Ongoing List of Social Marketing Efforts from Vacation Destinations, Convention, and Tourism Bureaus

Oahu Sunrise: North Shore
Above: A photo I took on a recent trip to North Shore Oahu, inline with my plans to fulfill operation bluewater.

Recent data around interactive marketing spend indicates that the hospitality industry was ripe for spending on social marketing above all other industries.  Why?  This form of consumer marketing could be dependent on the human emotion and story telling between individuals, or through compelling word of mouth marketing campaigns.

As a result, Christine Tran, Altimeter Researcher and myself are kicking off this list, and encourage you to add  examples by leaving a comment.  The scope for this is list is a tourist destination –not a hotel, airline, or specific restaurant.

If you’ve got examples, please leave a comment below, with a description and URL, we’ll add.

98 Replies to “Ongoing List of Social Marketing Efforts from Vacation Destinations, Convention, and Tourism Bureaus”

  1. Did you see what the state of PA is doing? For Groundhog's day, you text “groundhog” to a specific text number and they will text you back the groundhog's prediction. When you send the text, you get a confirmation; when you confirm you get the offer to text them your email and they will send you tourist info on the state. http://visitpa.com/things-to-do/see-more-pa/gro… Nicely executed campaign

  2. Did you see what the state of PA is doing? For Groundhog's day, you text “groundhog” to a specific text number and they will text you back the groundhog's prediction. When you send the text, you get a confirmation; when you confirm you get the offer to text them your email and they will send you tourist info on the state. http://visitpa.com/things-to-do/see-more-pa/gro… Nicely executed campaign

  3. I've been following the “Path to Vermont” campaign (http://www.pathtovermont.com/) for the past few months, and I've been really impressed. The site has photo and video sharing, is on Twitter, Facebook, and have tied in appearances at Boston's North and South Stations during rush hour to spread the word. The combination of the VT Tourism Bureau, Ski Vermont, and Cabot Cheese has been wonderful– the giveaways are fun and actually usable (lift tickets, reusable grocery bags, coupons for cheese). Well done!

  4. I've been following the “Path to Vermont” campaign (http://www.pathtovermont.com/) for the past few months, and I've been really impressed. The site has photo and video sharing, is on Twitter, Facebook, and have tied in appearances at Boston's North and South Stations during rush hour to spread the word. The combination of the VT Tourism Bureau, Ski Vermont, and Cabot Cheese has been wonderful– the giveaways are fun and actually usable (lift tickets, reusable grocery bags, coupons for cheese). Well done!

  7. A new type of storytelling and place for travel writing is emerging from social media. Worth watching as professional writers are displaced from news agencies and fees for magazine article plummet….

  8. A new type of storytelling and place for travel writing is emerging from social media. Worth watching as professional writers are displaced from news agencies and fees for magazine article plummet….

  9. Baltimore has been deeply invested in Social Media for several years now. Here's a link to an article I wrote about our philosophy/strategy: http://bit.ly/631IIx. Twitter is our weapon of choice, but we also leverage the expertise of our residents by getting them to contribute videos, photos and tweets via feeds from their YouTube, Vimeo, Flickr, Picasa, and Twitter accounts. They are all aggregated into a single searchable site called http://VisitMyBaltimore.com

  10. Baltimore has been deeply invested in Social Media for several years now. Here's a link to an article I wrote about our philosophy/strategy: http://bit.ly/631IIx. Twitter is our weapon of choice, but we also leverage the expertise of our residents by getting them to contribute videos, photos and tweets via feeds from their YouTube, Vimeo, Flickr, Picasa, and Twitter accounts. They are all aggregated into a single searchable site called http://VisitMyBaltimore.com

  13. Stop using the term “social marketing.” It already belongs specifically to an established and important discipline. It's confusing, and also somewhat insulting.

  14. Stop using the term “social marketing.” It already belongs specifically to an established and important discipline. It's confusing, and also somewhat insulting.

  15. Pure Michigan has done a great job with their social media efforts. They have a Facebook Fan Page with over 25,000 fans that they engage constantly with, a Twitter following of more than 3,000 that tweets out helpful, engaging content, and interacts well with followers, and a blog that provides real, helpful, engaging, and fun content. They make it a point to keep the focus on their fans/followers on all of their platforms, and even invite and encourage them to contribute in various forms (tweets, Facebook posts, and a ton of guest blogger content). I can't think of a travel brand that handles social media better than them.

