Tag: tourism marketing

Kiama, a beautiful destination near Sydney, Australia with a comprehensive storytelling and destination marketing plan.

In the dynamic landscape of 21st-century tourism, the forces of climate change, social media, and a major post-pandemic travel resurgence are shaping the industry. As such, the significance of storytelling in sustainable destination and tourism marketing has never been greater.

The art of storytelling now stands as a pivotal tool in captivating the hearts and minds of travelers. Every destination harbors a unique narrative, yet not all have mastered the art of narrating it effectively. To craft a compelling marketing campaign for your tourism offerings, one must delve into the profound craft of storytelling marketing.

What is storytelling in sustainable destination and tourism marketing?

At Solimar International, we have elevated storytelling to an art form and a passion. With a global portfolio of projects, we are dedicated to developing, managing, and promoting sustainable tourism destinations.

Our approach transcends conventional content marketing, forging emotional connections that bind audiences to the destination. It involves crafting a narrative that weaves together the destination’s history, culture, and community through engaging anecdotes and stories that resonate with travelers.

A destination rich in compelling stories stands poised to reap the rewards of increased footfall, expenditure, and profitability. The challenge, however, lies in the fact that many Destination Management Organizations (DMOs) excel in content marketing and optimizing the marketing mix. However, they often overlook this deeper connection.

Technical aspects like segmentation and search engine optimization are important, but they work even better when combined with storytelling techniques.

To make a successful tourism content marketing campaign, remember these four essential elements of storytelling skills:

  • Creation and maintenance of a consistent narrative and brand.
  • Illumination of knowledge that fosters interest, reliability, and relatability to the destination.
  • Celebration of distinctiveness and noteworthiness of the destination.
  • Brand connection from the heart and engagement through emotion.

Creation and maintenance of a consistent narrative and brand.

A place needs a clear brand and identity that stays consistent across all aspects of marketing. Marketing messages should consistently communicate the destination brand through memorable points of discussion, such as personal or collective stories. These stories promote the destination brand on a deeper level, creating greater engagement, reputation, and conversion.

Sustainable tourism marketing strategy example: Blue Mountains

Earlier this year, I went to my favorite destination, the Blue Mountains, near Sydney, Australia. I admired the local community’s work and Blue Mountains Tourism‘s efforts to establish a consistent story and brand for the area. This brand focused on community and ecotourism despite being impacted by devastating bushfires in 2019-2020. 

The storytelling narrative of community strength and grassroots sustainability was integral in the positioning of their tourism branding. For example, local groups collaborated to promote tourism and obtained certification from Ecotourism Australia, Australia’s ecotourism accreditation body.

You can sense their strong connection to the area when you talk to locals or visit local businesses in the mountains. Their passion for the Blue Mountains inspired me to join their cause. Indeed, the destination’s brand reflects the love and care for storytelling through mesmerizing natural, sustainable ecotourism experiences in the region.

Wentworth Falls in the pristine Blue Mountains, an Ecotourism certified sustainable tourist destination. The blue mountains has a great tourism storytelling and destination marketing strategy.
Photograph of Wentworth Falls in the pristine Blue Mountains, an Ecotourism certified sustainable tourist destination (Photo Credit: Christos Anastasiou).

Illumination of knowledge that fosters interest, reliability, and relatability to the destination.

Many of the destinations that Solimar International works with are still in the early stages of building their tourism industries. Many of these destinations are still unknown to most individuals, let alone as a candidate for their next adventure. 

Education can clear up misconceptions and can inform people of the opportunities that exist that they may not be aware of. For example, many people are probably unaware of the beautiful destinations within Liberia, such as Libassa Ecolodge.  

Good storytelling boosts a destination’s reputation, dependability, and interest in its products and services, opening new opportunities. Storytelling also displays how certain tourism experiences and brands are accessible to everyone, not just select groups of people. Hence, they may feel more likely to have a connection to, and thus purchase a holiday to the destination.

Sustainable tourism marketing strategy example: Liberia

Speaking of Liberia, Solimar International’s Liberia Conservation Works project captivates the importance of sharing knowledge in storytelling. The project involves strategic content creation that educates the public on the beautiful places, cuisines, and activities to do in Liberia.

