptake.com
Tourist blog posts 4,407
Trip blog posts 19,003
Vacation blog posts 22,791
Travel blog posts 242,478
Source: Technorati, August 28, 2009
There is a whole lot of competition for destination marketers as Traveler2.0
works to select the right vacation
The million dollar question is how do destination marketers connect with
Traveler2.0?
The mainstreaming of social media has left tourism marketers with three options:
1. Encourage the conversation2. Join the conversation3. Start a conversation
Sometimes it only takes a nudge to get travelers talking about your destination
Encourage the conversation
Nashville‘s Hotel Preston sends all guests an e-mail asking them ―to write a review of your stay on a hotel review site, such as TripAdvisor or Yelp.com.‖
Result? Hotel Preston has more reviews on TripAdvisor than any other Nashville hotel, and an average rating of 4 stars.
Encourage the conversation
When bloggers arrived in droves for PodCamp Pittsburgh 2008, local tourism officials were ready. VisitPittsburgh arranged VIP tours for several of the high-profile writers in attendance.
Encourage the conversation
In January 2009, Disney took a select group of influential mom bloggers on a trip to the Bahamas to highlight its new cruise line. Result was dozens of posts and national buzz.
2. Join the conversation
Facebook is the most popular social network in the world
In the past six months, Facebook has grownfrom 150 million to 250 million usersLargest age group: 35–54
Growth since January 2009:
Ages 35-54: 190% growth20.2 million users
Ages 55+: 590% growth5.9 million users
Source: “Most Facebook users are older, study finds.” SFGate.com, 7/8/09
Facebook users over 18:
Alabama: 687,460Florida: 3,920,240Georgia: 2,282,700Mississippi: 375,460Tennessee: 1,168,720
Source: Facebook, 8/3/09
acebook Groups
acebook Fan Pages
acebook Groups
More members
Less corporate
Admins must use personal accounts
Little control of content
acebook Fan Pages
Easy to control
Admin names aren‘t public
Dynamic content
Analytics
Can appear more ‗corporate‘ to users
Must be maintained
Twitter lets you post brief items,shared with the world
In the past year, Twitter has grownnearly 2,000% to 50 million+ usersLargest age group: 35–44
Responds quickly to any questions posed by visitors on Twitter.
Gives advice, offers tips, solves problems.
Portland‘s ―Twisitor Center‖
3. Start a conversation
The ―Pomegranate‖ phone does everything, including brew coffee. Well, not really. It‘s a viral campaign for Nova Scotia, where you can ―get everything in one place.‖ Result? Hundreds of thousands of views and hundreds of blog posts.
―One adventurous pair with smiling personalities will land the ultimate assignment: Experiencing every attraction in Orlando over 67 days!‖
10 sets of finalists also got to spend 67 hours in Orlando.
Results: National news coverage3,500+ blog mentions478 Facebook fans167 YouTube videos
Orlando‘s 67 Days of Smiles
World Nomads, a travel insurance company, is hosting this relay-style contest to journey across Australia in their customized van, ―Geoff.‖ Applications came in via YouTube, and participants will post throughout the travels. The group voted ―most entertaining‖ wins $10,000.
34,000 people worldwide applied to be the caretaker of a tropical island off Queensland, Australia. The contest generated global buzz for this distant destination.
Closing thoughts
The social media revolution has made it easier than ever for travelers to be smarter, faster and more informed.
But that means it‘s more important than ever for destination marketers to experiment, adapt and connect — or be left in the rear view mirror of Traveler2.0.