  16. Pure Michigan has done a great job with their social media efforts. They have a Facebook Fan Page with over 25,000 fans that they engage constantly with, a Twitter following of more than 3,000 that tweets out helpful, engaging content, and interacts well with followers, and a blog that provides real, helpful, engaging, and fun content. They make it a point to keep the focus on their fans/followers on all of their platforms, and even invite and encourage them to contribute in various forms (tweets, Facebook posts, and a ton of guest blogger content). I can't think of a travel brand that handles social media better than them.

  17. Glad you put this post up Jeremiah:) I have a few tid bits to share.

    As part of Tourism British Columbia Marketing/Online team, we™ve been using/experimenting with social media for the past few years. And with the 2010 Winter Olympics just a month away, we've ensured that social media was integrated within all our campaigns.

    Here's a list of what we've done in the social media space (we've done a lot so I hope you don't mind the lengthy post):

    1) Join social networks: Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, YouTube.

    2) Facebook – we created our hellobc.com fan page, which doesn't have a large number of fans but we do participate in other fan pages such as the British Columbia and 2010 Winter Olympics, which have a large fan base and was created before ours. We also created a facebook app but it lacked the viral aspect and we shut it down.

    3) Flickr: We did a photo contest via Flickr a few years ago. Ever since then we've integrated the Flickr API to our Hellobc.com/blogs so that when users post a blog and inserts an image their photo gets uploaded onto our Flickr account.

    4) Twitter: we've recently started our twitter exclusive contest, the prize is a trip to Vancouver, British Columbia and tickets to an Olympic event – http://www.twitter.com/tourismbc

    5) YouTube: This is where we've done the most work. We've created two styles of online videos which are mostly housed within our http://www.YouTube.com/tourismbc channel. They are Docos and Field Reports. We categorize these videos as our conversation catalyst within our social media plan.

    Docos are highly produced video segments which highlight what the province has to offer. The doco videos range from destination to activity specific topics. Here's a playlist of our docos – http://www.youtube.com/user/TourismBC#grid/user…

    Field Report videos have less production value and are basically a one person show. The field reporter must be able to host, shoot and edit their videos. We wanted a raw, user generated style to the videos. We initially started this project as a pilot but now its become a full time program, which ultimately lead to the opportunity to cover the torch relay w/ Coke (http://www.youtube.com/2010torch) and VANOC. Learn more about Field Reporter project here http://www.josegee.com/2010/01/tourism-british-…

    To top it off we™ve also created an iPhone App (http://www.hellobc.com/en-CA/SightsActivitiesEv…) for visitors who come here during/after the Olympics and we™ll be doing a facebook contest (still in the works).

    As a DMO we've found using social media within our campaigns to be a huge success not only in generating awareness for our province but creating confidence and buy in within our stakeholders (regions/community DMO's and industry). But we™re still learning and evolving. The tricky part now it trying to monitor and measure our results/sentiment within the social space. We™re currently looking at a few vendors, if you have any suggestion on the tools you use please let me know.

  20. We're using travel to help you deepen your online connections. Social Fresh Cruise (#SoCruise) is just one example of how we are using a cruise vacations to strengthen your social network. Cruising is the most Social Form of Vacationing and a great way to become better connected with those who share a similar passion whether that is Social Media, Yoga, Bridge, or even Rick Springfield…

    Rich Tucker – CruiseSource.us – @cruisesource

  21. We're using travel to help you deepen your online connections. Social Fresh Cruise (#SoCruise) is just one example of how we are using a cruise vacations to strengthen your social network. Cruising is the most Social Form of Vacationing and a great way to become better connected with those who share a similar passion whether that is Social Media, Yoga, Bridge, or even Rick Springfield…

    Rich Tucker – CruiseSource.us – @cruisesource

  26. At Tourism BC, we've partnered w/ Coke, CTC and VANOC and are following the 2010 Olympic Torch Relay and posting the journey on YouTube.com/2010torch. We'll be posting daily videos once it comes back to Vancouver, BC.

