TripAdvisor’s TripWow is a little over the top, but the idea of helping travelers create embeddable multimedia is a great one for the travelers.
The promise: Create a Slide Show that will make your friends go “Wow”.

The benefits for TripAdvisor – click throughs to TripAdvisor destination pages via keyword-laden hyperlinks to kickstart the travel planning process for TripWow slideshow viewers. Interestingly, the terms of use for the TripWow widget prohibit users from disassembling the widget and removing the keyword hyperlinks. The secondary benefit for TripAdvisor is some serious keyword SEO for TripAdvisor destination pages.

If growing traffic is your aim, make it easy for visitors to create and share media
If I was in the travel information archiving business (travel review sites, destination marketing organizations and travel associations), I’d forgo the development of my own platform and work with a company like Animoto to help folks create travel videos that more effectively focus on the photos of the traveler, with embedded music tracks.

A custom branded version of Animoto would create greater interest in your travel information site while adding a small revenue stream for Animoto, perhaps leading to the DMO, travel association or travel information site to pay for the higher resolution services of Animoto’s great travel promotion tool – making it free for travelers to create and share media promoting your website.

I’d also make sure that it was easy to geotag the photo sets and create a similar mapping graphic as shown in TripAdvisor’s TripWow tool part of the show. TripAdvisor’s map owes it’s inspiration to the likes of Indiana Jones, and the maps work well but frankly speaking, most of the other graphic elements of the video take attention away from the trip photos.

I am a fan of the social media tools that pop out from the right side of the videos. They make it easy to share the media by Twitter, Facebook and making the media easy to embed. The Video branding and destination keyword links are sure to drive serious page views for TripAdvisor.

TripWow’s bow is perhaps the inspiration you need to get into providing media production tools like this with a partner who has demonstrated expertise in creating Wow video that focuses on user generated photos and video. Page views are sure to follow.

As the summer tourism season gets nearer, and marketing campaigns move into high gear, we’re investing in online multimedia to carry our message to our ideal guests.  Maybe your DMO should be too!

This month, we’ve been purchasing studio equipment to put polish on our video and audio and produce our own in-house video. Not only that, but because we know how important it is to tourism industry, we’re helping tourism businesses in our region get the media they need to sell tourism on the Social, Mobile, Media Rich, Here and Now Internet before another Internet buying season moves into full swing.

Getting Great Media

Great Video, audio and photography doesn’t just happen, it takes planning and execution with the tools (hardware and software) and investment (time and money) to get it right.

Sadly, most tourism operators don’t have the money, knowledge or time to create top notch audio and video to promote their business. For those in the CVB, DMO or Meetings and Convention partnership business, now is the time to invest in media production capacity to help your members make the most of the Web.

Don’t have the knowledge to be able to pull it off yourselves, grow relationships with professional production organizations and help make it cost effective for operators to get the photography, videography and audio they need to make the most of the media opportunities they have on the Web.

A Membership Boost

Small businesses are counting on their membership organizations to help them make an impact with their marketing.  By investing in a social media studio and associated services you could help your regional members get a leg up and in the process make your organization more relevant and boost membership.

Note to DMO’s. CVB’s, and other associations. Keep an eye out for new media projects to be streaming forth from South River, Ontario, Canada real soon.  We’ll explain our whole crazy idea and the components necessary to make such a project come to life!

My conversation with David Janes @dpjanes (Discover Anywhere Mobile) asks the question:

Are a you Destination Marketing Organization or a Destination Make-them-spend-more-money-in-your-region Organization?

Download Podcast

In this 40 minute conversation, David and I cover a number of interesting content ideas for destination apps including:

• underestimating the growth of mobile
• understanding the needs of digital traveler
• the importance of finding the right partners
• marketing Web apps in a destination
• the importance of GPS location relevant data for the traveler
• the irrelevance of regional boundaries
• how Discover Anywhere Mobile does the work of integrating destination content into the app including: remapping the themes of experiences, events calendar, tracking changes (adding, modifying and deleting content for the host dmo) – so there is no need to upload your content to a content management system.
• why an app living on a device is more valuable than a Web app and why hosting data on the app is vital for minimizing data pull (roaming charges) for out of country users
• augmented reality
• integration of social media with real time communication from twitter users in the destination
• direct communication with the dmo from the app
• the importance of having Web Savvy staff at your DMO and partners in your community.
• issues and opportunities with making handheld payments from within an app.

Check out apps discussed in this podcast:

• Discover St. John’s app on the iTunes store
• Near Me BC app on the iTunes store

What do you think are the obstacles and opportunities of handheld applications for regional destination marketing organizations?

Successful Destination Marketing Organizations
Tourism businesses can succeed with the help of a strong destination marketing organization. At the core, a shared community vision about the values in a community are at the heart of any shared marketing project.

By bringing together traditional and non-traditional partners in tourism and getting the word out with a variety of online media the entire community benefits.

Stratford Ontario (WelcomeToStratford.com) is a DMO that offers great marketing opportunities to its membership. Telling compelling stories about your community is the role of your DMO or DMMO (Destination Marketing and Management Organization) and Stratford Tourism Alliance does it well by focusing on community character, culture and cuisine. I chatted with Cathy Rehberg, Marketing Coordinator for Stratford Tourism Alliance at the recent Ontario Tourism Summit.

Before you ask DMO members for money . . .

