CVB, DMO, Tourism & Destination Marketing - Online Marketing and SEO for Travel and Tourism Sites » Tourism Bureaus

What You Can Learn From BP’s Mistakes

admin — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 21:01:57 +0000

Of all the lessons learned from the BP debacle, the most important was the first one BP learned. The internet is a powerful PR tool that can crush you quickly. Bad news gushed across the internet like…well, like a broken pipe. In the days, and now weeks, following the initial report, BP continued to make one bumbling decision after the next. It didn’t take long for every move that that BP made (many of them sluggish and poorly executed) to be scrutinized and commented upon by everyone who had an internet connection. BP quickly learned that they weren’t just managing an environmental disaster, they were managing a PR disaster – one they still haven’t grasped.

It’ll be years before the victims of this disaster recover, if at all. But, as we can’t unring that bell (or in this case, put the oil back in the pipe), we have to focus on what we can do to facilitate recovery for the lovely coastal towns whose beaches and reputations were stained by this disaster.

If you’ve got marketing dollars, now is the time to spend them.

Your tourism, visitor’s bureau, local or regional website needs to be addressing all the wonderful features of your town and reminding vacationers that you’re still open for business. If you’ve got local photographers, invite them to submit new photos and then get those photos out through Flickr, Facebook and Twitter.

Build a social media campaign, like this one run by the Jamestown Foundation that encourages past visitors to talk about their vacations and events. If you’ve got a YouTube channel, so much the better. Link to vacation videos that show your sparkling beaches, your lovely shops, your friendly locals and fantastic restaurants. Need some inspiration? Check out Currituck County, North Carolina. Now is an excellent time to invest in a pay-per-click campaign that helps users reconnect with your town or find you for the first time.

Family vacations, reunions, honeymoons and holidays are all still happening. Make sure these people know that good things are still happening at your place, too.

Melissa Baumann is a Search Marketing and Tourism Specialist as well as a seasoned world traveler.

Tourism Marketing During College Football Season

admin — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 19:09:33 +0000

I love football.

When I was a baby, my mom made me wear an Auburn University cheerleader outfit. At age 5, I could throw and catch a football with all the boys on the playground. In middle school, I knew every team in the SEC and which teams I hated most. After high school, I went to Auburn University and never missed a single home game. Even now, the only thing that makes me happy about the end of summer is the beginning of football season.

College football is not only a very exciting time, but it is a multi-billion dollar industry. Think of all of the miles football fans drive to get to their beloved stadiums, the T-shirts bought, the hotels slept in, the hamburgers grilled and the tickets sold.

If your city is located in or around a football stadium, you cannot afford to ignore it! Your convention and tourism bureau’s Web site should cater to every fan making a trip to your neck of the woods. Blogs detailing the atmosphere each day leading up to game day, places to buy game day memorabilia, maps of restaurants in town showing the game, hotel locations with proximity to the stadium, links to your social media accounts to keep fans informed in real time and weather updates are every fan’s best friend. You can make your destination irresistible without even trying too hard. The idea is accessibility for your future tourists.

Here are a few examples of CVB sites I found across the Web who cater to football tourists:

Of course, I have to mention the Auburn and Opelika (Ala.) Tourism Bureau. From the first glance at this site, the bureau uses the college-town atmosphere to draw tourists into a fun setting reflecting the area.
Another CVB that is doing it right is Central Pennsylvania’s Convention and Vistors Bureau. Their slogan is “Tour. Roar. Explore… more!” based on Penn State’s mascot, the Nittany Lions. This site hosts a perfect balance between the excitement and thrill of college football, and the relaxation of spas, exploration of trails and parks, appreciation of arts and historical attractions. A link awaits all meeting and sports planners at the top of the site, providing all pertinant information as well.
CVBs don’t have to dedicate their entire site to football traffic. Visitflorida.com posted this video on their site to add a cultural insight on how important University of Florida football truly is to residents there. In the South, football is practically religion, and this video captures the heart of tailgating, mascots and tradition.
Lest we forget the bowl games. If your state features a bowl game, what a great way to show off all of the places to visit and things to do to football tourists. The Arizona Office of Tourism mentions the Fiesta Bowl on a page dedicated to sports. On this page, they provide links to other things to do while in town for the game, as well as important information about the game.

The football fans will come to your city, regardless of how much or little information you post on your Web site. However, you have the ability to extend their stay and increase your tourism revenue by providing basic information on your site. The rules apply for pro football too!

If you aren’t sure where to begin, we’d love to help. Contact us today for a free consultation.We know how to run the option and throw trick plays to get people to your destination. Let us tackle your Web project today.

Jessica Swink is a freelance writer specializing in articles about Social Media Optimization and SEO for travel Web sites.

Travel the US via Twitter – Follow the States

admin — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 14:19:59 +0000

Where in the USA do you want to go today? If you use the Internet to plan family and adventure trips, perhaps you have browse sites developed by the many tourism bureaus established around the country. For every state and territory in the union, there is a department encompassing that entire region, and multiple cities and towns within are certain to have organizations that more precisely market their area. It’s no surprise, too, to see so many bureaus and tourism representative entice Twitter users to follow them and get the low-down on hotel and attraction specials and upcoming events.