  30. In this era of competition every body wants to lead upon its competitors.They use every possible resources to capture the customers,make it feasible to get it i-e online booking.Social networks play an important role in advertising.

  35. It's very interesting to see social media integrated into larger marketing programs. While there are certainly exceptions to the rule, it appears that the new success model emerging is :

    advertising-> web-> user-generated content (text, pics, video, whatever)-> sharing on social networks -> momentum -> press

    Pure Michigan (http://www.createwanderlust.com/pure-destinatio…) and Queensland's The Best Job In The World (http://www.createwanderlust.com/social-media-or…) are both great examples of this.

  36. It's very interesting to see social media integrated into larger marketing programs. While there are certainly exceptions to the rule, it appears that the new success model emerging is :

    advertising-> web-> user-generated content (text, pics, video, whatever)-> sharing on social networks -> momentum -> press

    Pure Michigan (http://www.createwanderlust.com/pure-destinatio…) and Queensland's The Best Job In The World (http://www.createwanderlust.com/social-media-or…) are both great examples of this.

  37. Thanks AMcCartney! It's Gisele with the Canadian Tourism Commission here. We've made a big push into the social media space around the world in the past year. We've posted dozens of videos on our YouTube channel. Our main Keep Exploring Facebook page has attracted thousands of fans and we™ve also had a great response on Facebook to our Locals Know quiz, which was part of the national domestic advertising campaign. We have various CTC Twitter accounts, including one for the media (@ctccct). These efforts resulted in CTC winning in 2009 for the first time ever Marketer of the Year by Marketing magazine in Canada.

  38. Thanks AMcCartney! It's Gisele with the Canadian Tourism Commission here. We've made a big push into the social media space around the world in the past year. We've posted dozens of videos on our YouTube channel. Our main Keep Exploring Facebook page has attracted thousands of fans and we™ve also had a great response on Facebook to our Locals Know quiz, which was part of the national domestic advertising campaign. We have various CTC Twitter accounts, including one for the media (@ctccct). These efforts resulted in CTC winning in 2009 for the first time ever Marketer of the Year by Marketing magazine in Canada.

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  46. Ski resorts have recognized this for awhile (in social media time). One example, maybe not the best, definitely indicative: http://www.visitsunvalley.com/

    A broad social media architecture (text, vids, pics) lets mountains stay close to the skiers who love them, once they're back in Brooklyn or wherever. Also helps solves a problem shared by all seasonal attractions (from ballet companies to regional alt bands): staying top of mind when out of season or out of town. No surprise that attractions with relatively young bases (ski mountains, bands) have recognized this while those with older patrons (ballet, opera) have not.

  47. Ski resorts have recognized this for awhile (in social media time). One example, maybe not the best, definitely indicative: http://www.visitsunvalley.com/

    A broad social media architecture (text, vids, pics) lets mountains stay close to the skiers who love them, once they're back in Brooklyn or wherever. Also helps solves a problem shared by all seasonal attractions (from ballet companies to regional alt bands): staying top of mind when out of season or out of town. No surprise that attractions with relatively young bases (ski mountains, bands) have recognized this while those with older patrons (ballet, opera) have not.

  52. Aloha,

    My home is in the Chicago area while my heart is in Hawaii. We are fortunate to travel to the islands several times a year. Our goal is to increase the duration of our stay from our current 30 days a year. Thanks for highlighting social marketing initiatives in the tourism industry. I enjoy sharing my enthusiasm for the people, culture and climate.

    I write for 808Talk Insiders Guide to Hawaii travel website http://www.808talk.com. My author page is http://www.808talk.com/author/amwilliams .

    Hawaii is a favorite topic on my blog http://aprilmwilliams.wordpress.com/?s=hawaii . I have a Hawaii video channel on YouTube
    http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=8A0E9AB…

    Ohana Tours just contacted me to write articles on local places for their site at http://www.ohanatours.org/.

    Thanks again for sharing your perspectives. I enjoy reading and learn from each of your posts.
    April M. Williams

  53. Greetings from Austria. Here you can find Xohana (http://www.xohana.com/en/), a recently launched platform that uses semantics to help customers better articulate their needs and demands. “You want particular quality of life on vacation? Xohana helps you figure out what you need and then compare appropriate offers.

