From the monthly archives:

July 2009

What is the Value of Video Like This to a DMO?

by Todd Lucier on July 30, 2009

The Quest

In Newfoundland and Labrador, two of the things that travelers like to experience are icebergs and whales. Getting a photo of both together . . . well that could be a lifelong photographer’s quest and a Destination Marketing Organization’s dream.

This past weekend, my daughter Natalie got this photo of a Humpback Whale and Iceberg at Battle Harbour, NL.

Value of User Generated Content

With thousands of visitors pointing cameras at your destination, there is a much greater chance of getting the photography and video that sells the benefits of your region by looking at content created by your visitors.

This past weekend (on her spare time), Natalie and her boyfriend, Shaun McLeod headed off to Battle Harbour to see if there were any whales to be photographed. To our shared delight and amazement, Natalie and Shaun captured some of the best footage of whales I’ve ever seen including the video below!

NatalieLucier.com/WhaleVideo

As Natalie excitedly shared recently on Twitter and Facebook, the Youtube Video was featured on the National CBC News in Canada:

Next, Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism emailed to request that she blog about her experience and requested permission to feature the video on NewfoundlandandLabrador.com. Not surprisingly, the DMO is interested in getting full Rights to the whale video so they can cut and edit it and use it for advertising.

What’s it Worth?

Destination marketing organizations coming across video or photography that could be used to promote and market their region need to give serious consideration to the value of such content.

A few things that should come into the equation:

  • How compelling is the experience in the video – does it convey the idea that I could be there too?
  • How rare is the video or photo – are there others like it?
  • Does it capture emotion?
  • If you sent a photographer or videographer out to get the footage, could they reproduce it easily?
  • How much would it cost to send a professional out to get the footage?
  • Do you have exclusive rights to the raw footage so that you can use it in a variety of formats and integrate it with existing media?
  • Does editing and branding the video with your brand benefit your organization more than just using the free embedded youtube version of the video
  • How much does your organization currently pay for professionally produced media?
  • How much did the content producer invest in equipment, time, travel, planning to get the content?
  • What is the content worth to your DMO members? Will it result in new visits to your region?

So – What do you think the video is worth?

Links:

Folks who have attended Tourism Keys workshops or community Internet Marketing training might remember my daughter Natalie who has been working at Gros Morne National Park for the past year working on Web Marketing and new media projects.

Natalie shares her personal video and photography on NatalieLucier.com, a travel blog site and her Facebook Page.

btw, Natalie took the job in NFLD in part because of the opportunity to be close to whales! I’d say, she got pretty close.

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Canadian Tourism Industry Suffers another Blow

by Todd Lucier on July 14, 2009

Today, Canada announced a tightening of the border with Mexico. Effective immediately tourists traveling from Mexico must hold a visa. The move by the Canadian Immigration minister , Jason Kenney late Monday, will be felt most acutely by the Canadian Tourism Industry. Visas were also re-applied to citizens entering Canada from the Czech Republic. Both decisions were based on a growing number of refugee claims.

Mexican tourism visits to Canada grew a healthy 8% in 2008. As Canada’s 5th largest source of International travelers to Canada this is a market that is significant. The move threatens to shut the taps on visits that are already planned for this summer. A 48-hour grace period for Mexicans with imminent travel expires at 10 p.m. ET Tuesday. After that, all bets are off.

“What really hurts about this is that there’s was no warning at all … and all of a sudden, basically the day the doors were supposed to open on the beginning of the peak season, they’re being shut in our face a little bit,” said Hume Rogers, of Ottawa’s Capital Hotel and Suites.

Rogers had 25 rooms booked for 10 days this month with a Mexican tour group.

The Canadian government chose early July to immediately enforce the new Visa measures, another dagger in the coffin of Canadian Tourism operators already suffering significantly from the economic slump and other tourism crises, not the least of which just came in effect June 1, 2009 in the United States. The Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative requires all US citizens to present passports or the equivalent document upon returning to the US for the first time ever. A 2005 survey of US border crossers showed just 35% of US border crossers to Canada had such documentation.

As a representative of the Canadian Tourism Industry, I am calling on the Conservative government to delay the visa requirement until year end, to allow our industry to cope with the change.

How do you feel? Call Stephen Harper’s office directly and voice your concern. Prime Minister’s office: 613-992-4211

Links:

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Facebook Fan Boxes bring Social Networking to your Site

July 8, 2009

To say I’m excited about Facebook Fan pages would be the understatement of the year. Ever since Google extended social networking to your Web page with Google Profiles and Google Connect I’ve been waiting for Facebook’s response. Finally, Facebook goes beyond the Walls It’s taken a while, but by using Facebook Fan Boxes (Embeddable Facebook [...]

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Give credit or risk harm to your brand

July 8, 2009

I just read an interesting post about Chris Anderson’s new book Free, the Future of a Radical Price. This article gives a number of text passages that were lifted from Wikipedia and published in the book without citation. This isn’t the first time we’ve discussed the idea of harming your credibility by using improper content [...]

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