Does your community have a shared vision of what your community offers the traveler?  Before you ask you members for money, ask them to contribute to the vision of what makes a visit to your region special.  Invite members to a community forum so that your DMO can find success by tapping into the pulse and lifeblood of your community.

What makes your community unique?

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.

Hint for Tourism DMO and regional marketing organizations: use images from your region . . .

or you run the risk of significantly damaging your credibility.

When the province of Alberta spent over 20 Million dollars on their advertising campaign, they didn’t ensure that the media company chosen for the project would use images from within the province.

As a result, images of Northumberland Beach in the U.K. are being used to promote Canada’s heartland province.

Alberta, a province with an international image that is as scarred as the Tar Sands that drive much of its economy has its image tarnished even further by this marketing strategy that clearly lacks of credibility.

What kind of a message does it send travel consumers when you don’t even use pictures from your own destination in your marketing materials?

Note to Marketing Agencies and Destination Marketing organizations about credibility:

Use images, video that best represent people enjoying time, events, attractions and landscapes within your region. In this Creative Commons era, it is important to spell out the requirement to “use only local images” in contracts with marketing agencies who are contracted to promote and market your region.

The story in the U.K.

• http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/apr/25/ottawa-northumberland-advert
• BBC News reports on Northumberland Beach in Canada

Report from Pew Internet & American Life Project says 11% of American Web users are using status updates like Twitter in December ’08. That’s up 2% from November 08′. If Twitter use continues to rise at just 1%/month, 33% of Internet users will be using Twitter within two years. My guess is that handheld twitter use will be even higher!

And since 91% of cell phone users keep their phone within arms reach 24/7, doesn’t it make sense that travelers will want to get travel advice using this device – while in your region? (source – Mary Meeker Web2Summit 08′)

So, isn’t it time your tourism region put together a strategic plan to use twitter to help visitors to your region?

A new site TwisitorCenter.com invites travel regions to put their location on the Twitter Map and respond to the call. Portland OR. was first up, and they have a plan for the Portland Twisitor Center. Looking for ideas for your region? View the video below from Portland or check out this post featuring more than 15 ideas on how to make the most of Twitter in your community.

Interesting questions and opportunities spring to mind:

• how will you staff your twitter account?
• how will you promote your regions #hashtag (in the offline world)
• how quickly will you respond to inquiries and during what hours?
• how will you compensate twitter team members?
• how can you engage local businesses? (sponsored tweets? – come on there’s money to be made here)
• how can you integrate twitter with SMS and call centre inquiries?
• how can twitter be used as a followup tool to connect with travelers when they go home? (think CRM)

Lots to think about, but lots of opportunity awaits.

Some of the best ways your community can boost tourism interest from Twitter, can only be achieved by the regional marketing association leading the way. As a direct benefit, you will enhance your reputation among members when the services you provide make a difference to member businesses.

15 ways your travel association or DMO can use Twitter

Enhance your relationship with your tourism member businesses by generating buzz.

1. Make sure you to use Twitter Clients that help you see what’s going on. Twhirl and Tweetdeck are good places to start on your computer. As for iPhone, I’ve been recommending the free Twitterfon. Each can show your twitter stream in friends, @messages and direct messages. So you can forgo the email notification of dm’s and not miss a thing.
2. Monitor the Twitterverse: Use a tool like Tweetscan or a search panel to track people who are planning to visit your destination. Monitor regional place names, parks, attractions and nearby travel icon words. Be ready with a helpful follow or information to help these twitter travelers.
3. Use Nearby Tweets to track local tweets within a defined geographic boundary.
4. If you have multiple staff using Twitter for your CVB, consider using a short hash tag ie: #cvb on each of your tweets. Encourage visitors to your region to use the hash tag and monitor it, in addition to a dedicated address.
5. Promote your Twitter ID and/or Hashtag on your Website or Blog and in signature lines for email. Encourage travelers to your region to use it.
6. Suggest member services: local attractions, restaurants, accommodations. Provide links to their Web sites and member twitter id’s. Businesses will appreciate the fact that you are sending visitors their way.
7. Host Tweetups with your members. Informal gatherings to develop Twitter strategies for your community or DMO.
8. Follow your members and people in your community. Keep in touch with direct messages to CVB members in one felled swoop using tool like GroupTweet.
9. Recommend members services to local Twitter visitors. Suggestion from @springfieldCVB
   
10. Retweet member tweets, like @Go2HR BC’s Hospitality HR organization did for @OpusHotel.
11. Find Twits to hire help with your Internet Marketing projects by posting jobs on Twitter.
12. Use a separate Twitter account for research. Follow other regional travel organizations and stay tuned to professional development opportunities. Get help from others using a non-regional branded twitter account.
13. Tweet local and Tweet timely. Keep a local focus. My best bet is that Twitter isn’t going to bring visitors from afar. Remember travelers to your region are likely to tune in shortly before their visit or while in your area. Keep a local and timely focus to your tweets. Develop an editorial calendar to your Tweets and tweet local events with different types of info a few weeks prior to events, right up to and including the actual event and followups.
14. Post prominent signs in travel centers and throughout your community letting folks know your Twitter ID. and that you are there to help. Develop a schedule to monitor twitter traffic like you would your phone during peak travel season.
15. Use your Twitter ID when you comment on blogs. Try it out, when you post a response to this post, consider using your Twitter id as the linking Website.

Is your community innovating and trying out new strategies using Twitter? Contribute your ideas to the mix.