Destination Marketing Examples During Crisis

Yes, travel has slowed to a trickle this season due to the coronavirus, and the summer forecast is still uncertain. However, depending on your destination’s staffing and budget resources, you should still be doing some promotion to “stay in the game.”

People are armchair traveling, and dreaming about where they’ll go as soon as they get the green light. This is the ideal time to get creative and market your destination in a different way. We’ve been keeping in touch with our peers at CrowdRiff, as they share case studies of what other destinations all over the world are doing.

Here are some of our favorite destination marketing examples we’ve seen.

1. Visit Rochester - Rochester Rising

Visit Rochester incorporated user-generated content to create a short video message on their social media channels. The messaging was centered around “Rochester Will Rise,” and encouraged the local community that it will get better. A video like this is a great example of using your destination’s photos to still promote a message even though travel is on hold.

2. Experience Niagara Falls - Virtual Tours

Niagara Falls Canada is bringing the falls to your home! They’ve compiled virtual tours of Niagara Falls, local gardens, discovery centers, and other adventures. Also, you can view the falls 24/7 with their live cam. If your destination has the equipment and materials to create virtual or VR tours, it is a great way for people to explore from a distance.

3. Explore Georgia - Zoom Backgrounds

Zoom video conferences have been more frequent in the past few weeks. Explore Georgia took the opportunity to offer free downloadable Zoom backgrounds of iconic sites of their destination. Your destination can do the same if you have high-quality, royalty-free photos. Ask your audience to use a hashtag and post a selfie of using the background on their Zoom calls, so you can share on your social channels.

 4. Visit Albuquerque - #TrueABQ Hashtag

Do you use a branded hashtag for your destination? Visit Albuquerque used theirs to share new messages of how their local partners are giving back to their communities during this time on their Instagram stories. Share similar stories in your destination with your own hashtag. Make these stories available by creating a new highlight on your Instagram profile dedicated to the messages.

Keep your target travelers engaged with methods like these, in order to remain “top of mind” when they’re ready to hit the road.

Want more ideas on how to keep engaged with your audience? for a consultation.

By Bethany, Social Media & Public Relations Strategist | April 20, 2020