The word tourism marketing was used for the first time in 2018, and it was estimated that the trend would have reached its peak in 2019, evolving within digitalization. Although the expectation was extremely high, the reality was different. Due to Covid-19 restrictions, traveling was no longer possible, and as a consequence also the trend, for over a year, dissolved without disappearing. Now, it is time to be ready for what comes next. As a company, that means being aware of how to react to the crisis. For us, travellers, it means being conscious of how traveling will look like after the pandemic. The following paragraphs will try to give some guidelines regarding tourism and tourism marketing.
Tourism Marketing before 2020
Tourism Marketing is the new version of tourism where the application of advanced technology and marketing knowledge leads to a better engagement with the future traveler. In a nutshell, it is a marketing strategy that adopts specific marketing plans and techniques to advertise touristic products and services such as destinations, hotels, and transport services to connect the consumer with the experience better. Because customers are planning their trips far away from the service provider, the essence of tourism marketing is the digital implications that create a bridge over where a consumer books his/her trip and their destination. Being a digital marketer implies having some similar characteristics. However, tourism marketing is developed around the traveler's journey instead of the buyer's journey. This is what distinguishes it from pure digital marketing. The traveler's journey goes through the dreaming, planning, and booking phases "before" the trip, experiencing "during" the trip, and mainly sharing "after" the trip. In particular, during the sharing action, the traveler started using the power of video as a promoter of their journey. Video marketing has been one of the most exciting trends in recent years. In fact, in 2019, it positioned itself as the star in all conversion funnel stages. The videop marketing is not only produced by the travelers but mainly by the travel agencies since consumers are influenced even more by audiovisual content when making and booking. Cisco predicted in 2018 that 80% of all Internet traffic would be video streaming by 2019. The multi-channel distribution of online video is the last key to be updated. YouTube is not the only channel to have in mind since every social network is a great distribution channel that can enhance the longevity of the videos.
Tourism Marketing after 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the traveler's mindset, but there are countless reasons why people will travel again once it becomes possible. Hence, being ready for that moment with a strong brand is essential. Being aware of how they will be present in the traveler's journey will also help us booking the next vacation, finding the best deal, or a more relevant experience for each of us. Here are five steps that travel agencies will take to be at the top of our minds.
Re-evaluate your competitive landscape
Since the economic impact of COVID-19 is inevitable and its recovery will not be homogeneous as different parts of the world fight to control the spread of the virus on different timelines, it is necessary to find a way to expand the target customer to serve as many possible travelers. It is time to re-evaluating the competitive landscape. Domestic travel is likely to recover faster than international travel, and some countries will be open for business-related activities before others. To understand how and where to reposition their travel brand, big data allows companies to analyze customer behavior, identify the right prospects, and look for signals to determine when travel is picking back up.
Look at Online Travel Companies
Consumers are going to seek deals in online travel companies like Kayak and Expedia. Thus, being present on these sites is vital to find consumers in the desired phase of their journey.
Dig into Dynamic Segmentation
Streamlined marketing technology and processes have the power to deliver the right messages to the proper travelers at the right time. Dynamic customer segmentation uses real-time data to update marketing segments continuously. It is updated as customers fall in or out of a part based on their actions on the websites. Utilizing dynamic segmentation with the correct offers and promotions will benefit brands to bounce back faster.
Go for Geo-Targeting
Geo-targeting is the practice of customizing an advertisement for a product or service to a specific market based on the geographic location of potential buyers. A geographic target market relies on the physical location of a consumer's site of visiting to determine whether the consumer falls within the business's targeted group. The tourism sector implies reaching locals and travelers who prefer driving to their next destination instead of flying.
Digitize and streamline your contact center
As soon as the pandemic was announced, guests around the world started canceling their travels. Suddenly company contact centers faced unprecedented spikes in volume leading to average wait times for customers over two hours in the best scenario (or the worst); customer calls went unanswered. The solution was found in streamlining digital touchpoints within the call center to make it easier for customers to cancel and rebook via digital channels their vacation or business travel. The solution provided blended digital and call center teams with automatized natural language processing tools to analyze calls and optimize customer demands fluidly across channels.
In conclusion, the five steps above need to be taken in sequence to provide the best revenue effect. Once the company identifies the new market to get in, it can streamline the marketing technology and processes, generating the perfect message to the correct traveler at the right time. Moreover, setting up dynamic segmentation, lining up offers and promotions, and investing in direct-to-customer digital channels will help brands bounce back more quickly, going out from the crisis as soon as possible.