The beautiful Libassa Ecolodge, a sustainable tourism hotspot in Liberia. Solimar International is currently implementing sustainable tourism storytelling in their destination marketing strategy in Liberia.
The beautiful Libassa Ecolodge, a sustainable tourism hotspot in Liberia (Photo Credit: Ministry of Information, Cultural Affairs, and Tourism (MICAT))

The project empowers Liberian communities and individuals to share their stories with the world. This will make people trust Liberia as a tourist spot and know about its interesting places. It builds trust and encourages people to add Liberia to their travel experience list and plan a trip to the country. 

Celebration of distinctiveness and noteworthiness of the destination.

How often do you open your social media platforms? Do you often see aesthetically pleasing photographs of picturesque scenery or luxury hotels? Are they posted for engagement and popularity? These photos are crucial in any content or influencer marketing campaign, but on the surface, they are very common.

A good storytelling tourism campaign tells stories that highlight what makes a place special compared to others, to create meaningful written and visual content. It will also highlight the destination’s known highlights and idiosyncrasies. You can read a great example here by Thomas Kalchik, another blogger here at Solimar International. 

Kalchik’s skillful storytelling beautifully captures the allure of Capurganá, Colombia, elegantly blending vivid descriptions of its unique biodiversity and stunning scenery with the positive impacts of tourism. This narrative sets Capurganá apart as a distinct ecotourism destination, inviting readers to envision an immersive and transformative vacation experience in this hidden gem.

It’s essential to present information in an exciting way, so the audience doesn’t become overwhelmed with a sea of complex information. While there may be a wealth of incredible information about the destination, the overuse of statistics or complicated facts can bore the audience.

Instead, including some of this information in small portions within a story about the place is better for creating memories. It’s also a good idea to explain the unique stories behind photos in more detail to attract the ideal customers. It also gives photographs and destinations depth and life.

Sustainable tourism marketing strategy example: Australian Tourism Data Warehouse

DMOs can use a variety of tools to assist with showcasing the stories of their destination’s distinctiveness and noteworthiness. With destinations having a large variety of attractions and services, there is no better way of doing this than letting tourism communities and businesses tell their own stories.

In Australia, there is a tool called the Australian Tourism Data Warehouse (ATDW). The ATDW is a platform for user-generated content, which plugs into DMO websites. Local tourism operators use it to create a digital marketing profile.

Illawarra Fly, near Wollongong, Australia, an interactive ecotourism experience that is supported by the ATDW in their marketing campaign for tourism (Photo Credit: Christos Anastasiou).
Illawarra Fly, near Wollongong, Australia, an interactive ecotourism experience that is supported by the ATDW in their marketing campaign for tourism (Photo Credit: Christos Anastasiou).

This profile is then posted on DMO websites across the country, including Tourism Australia and other local or state websites. These profiles allow businesses to highlight their points of difference and what makes them special, curating their own content marketing campaign.

Businesses can prioritize storytelling over more time-consuming marketing and branding tasks, to attract tourists with a captivating and persuasive narrative. It also allows tourism businesses to showcase their accreditations, including their Ecotourism Australia certifications, which display their level of sustainability.

Brand connection from the heart and engagement through emotion.

The key to good storytelling in sustainable destination and tourism marketing is the bond created between the storyteller and the audience through the brand’s story. The deeper the connection, the deeper the desire to travel to the destination. One way to do this is to appeal to the audience’s emotions and generate a desire for visitation. One method is to create a content marketing plan that makes your audience feel happy and unable to ignore.

Destinations can do this effectively through the advertising of local cuisine. Food advertisements in tourism content marketing are powerful and reach many audiences because everyone loves food! Food is also a vehicle for local culture, which too strengthens the connection between the audience and the destination.

There are two main ways to engage an audience: through humor and by discussing the enjoyment of a tourism adventure. Another way is to create empathy and connection with people and communities that would benefit from visiting.

Sustainable tourism marketing strategy example: “Stay close, go further.”

Visit Victoria, the tourism organization of my state in Australia launched a successful tourism campaign called “Stay close, go further.” This campaign effectively utilized emotions and created heartfelt connections with its audience.

This campaign happened after a three-month lockdown in 2020 ended. Victorians were tired of staying home and wanted tourism to resume.