If you’re the wandering sort, here are fifty (give or take a few) profiles that ought to be on your follow list. Note: not all accounts below are officially representative of their respective visitors bureaus, but do reflect travel tweeting for that state. If there is a state listed missing its respective official tourism Twitter profile here, more than likely it couldn’t be found on the main Web site or through Google search. That’s not good!

If you operate the state’s tourism bureau it is necessary to have all social media profile visible so prospective visitors can follow your updates. Consulting with a search engine and social media optimization company that specializes in travel and tourism is a good way to raise your online awareness as people plan their vacations. You can learn more about how to boost your Twitter readership through SimpleTourism, specialists in travel website SEO services.

Alabama – TweetHomeAla
Alaska – AK_Vacation
American Samoa – SamoaNews
Arizona – ArizonaTourism
Arkansas – ARTourism
California – CATourism
Colorado – Visit_Colorado
Connecticut – HartfordCVB
Delaware – DE_Vacation
District of Columbia – DCWire
Florida – VisitFlorida
Georgia – GeorgiaTourism
Hawaii – AlohaSpots
Idaho – VisitIdaho
Illinois – EnjoyIllinois
Indiana – VisitIndiana
Iowa – IowaVacation
Kansas – TravelKS
Kentucky – KentuckyTourism
Louisiana – LouisianaTravel
Maine – MaineTourism
Maryland – MDTourism
Massachusetts – MA_Vacation
Michigan – PureMichigan
Minnesota – MN_vacation
Mississippi – VisitMS
Missouri – MissouriLife
Montana – VisitMontana
Nebraska – NebraskaTourism
Nevada – TravelNevada
New Hampshire – VisitNH
New Jersey – NJ_Vacation
New Mexico – NMTourism
New York – I_LOVE_NY
North Carolina – VisitNC
North Dakota – ND_Vacation
Northern Marianas Islands – GoToMarianas
Ohio – DiscoverOhio
Oklahoma – OklahomaTourism
Oregon – TravelOregon
Pennsylvania – VisitPA
Puerto Rico – MeetPuertoRico
Rhode Island – RIEvents
South Carolina – SCTourism
South Dakota – TravelSD
Tennessee – TNVacation
Texas – TravelToTexas
Utah – UtahVacation
Vermont – VermontTourism
Virginia – VisitVirginia
Virgin Islands – Virgin_Islands
Washington – WA_Vacation
West Virginia – VisitWV
Wisconsin – WIBestBets
Wyoming – WyomingTourism

And don’t forget to follow us at @SimpleTourism!

Currituck County – E-Mail Marketing

admin — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 14:18:59 +0000

In Currituck County, the most desired form of lodging is a beautiful vacation rental by the Atlantic shore. There are hundreds of beach homes available for rent year round in the Outer Banks, perfect for family reunions, college get-togethers or destination weddings. Currituck County’s Department of Travel and Tourism wanted to get a head start on booking rentals for the prime tourist season, and Simple Tourism devised an eye-catching e-mail blast that went out to thousands of opt-in site visitors:

Click to view larger graphic

Simple Tourism can design and send one-time blasts or regular newsletters and alerts to your opt-in e-mail audience. Whether you want to promote specials at your museum or tour agency, or wish to inform members of new happenings with a weekly newsletter, our state of the art e-mail programs and design are here to serve you. Contact us today for a free estimate on your next e-mail job.

Currituck County – PPC Campaigns

admin — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 19:56:58 +0000

Especially in the current economy, the fight for tourism dollars is intense. When you are a low-traffic shoreline destination on the Atlantic Coast, you have to compete for attention among larger markets like Myrtle Beach, Virginia Beach, and Nags Head. So when the tourism department of Currituck County, North Carolina approached us to manage their PPC campaigns, we rolled up our sleeves and dove right into the surf.

That Currituck County is part of the Outer Banks presented us with an advantage in marketing, as well as a purpose: let visitor know of this quieter section of the coast, secluded from the high-tourist areas yet affordable and full of fun things to do. We knew that visitors to the area think “Outer Banks,” so this key phrase was worked into our campaigns, along with relevant words for the region.

Sample Banner Ad for Currituck County

Over five months, we set up different campaigns geared toward different audiences – people looking specifically for OBX vacation information, people looking for general beach vacation deals, and people looking to rent vacation homes. The end result brought an average CPC of $2.00 per keyword, given the high bidding competition, and a CTR of 4.5%

Sample Image ad for Currituck County

In keeping with a dedication to showcasing the finer points of Currituck Beach, we launched an image ad campaign in addition to simple search. The images and color scheme were designed to match an accompanying e-mail marketing campaign.

Contact Simple Tourism today to learn how we can structure an affordable pay per click campaign, including banner ad design and implementation, for your tourism business.