  54. Greetings from Austria. Here you can find Xohana (http://www.xohana.com/en/), a recently launched platform that uses semantics to help customers better articulate their needs and demands. “You want particular quality of life on vacation? Xohana helps you figure out what you need and then compare appropriate offers.

  57. During the spring of ™09 we here at Seismonaut in Denmark ran a contest to find the forerunners in digital tourism (http://www.48hoursindenmark.com). Digital natives were invited to apply for an all paid 48 hours in denmark (The 3 winners recieved a free trip for two to Aarhus, Denmark, with travel, hotel stay, food and entertainment expenses paid.) by submitting a youtube video sharing how they use digital media when travelling.

    In exchange, they were expected to blog, Twitter, lifestream, use Flickr and generally put to work whatever technologies they choose to document their travels. In addition to providing us with an insight into the habits and expectations of digitally proficient tourists, the 48 Hours in Denmark contest also highlighted emerging new way to promote tourism.

  58. During the spring of ™09 we here at Seismonaut in Denmark ran a contest to find the forerunners in digital tourism (http://www.48hoursindenmark.com). Digital natives were invited to apply for an all paid 48 hours in denmark (The 3 winners recieved a free trip for two to Aarhus, Denmark, with travel, hotel stay, food and entertainment expenses paid.) by submitting a youtube video sharing how they use digital media when travelling.

    In exchange, they were expected to blog, Twitter, lifestream, use Flickr and generally put to work whatever technologies they choose to document their travels. In addition to providing us with an insight into the habits and expectations of digitally proficient tourists, the 48 Hours in Denmark contest also highlighted emerging new way to promote tourism.

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  65. Some good stuff here! I don't see as many examples of CVB/DMO sites that have truly integrated social media content (i.e. social curation) into their core site experience. Most of the examples are campaign-related (still very good), or a Facebook page/Twitter account combo. Would love to see some examples of social curation in addition to well-planned, integrated efforts across different social media. Thanks for providing the list and I look forward to the updates!

  66. Some good stuff here! I don't see as many examples of CVB/DMO sites that have truly integrated social media content (i.e. social curation) into their core site experience. Most of the examples are campaign-related (still very good), or a Facebook page/Twitter account combo. Would love to see some examples of social curation in addition to well-planned, integrated efforts across different social media. Thanks for providing the list and I look forward to the updates!

  67. Some good stuff here! I don't see as many examples of CVB/DMO sites that have truly integrated social media content (i.e. social curation) into their core site experience. Most of the examples are campaign-related (still very good), or a Facebook page/Twitter account combo. Would love to see some examples of social curation in addition to well-planned, integrated efforts across different social media. Thanks for providing the list and I look forward to the updates!

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  71. Hi Jeremiah,

    Bryan Person sent me this link awhile ago and I'm just now getting a chance to take a look at your post. Thanks so much for highlighting the various efforts by tourism organizations to effectively use the social Web to tell the stories of their destination/attraction.

    At Tourism Currents we've often found that the “smaller,” lesser-known towns and regions – @FargoMoorhead, @WyomingTourism and @VisitGalena are three examples – hustle a lot harder than many of the “big guys.” This is marketing territory that requires vibrancy and personality, not spewing brochure pabulum through social media channels. The little guy can dominate online, big time.

    Thanks again for your post.

  77. Social media is just a better and more live newsletter. I'm loving all the social media coming from he user, and one just has to build up that initial user base and you're set. Dell managed to drive over a million in sales just from Twitter a couple quarters back..amazing!

  81. I love this blog, the Miami tourist make the beauty of nature to promote the domestic and foreign tourists through a very pretty picture, it says to this environment we are living very beautiful and clean. Main beauty has attracted thousands of visitors to Miami each year. But there are still a few places have been polluted, so by the actions and consciousness of people together to protect our environment. I love to travel, through the information on your country I will go this summer vacation. Thank you very much.

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  83. Hi Jeremiah,

    There’s Sri Lanka (www.visitsrilanka-2011.com). They have a social media integrated microsite, twitter account, flickr and youtube accounts as well as a few more mini campaigns on FB

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  97. Thanks for the information you shared as i was not at all familiar with the stuff. I am glad i visited here and came to know how  social marketing efforts from vacation.

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