The campaign aimed to encourage people from Victoria to explore regional Victoria. It aimed to support local businesses affected by lockdowns, thus promoting social sustainability.

The Bendigo Tulip festival, an event promoted as part of Visit Victoria’s “stay close, go further” destination. Visit Victoria is the lead of Victoria's Destination Marketing Strategy.
The Bendigo Tulip festival is an event promoted as part of Visit Victoria’s “stay close, go further” destination marketing campaign (Photo Credit: Amelia Gee).

This tourism marketing campaign evoked emotional connection both in generating a desire to travel after an extended period of lockdown, as well as empathy for local businesses that have faced hardship and a desire to help these businesses.

This storytelling campaign was effective as it told the stories of multiple people affected by lockdowns and created a mutually beneficial solution through sustainable tourism. This tourism campaign was very successful and still continues today, promoting local tourism to spread out visitors and lessen environmental effects.

Final Takeaways

In the realm of sustainable tourism marketing, the art of storytelling has become a potent tool for branding strategy and content marketing. Effective tourism marketing transcends mere technical aspects and delves into the craft of storytelling.

Storytelling in sustainable tourism marketing involves creating and maintaining a consistent narrative and brand. Storytelling in sustainable tourism marketing involves creating and maintaining a consistent narrative and brand. This narrative and brand should share knowledge that sparks interest and connection to the destination. It should also celebrate the destination’s uniqueness and build a strong emotional bond with the brand.

Destination marketing case studies from the Blue Mountains and Liberia, and campaigns such as “Stay close, go further” in Victoria, Australia, illustrate the power of storytelling in tourism and strong branding of destinations.

Storytelling is important for successful, sustainable tourism content marketing. It plays a key role in a changing world with climate change, social media, and post-pandemic travel.

Nacula Island in Fiji, a place with a remarkable story that inspires tourism.
Nacula Island, Fiji, a tourism location with remarkable storytelling. (Photo Credit: Christos Anastasiou)

Liked learning about storytelling in sustainable destination and tourism marketing and want to hear more? Take one of our courses to learn more about how to make your destination marketing strategy richer. Visit our Institute for Sustainable Destinations website today.

DMOs destination management planning across many maps

DMOs are crucial organizations within the tourism industry. They were primarily established to promote destinations. However, with the rapid growth of tourism, the need for its sustainability and management of the sector eventually emerged. Therefore, whether DMOs should focus only on marketing or broaden their activities and be a management organization is part of the future agenda. At Solimar, we have seen time and time again why the M in DMO must also be about destination management, and not just destination marketing.

Let’s define what a DMO is, what roles they fulfill within a destination, and find out why these roles are mostly related to the management of the destination:

What is a DMO? 

DMO stands for Destination Marketing/Management Organization. At times, the role of a DMO is mistakenly perceived to be limited to the marketing efforts, but in reality, DMOs contribute majorly to the development aspects of a destination too. Effectively, the UNWTO defines it as “the leading organizational entity which may encompass the various authorities, stakeholders, and professionals and facilitates partnerships towards a collective destination vision”. Thus, DMOs are not only about marketing, but also about management. But what do DMOs manage exactly? 

DMO destination management planning with brainstorming

Why are DMOs important? 

Originally DMOs were established to competitively market the destinations by image-making, branding, and advertising what a place has to offer to tourists. However, in order for a destination to be successful, applying good marketing strategies or setting up an outstanding promotional campaign is no longer enough. Strategic management of the destination is also extremely important. Thus, it is clear that for the future of more sustainable tourism, DMOs must take the lead, as they hold the skills and the knowledge to support the destination through the management of tourism activities. Additionally, they have the ability and the tools to monitor the destination’s performance, allowing them to create the most suitable and sustainable approach to destination development. 

To effectively manage a destination, DMOs should:

  1. Manage the variety of different stakeholders involved in tourism. This is also connected to the creation of a common website platform, where stakeholders can engage and contribute to the destination’s development
  2. Consult visitor-related sectors, namely, accommodation, food and other services related to tourism. To this regard, DMOs also facilitate the introduction of quality standards in service
  3. Help communities become more visible. Developed and advanced communities raise the sense of pride among their residents
  4. Support local economies
  5. Encourage sustainable development of tourism

As shown, apart from marketing and brand image creation, DMOs can truly contribute to developing sustainable destinations.

destination development planning

What is destination management?

