“People who may never have considered traveling to Kerala were suddenly tweeting about it, adding it to their holiday plans, and even those who may never journey there were telling their friends about their experience,” Donna says. Category growth is difficult to achieve. Providing a differentiated experience through content can give businesses (both large and small) an edge in a local market; but even that may not be enough if the benefits don’t translate to scalable growth against the Goliaths of this industry. The Deloitte industry outlook report also points out an additional complication: A travel customer can pull a Jekyll-and-Hyde act on their go-to service providers when planning for different types of trips. Content-based opportunities Despite the significant challenges travel and tourism marketers must overcome, they have plenty of attributes that work in their favor when it comes to creating content – not the least of which is the potential to put a world of travel experiences at the consumer’s fingertips. The attention earned by sharing inspiring ideas and enabling the audience to personalize the content can really give your business an edge when those engaged consumers are ready to make a purchase. This is an area where content like interactive trip configurators, virtual tours, and VR experiences can help your business really shine. Example: Qantas VR app – The official airline of Australia created a virtual-reality-enhanced app that provides potential visitors with 360-degree video tours of more than 13 tourism experiences they won’t find anywhere else on earth. Create content they can use to facilitate a smoother planning process and your brand may earn the kind of appreciation that leads to more favorable online reviews, more fervent brand evangelism, and more repeat bookings. Want more insights, ideas, and examples on how travel and tourism companies can leverage content marketing to their best advantage.
I’ve heard there are people out there who truly believe that “getting there is half the fun.” I, on the other hand, feel that when it comes to traveling, everything that happens between my initial decision to leave my house and my lying on a beach chair with a fruity drink in my hand is just stress-inducing static and delayed gratification.
To reduce the friction I’m likely to experience at any step of my journey, I rely pretty heavily on online travel advice (from both the pros and amateurs). And, judging from the sheer number of businesses that cater to the ever-expanding online travel and tourism category, I’m certainly not alone.
Such is the power of the role that travel and tourism marketers play in the lives of their customers. With so many different touchpoints to engage with, so many ways to facilitate and enhance the travel experience, and so many pain points to help customers overcome, this field offers tremendous opportunities to create content-based connections, build trust, and add value for intrepid world explorers, road-weary business travelers, and everyone in between.
Of course, travel industry marketing isn’t just about posting picturesque snapshots and telling tales of how to have fun in the sun. There are some significant challenges when it comes to successful storytelling in this space, not to mention plenty of competition. From huge hotel chains, to boutique B&Bs, and B2B service providers to the beach-going masses themselves, it seems everyone has some travel advice to share online – and it’s not always clear whose is the most accurate, trustworthy, or useful. Professional travel business marketers need to go the extra mile when it comes to creating content that distinguishes their expertise and earns bookings, not just “lookings.”
The wealth of channels makes budget prioritization difficult: According to Neal Tornopsky, associate publisher, digital, at Northstar Travel Group, one of the major challenges travel and tourism marketers face is how to allocate budget and resources against the many channels of travel.
Travel information is ubiquitous on the web, and the audience is just as likely to seek it for a little armchair-escapism session as they are for an impending trip. It’s difficult for travel brands to determine where to prioritize their content distribution to make sure they are earning the attention of in-market consumers, not just those who are taking flights of fancy.
Adding further complexity is that travel brands are eager to explore the potential of emerging content formats and channels, like virtual reality, to stay in step with consumer trends and interests. “While traditional ads remain a key piece of the puzzle, there is a great need to communicate with the audience on a deeper level,” Neal says. “Content that allows (the audience) to experience a product can be very exciting, which is why so many (B2B marketers) are excited for what VR is expected to bring.”
This eagerness to experiment also speaks to the pressing need for businesses in this sector to stay in step with their customers’ media preferences and trends. Ultimately, it is this driving force that may finally loosen travel marketers’ reliance on traditional advertising – a trend that likely will extend to businesses that deal directly with travelers. In fact, social media strategist Donna Moritz already sees international tourism authorities taking advantage of VR’s potential to engage, immerse, and convert curious consumers into repeat visitors.
For example, Kerala Tourism in India set up VR experiences in airports to encourage people to experience the feeling of cruising in a Kettuvallum houseboat (thatched roof with wooden hull). “People who may never have considered traveling to Kerala were suddenly tweeting about it, adding it to their holiday plans, and even those who may never journey there were telling their friends about their experience,” Donna says.
Category growth is difficult to achieve. In such a noisy space, stealing audience mindshare is difficult enough when you are a huge online travel agency like Travelocity or Priceline, let alone a regional boutique hotel or independently operated B&B that must compete with these services for the same reservations. Providing a differentiated experience through content can give businesses (both large and small) an edge in a local market; but even that may not be enough if the benefits don’t translate to scalable growth against the Goliaths of this industry.
While it can be tough for travel brands to gain ground within their own category, content can open doors to scaling across the travel industry. As Deloitte’s 2017 industry outlook report points out, travel is fragmented across many micro experiences. The secret to growth may lie in conceptualizing your brand as a content platform that enhances the customer’s entire travel experience – particularly in areas that go beyond the services your own business provides.
This strategy is also well-suited for the B2B side of travel and hospitality. For example, Neal points to a thought leadership piece recently published by Travel Weekly to educate its travel agent audience on ways to take advantage of the luxury rental market – an area that sharing economy services like Airbnb and VRBO previously edged them out of.
The sales funnel isn’t fixed, and neither is pricing: Unlike markets where the consideration process is more or less universal for all…
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