Yesterday's session of MarketerosNocturnos dealt with one of the topics that I am most passionate about in this "8th art" , Tourism Marketing . The contributions were numerous and rich both in content and in questions to the community about doubts, problems, recommendations, etc.
Several premises were made clear on the subject, one of them being the importance that elements such as Big Data are acquiring , as Julio Trujillo rightly commented . Companies that provide tourist services/products or promote destinations are betting on information, and they do so by studying the tastes, the recurring trips of potential passengers, the dates when they usually take vacations or days off, and a long etcetera, in order to then process this information, convert it into knowledge and carry out totally focused strategies.
Another aspect discussed in the italy telegram data session was the boom in the tourism sector itself. Álvaro López provided us with an article confirming 2017 as one of the best years in Spain in terms of visits. However, July marked the historical record for the number of tourists in Spain, exceeding 10.5 million foreign visitors.
We received very interesting contributions, such as the idea that in tourism marketing you have to know how to integrate the client through a pleasant experience, but always without being invasive. This is one of the strong points of the actions to be developed. What better way to promote a destination, a hiking route, a tourist restaurant than through the opinion of the client himself?
As expected, there was a lot of talk about the importance of social media when it comes to developing campaigns and strategies. The possibilities offered by these tools are endless in this area. And, in addition, they are seasoned with the word “real time” .
The main influencers of a hotel, restaurant or destination are its own guests, diners or travellers…
Eva Gargallo , Director of NH Campo Cartagena , gave us the information that Airbnb already has more accommodations in Spain than the 20 largest hotel chains together: 200,000 accommodations, compared to 195,000 for the members of the top hotel chain . Have tools like Airbnb demonstrated the power of technology in a sector like tourism? The question is one that can be answered in more than one session, but I leave it here for whoever wants to answer it. Gargallo argued that new markets often lack regulation, and that in this one, because of what it means for Spain, many aspects should be taken into account so that everyone “plays” by the same rules…
The power of video also appeared on the scene as an indispensable element in campaigns. Not only at the level of advertising spots, but also in actions that promote a place, an establishment or an experience in a non-abusive way.