DMOs are vital for touristic destinations, especially where national or local governments struggle to manage and control all the activities related to tourism. DMOs are especially crucial in the destinations with emerging economies and the tourism sector. The roles of DMOs involve destination development, management of all the available assets and monitoring of the tourism impacts at the destination. DMOs’ ultimate goal is to maintain the destination successful, competitive, and socially and economically developed, and in order to achieve that, it is necessary to create and implement the destination’s development plan. 

Destination Development 

DMOs’ main role is destination development. Destination development includes a range of different activities, such as marketing efforts, improvement or diversification of tourism products and quality of the services supplied. For DMOs, it is crucial to create a development plan which will lead all the activities in the short or long-term perspective. With the development plan, DMOs set the target goals and indicators for businesses, communication, marketing and product development. All the actions taken by the local stakeholders and the DMO itself should be in line with the destination development plan. 

Much of Solimar’s work is oriented on destination development, as many destinations and, consequently, DMOs need facilitation and support at their early stage. 

cityscape scaled DMO Destination Management

Management and coordination of destination assets 

Every destination comprises a variety of resources provided by different organizations, and these resources need to be coordinated accurately to develop a competitive and sustainable tourism offer. The development and maintenance of a tourism destination is a complex process, and it requires a strategy capable of generating and sustaining synergy among all the various elements involved in the sector. 

Local stakeholders, entrepreneurs, government, citizens and visitors have their own roles at the destination, and they are all part of the development process. It is the DMO’s prerogative to bring together representatives from each group to establish integrated and regular interactions and collaborations. These collaborations are essential to create the tourism product, the destination strategy, policy and crisis management plans to foster investments and funding and to evaluate the overall destination’s performance. Moreover, DMOs are also expected to provide services related to the improvement of physical and human resources, supply assistance and advice for hospitality and tourism businesses.

Solimar International’s examples of DMO and asset management

Solimar recognizes the value and importance of DMOs – collaborating with them is a key part of many of our projects. But most importantly, we strategically assist destinations where such institutions are inexistent, but are essential for a sustainable tourism development.

For example, in our current project USAID Visit Tunisia, we are supporting the country in differentiating its tourism offer by promoting six lesser known regions in the country. In most cases, tourism in Tunisia is solely managed by the national tourism organization. The lack of regional DMOs compromises these emerging destinations’ possibility to create and implement a tourism strategy and development plan adequate enough to support the emerging destination and its success. 

For this reason, Solimar is assisting these destinations by encouraging and facilitating the dialogue between the public and private sector and the local communities at a regional level. Under the guidance of our expert Solimar team, the local stakeholders are collaborating and drafting destination development plans, which they are also using to advocate for a local DMO to be established with the help of the national tourism organization. Through this project, we are also supporting Destination Dahar, the first DMO in the country. 

destination Dahar sunset

Why DMOs must monitor tourism impacts

As the tourism market and destinations change and evolve, they create an immediate urge of monitoring the impacts created by the tourism activities. This is crucial to evaluate and manage the change and respond to the challenges.

The main goals of monitoring are:

  1. To understand the effects of tourism
  2. To identify improvements or/and challenges. This will help the future planning and response
  3. To enable destinations to remain competitive

Another aim of monitoring is to find out how strategic goals of the destinations are met and measure the main indicators of the destination development. Monitoring impacts helps DMOs collect data on tourism activities. This facilitates the process of analyzing the tourism impacts and coming up with an adequate response, in particular to the most challenging ones. This way DMOs stay responsible, accountable, and fulfill their strategic goals.

DMOs destination management planning across many maps

DMOs track positive and negative impacts of tourism

Monitoring tourism impacts covers the following main areas: economic, social and environmental. Tourism impacts can be seen as negative and positive. Growing number of visitors positively contributes to the economic growth within the destination. However, it can also cause some threats to the cultural and natural assets of the destination if not managed and controlled properly. For example, in the case of cultural heritage, not well-managed visitor flows can cause damage to the sites.Or in the case of nature, tourism can cause major environmental challenges. 

