Why travel & tourism content marketing?
Travel & tourism content marketing may be an undervalued and poorly used element in the strategic marketing mix; particularly among destinations that want to increase the ‘quality’ and ‘yield’ of their visitors, and private-sector stakeholders who claim they don’t have the time or resources for it.
In this “Good Tourism” Insight, Zohreh Khosravi and David Gillbanks scratch the surface of what’s possible with target-oriented travel & tourism content marketing.
[You too can write a “GT” Insight.]
One of the least expensive and most effective methods for promoting travel & tourism destinations, attractions, and services is content marketing.
Why do we call it one of the least expensive methods?
We don’t intend to imply that content marketing is free of charge. Of course not; it’s how we (especially Zohreh) make our living, after all.
What we mean is that you must compare total cost against potential returns, and against other forms of marketing and promotion.
For example, compare the cost of the basics of content marketing …
- Starting accounts on (often free) social media (such as Facebook);
- Launching a blog on an open source CMS (such as WordPress) or self-publishing platform (Substack or similar);
- Creating content specifically for the target market you want for your destination or travel services; and
- Engaging a full- or part-time content marketing expert, SEO expert, social media expert, and advertising expert (or one person who can do it all) to manage it.
… against, say, renting one of those magnificent billboards in Tehran’s high street.
Paper catalogues are another form of content marketing, as are infomercials on TV and advertorials in print publications. However, not only do these traditional media continue to suffer from an inability to be properly tracked and analysed, they are also very much in decline in the face of digital and online media.
That’s why our focus on ‘travel & tourism content marketing’ in this “GT” Insight is in the context of the digital and online space. (In any case, we are in an age in which we can and should stop using paper for anything that we don’t need it for.)
Here are two scenarios in which travel & tourism content marketing should prove to be very valuable: Tourism destinations seeking high-yielding visitors and private-sector service providers who claim to have little time or too few resources.
Travel & tourism content marketing for destinations seeking ‘yield’
Destinations with limited budgets and/or a healthy respect for where their budgets originate (taxpayers, industry stakeholders, or otherwise), should make the comparison between the total cost of content marketing and other forms of marketing.
They will likely conclude that content marketing is one of the least expensive and most cost-effective ways that a tourism destination can achieve its objectives …
Especially if those objectives include attracting tourists with specific interests and needs that the destination can cater to and satisfy.
At a time when many destinations say they want to focus on ‘yield’ and ‘quality’ … continue reading this “Good Tourism” Insight at The “Good Tourism” Blog.
