Travel Takeaway Tuesday Part II

There’s been a lot of changes in the past few weeks. Has your destination made adjustments to your current marketing efforts?

Our team has been attending Connect Travel webinars, as well as other helpful travel online events. 

Here are our latest takeaways: 

Stop Your Campaign Pauses

When COVID-19 first caused closures and a halt on travel, many DMOs reacted by pausing their advertising campaigns. Experts are suggesting to take pauses off of campaigns, and adjust your message. It’s best to continue search engine marketing (SEM) campaigns, as it will help your destination stand out above others when the travel bans are lifted.

Engage With Your Locals 

According to the latest data, we are seeing that there will be a percentage (20%) of people who don’t want to immediately go back to eating out at restaurants, staying at hotels and going to large-scale events. It’ll be important to engage with your local communities and encourage them to support local businesses when they re-open. Local tourism will be an important factor in regaining business in the rest of 2020.

Use UGC to Promote

Many destinations have already been using user-generated content (UGC) to engage with their audiences, even before COVID-19. During this new phase of travel, it’s even more important to use UGC to keep in touch with your audience. Read our latest blog featuring examples from other destinations on how to engage with your audience on social media. 

Collaborate With Fellow DMOs

Times like these bring people together. It’s a good opportunity now and in the future to work with other close destinations to get visitors to your area. After all, we’re all #BetterTogether. It’ll be easier to sell your destination to tour operators and larger travel groups if you can combine and discount your offerings for many attractions. 

Stay tuned for our latest travel takeaways, and stay connected with us as we navigate these times together. Missed our previous takeaways? View our last one here. 

By Bethany, Social Media & Public Relations Strategist | April 21, 2020