As seen above, monitoring helps DMOs to evaluate tourism impacts and take the appropriate measures. Various projects implemented by Solimar across the globe cover supporting development of DMOs and naturally, this involves facilitating them to acquire different roles, including monitoring the tourism impacts and effectively responding to it. Solimar’s ongoing project Bangladesh Ecotourism and Conservation Alliance envisages supporting one of the most important protected areas – the Sundarbans. With the project, Solimar works to implement a series of interventions in order to improve tourism and natural resources management in the area. One of the outcomes is creating a local DMO, which will unite the private and public sector and contribute to the conservation of the protected areas through sustainable governance. 

Sundarbans Destination Management

So, why must DMOs make this shift?

DMOs facilitate the social and economic development of the destinations. This is especially important in the case of societies where tourism and the economy are in their emerging phase. In this process, fulfilling merely a marketing goal is not enough. Through proper management and leadership, DMOs can create inspiring and attractive destinations that will contribute to their socio-economic growth. 

 Interested in discovering how Solimar can support the management of your destination? Find more information about our services and training courses. And don’t forget to check out more Solimar blog posts to learn everything about the importance of DMOs: here and here.

Blog by Veronica Santapa and Teona Zhuzhunadze

destination branding two kayak sunsetters

Want to learn how to successfully make your destination stand out from the competition? This article tells you all about destination branding and how to build your own original brand!

How to Build a Successful Destination Brand

The tourism industry is one of the most universally robust industries in the world. Hundreds of thousands of people travel every year, and there are many types of travelers who feed into the industry. Even more people work in the tourism sector. So, how do you attract potential visitors to your tourism destination?

There are plenty of approaches to attract potential customers to a tourist destination. Social media, marketing campaigns, and word of mouth are just a few ways to achieve this. You might see photos of dazzling landscapes on Instagram, see a hotel ad on TV, or read a post about a famous tourism destination in a magazine. What these things have in common is a recall to what makes a destination unique, important, or appealing to a specific audience.

Bringing these features out through tourism marketing is a tactic called destination branding. Think about a famous city—Berlin, for instance. There are a number of images that you probably think of when Berlin comes to mind: the (in)famous Berlin Wall, the unmatched cosmopolitanism, the tall-standing TV Tower, and the authentic Brezeln. A collection of cultural markers like these produces a profile that is unique to Berlin. These markers can then be used to produce and to employ a marketing strategy that attracts potential tourists to Berlin. Of course, this is not specific to just one city; any site can have a brand identity. 

So, the question remains: how do you produce a successful brand for your site? Below, we have compiled a short list of items to get you started on building a successful destination brand.

Berlin skyline

brand your destination like berlin's beautiful skyline with memorable landmarks

 

Berlin TV Tower (Fernsehturm) has become an iconic piece of Berlin’s identity, completing the panorama of the city alongside Brandenburg Gate or the Berliner Dom

A Brand is the Most Valuable Tool in your Marketing Strategy

A brand goes far deeper than a logo or company slogan. These are simply considered marketing tools. A brand is defined by the public perception and the emotion it makes you feel. It is the promise being made to the target audience that is derived from the product or destination’s uniqueness. Your branding efforts are the process of creating brand messaging and experiences that attract visitors. These should be as compelling and memorable as possible, in order to draw in potential customers. Successful branding occurs when this experience remains in the hearts and minds of the target audience. 

Developing a Valuable Destination Brand Identity

Developing your brand identity, or brand personality, revolves around three main axes:

  • Destination uniqueness;
  • Stakeholders’ and travelers’ perceptions; and
  • Consistency in the marketing campaigns.

A strong brand identity is essential when you are trying to reach potential tourists and attract them to your destination. We could define the brand identity as a summary of the destination’s main traits, the words your main audience would use to describe the destination.

Does your destination offer a wide array of cultural experiences? Are most visitors coming to your destination to relax, or do they come to challenge themselves and take on new adventures? Is your destination mostly suitable for families, groups of friends or romantic getaways?

Developing your brand identity starts by auditing your destination and identifying your main target. It is recommended to involve stakeholders to better understand how they perceive the uniqueness of your destination. Start a conversation with small tourism businesses, travel agents and tour operators promoting your destination, local authority or former visitors and gather their emotions about your destination.

