Twitter 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?
#Tourismchat 
is monthly chat for anyone that works in the tourism industry. The chat has been happening since 2010 when it was a weekly chat. It is now a monthly chat that happens on Thursdays during the day, sometimes there have been nightly chats. Each month a different topic is discussed in a question and answer format, with topics ranging from video marketing, group tours, marketing, and meetings. The @tourismchat account posts the chat questions and resources. A guest host will be using their own twitter account and is that topics expert or thought leader and provide their answers to the questions. As well as answer any questions on the topic from the chat participants. Chat participants will also be answering the questions with their knowledge and experience. The chats last about an hour and if you miss the chat, don’t worry and recap is tweeted out so you can catch all the information afterwards. You can follow the #tourismchat Facebook page and subscribe to each chat event for Facebook reminders.
Who should participate tourismchat?
Anyone that works in the tourism industry should participate in these industry chats. I have participated since the the beginning of these chats. Participants can include Executive Director / President, Marketing and Sales persons at Convention and Visitor Bureaus, Hotel marketing and sales staff, tourism vendor agencies, tourism attractions, and anyone else who works in the tourism industry.
Why should you participate? What are the benefits?
When #tourismchat first started it was a great way to meet other destination marketers across the country. I have met more people in the tourism industry through Twitter and the chat, and become good friends with them before even meeting them in person. It is also a fantastic way to network with colleagues and learn from other tourism folks without attending a conference or from smart folks who are not on the speaking circuit. Participating in #tourismchat provides many personal and professional benefits. Personally you can make lifelong friends, expand your horizons and grow personally. Professionally, you will learn more about the industry, increase your knowledge, learn a tip or two that you can implement in your office (which the boss will love), grow your network, become an industry expert, and create brand awareness for your destination.
How do you participate in tourismchat?
The first step is make sure you have a twitter profile. When you participate in a twitter chat, you want to participate with your own personal account and not with your destination or business account. The followers of your destination account, probably do not care about the knowledge that you are learning new marketing techniques. That is just my opinion. You then want to be sure to follow the chat account, @tourismchat, the chat hosts, guests, and browse the hashtag for previous chats to see who else may interest you.
To listen and follow along during the chat, simply click on the hashtag to see all of the recent tweets around the hashtag. If you try to follow the chat from your own timeline on Twitter, you could quickly lose the thread of the conversation. Fortunately there are a number of sites that allow you to follow the chat only and participate more easily, such as Tweetchat, Twubs, Hootsuite just to name a few.
The chat starts out with people introducing themselves. Then @tourismchat will ask a question and those questions will start with Q1, Q2, Q3, etc. When you are participating, make sure you answer the questions with A1, A2, A3, etc and use the hashtag in each response / Tweet. Be sure to engage with other chat participants. Don’t worry if you don’t have anything to say during the chat, just sit back, listen and learn, you will probably pick up once piece of information to utilize in your own marketing.
TourismChat is a great time and allows you to engage with destination marketers from across the world. We look forward to you joining the conversation. The #tourismchat team includes founder @WhosYourAnnie plus @ToshaTD @lblyons @mikerobso @anthony_haag @pagetx & @TourismCurrents.
Reminder: You can follow the #tourismchat Facebook page and subscribe to each chat event for Facebook reminders.
