How to Participate in the Twitter Chat, Tourism Chat

TourismChatTwitter chats are still occurring today and happen when a group of people all tweet about the same topic using a specific hashtag (#tourismchat) that allows it to be followed on Twitter. The chats are usually at a specific time and repeat monthly at only the announced times. This post is to give you a quick overview on how to participate in the twitter chat, #tourismchat.

What is #tourismchat?

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Impact of NBA Playoff Games on a Community

NBAThe NBA playoffs have returned to Milwaukee and interest is through the roof for the Milwaukee Bucks right now. If you have been watching the Bucks this season you know this team is young, talented and very athletic, with the goal being championship caliber when new stadium is completed. The bucks returned home last night with the series tied at 1-1 with Toronto Raptors, they now lead the Raptors 2 games to 1, with game 4 in downtown Milwaukee on Saturday afternoon. All day yesterday you could feel a buzz in the city, even today after their resounding victory, you can feel the city alive. Tomorrow is going to be electric in downtown Milwaukee. But what is the impact of an NBA playoff game on a community? I did tweet to Visit Milwaukee but they did not have the numbers yet but when the NCAA March Madness games were in Milwaukee earlier this year, exceeded expectations and had a $6.6 million economic impact on Milwaukee. The impact a Bucks post-season run has on Milwaukee goes beyond financial.

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Key Strategies to Increase Your Destinations Music Tourism

Music TourismWhen I started in the tourism industry 10 years ago, at the first conference that I attended, I heard Bill Geist talk about music tourism. Throughout my years in the industry, I heard him talk about this topic numerous times. Music is a powerful means of connecting people. It bridges linguistic and cultural divides, and is a vehicle for identity and expression like no other. As a tourism marketer this seemed to resonate with me. I started to think about my own experiences with music and how it affected me when I work conferences. It really came to light when I attended a conference in Indianapolis and at night a lot of the attendees where at a dauling piano bar with a ton a locals on Thursday night, and the place was packed. It is widely known that music and travel go hand in hand with each other.

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Why I Value Experiences Over Things

Fisherman's Wharf San FranciscoI decided to take a break from writing about my marketing thoughts and mix it up a little bit and write about why should spend on experiences not things. As you know, travel is important to me. Not only because it’s the industry that I cut my marketing teeth in, but because when I was growing up, my memories are of my parents piling us in the care and taking us on trips around the country. It’s something that I will never forget and something that I want to give my family. We all work hard every day for our money. After we take care of our regular expenses we all wonder what to do with whatever we have remaining? Do we save for family getaway? Take our kids to a ballgame? Purchase the latest and greatest tech gadget? That’s the secret to our happiness, whatever we do with that extra that we have. The trouble that I have when I purchase things, is that the excitement fades and I have buyers remorse. But when I purchase an experience, that excitement stays with me for awhile.

Here is why I value experiences over things.

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5 Reasons Your Organization Should Blog (Regularly)

5 Reasons Your Organization Should Blog RegularlyThe longer I am on the agency side of things, the more often I witness marketers missing the boat with blogging, at least in the tourism industry. Granted, the majority of the websites I visit have a blog, it is then when I click on it, I notice that it hasn’t been updated in months, sometimes longer. Wait, what? One of the first things that I did when I started at Visit Lake County back in 2007 was launch a blog that was regularly updated. It was the back bone to my content strategy.

A blog doesn’t have to be 1,000 words or even 500 words every post. It can be several pictures with brief captions, videos, etc to tell the story of your brand. Many tourism organizations go on their local radio station to talk about upcoming events. I would think the person going on the radio would have their talking points about the events written down. BOOM! There is a blog post. Just like that. Already written, just put it on your website. For many execs who don’t “get it” when it comes to content marketing, their immediate response is, no way, we don’t have time. But for us marketers that have witnessed the power of a blogging regularly and a strong content strategy, the answer is; absolutely,  you should be blogging regularly.

Here are my 5 reasons your organization should blog regularly.

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How Tourism Organizations Can Use Virtual Reality

5 Ways DMOs Can Utilize Virtual Reality To Bring Travelers To Their DestinationVirtual Reality (VR) is an emerging technology platform that Destination Marketing Organizations (DMOs) must embrace as it continues to evolve the next few years. The biggest opportunity that VR will present to DMOs is inspiring meeting planners and helping consumers make decisions about where to travel. With the virtual reality market predicted to increase to nearly a billion units sold by 2020, now is the most opportune time to get on board with the VR and 360-degree video technology.

Tourism marketers everywhere have an opportunity to lead their destinations with cutting edge technology. The tourism industry is all about selling experiences; a feeling, a landscape, a vision of what spring break or family vacations should be. This has been done through compelling imagery and content, but now VR can bring the destination to the consumer before they even book their trip.

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