Including the consumer perception of your destination will ensure that the appropriate types of travelers are targeted in your brand messaging. Do not neglect to take a look at competition – locally or internationally – and to think it through: “What do I offer that is different?”, “What is our added value?” You can read an example of destination branding through consumer perceptions from Croatia.

namibia landscape ideal for branding

The wide open Namibian landscape – understanding the consumer perception of your destination’s uniqueness is key to build a strong brand identity

Understanding the travel motivations of your visitors, as well as their decision-making process, will support you in building a suitable brand messaging. Associate experiences with your destination which are as distinctive, compelling, memorable and rewarding as possible. Take the example of Namibia’s online marketing campaign which Solimar ran between 2011 and 2013 that emphasized the breathtaking and seemingly endless natural landscapes of Namibia.

Once this message is clear, your marketing campaigns will help spread your identity and reach your targeted audience. The key in the marketing campaign is consistency! Make sure the brand messaging perceived is coherent on all the elements of your integrated marketing communication. Each support and channel should represent the same brand identity. 

Moreover, the consistency of the brand identity continues on the spot where it is important to build brand value at each point of contact, from signage at the airport to landscapes while driving to the hotel or between parts of a destination. The experience of the traveler must reflect your brand identity.

Finally, keep track of the success of the campaign and reassess your strategy every year, or if a major event has disrupted your campaign (Covid-19 anyone?).

In short, developing a powerful brand identity consists of:

  • Running a destination audit
  • Clarifying who is your target
  • Building your destination SWOT
  • Identifying your competition, their location, and your added value
  • Involving local stakeholders in your branding process and assess their perception of the destination
  • Reassessing your Marketing Strategy annually

turkey destination branding cappadocia

Using the Brand Pyramid for a Strong Destination Brand

One of the most effective ways to produce a powerful destination brand is by using a brand pyramid. Brand pyramids are models that distill the important elements of a site down to an advertising essence. Brand pyramids are important for destination branding, because they clarify the most important aspects of the destination. This helps produce a tagline that markets the message of a destination to potential visitors. 

There are five tiers in the brand pyramid, which are organized from a wide base to a narrow top. The first tier, labeled rational attributes, are tangible destination characteristics. In other words, rational attributes are the markers that can be empirically observed. The physical, quantifiable features of a site are listed here. These features can be diverse, ranging from unique products and services to local cuisines to historic landmarks. 

The second tier is labeled emotional benefits. These are the feelings associated with a site. This tier plays a crucial role in creating a destination brand, because it addresses the tangible emotional experience(s) of visiting a site. The first two tiers work together to create a strong brand image by listing tangible attributes alongside the emotional sentiments that the site produces. 

The third tier of the brand pyramid is brand personality. This lists a group of adjectives that describe the personality of the site. This is how a target audience will describe a site in a few basic words. The brand personality can describe atmospheres and resources, and they can also attract specific audiences. As the public health situation evolves, a brand personality can illuminate how amenable a site is to a specific audience.

The fourth tier, the positioning statement, describes the one-of-a-kind site attributes. Here, brand developers ask which characteristics are seen or experienced only at that site. This is an especially important step in the brand development process. Knowing what makes a site stand out will give shape to a strong brand identity.

The final tier is brand essence. The brand essence is exactly what it sounds like: it distills aspects of all the tiers below to produce an essential brand identity. This is what the brand means, described in a few words. This is the tier that creates a destination brand, usually in the form of a tagline. A great example of the destination branding process was successfully implemented in Solimar’s Jamaica Community Experiences project from 2015-2018.

Solimar DMO Development branding pyramid to help brand a destination

Brand Pyramid model to build a powerful destination brand – Solimar DMO Development Program

Looking for more destination development strategies? Check out Solimar’s Institute for Sustainable Destinations program on DMO Development. Or Contact Us directly for information!

Authors: Caitlyn Marentette / Célia Hulin / Thomas Kalchik

“We rely confidently on Solimar's deep technical experience and professionalism as tourism consultants. You always are exceeding our expectations.”
Leila Calnan, Senior Manager, Tourism Services Cardno Emerging Markets

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