Category Archives: #tourismchat highlights

Aug15

Professional Development #tourismchat

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Professional Development #tourismchat

#tourismchat is a biweekly twitter chat (Thursdays, 2pm CST) that focuses on how social media is used in the tourism industry.

Our last chat, Aug 4, was about Professional Development. You can read through the transcript [pdf] but here are some of the chat’s highlights:

What blogs are you reading that are not-to-be missed?

What other chats do you participate it?

  • @DigitalKaitlyn: I just finished with PRWebChat and #Smmeasure, both excellent chats for marketing professionals!
  • @scullyano: I’ve dipped into #blogchat on Sunday nights, but it’s a lot.
  • @BeckyMcCray: For a firehose of blogging info, join #blogchat on Sunday nights
  • @Amy_Brock: the #luxchat is a great one, lots of travel and pr discussions there.
  • @TourismCurrents: We recommend #eventprofs if you want to connect w/meeting planners, and #assnchat for association
    meeting planners. Read the rest of this entry →
Jul26

Websites/Analytics #tourismchat

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Websites/Analytics #tourismchat

If you’re not already familiar with #tourismchat, it’s a biweekly twitter chat (Thursdays at 2pm CST) that focuses on how social media is used in the tourism industry.

Our last chat, July 21, was about Websites/Analytics. You can read through the chat transcript [pdf] but here are some of my favorite tweets from the chat:

  • When it comes to using website analytic software internally or having an agency handle the reporting, most of the chat participants use Google Analytics internally, even if an agency helps measure traffic.
  • Most chat participants optimize their website on a regular basis. Travel 2.0 added: Typically a constant cycle works, try to touch your top 50 pages once every 3 months and repeat. Read the rest of this entry →
Jun15

Social PR #tourismchat

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Social PR #tourismchat

If you’re not already familiar with #tourismchat, it’s a biweekly twitter chat (Thursdays at 2pm CST) that focuses on how social media is used in the tourism industry.

Our last chat, June 9, was about Social PR. You can read through the entire chat transcript [pdf] but here are some of my favorite tweets/replies from the chat:

Do you have a separate Twitter/Facebook account for your PR efforts?

  • @theresaoverby: No separate accounts. Just one voice and central location. So far it’s been successful.

Do you use particular sites to send press releases?

  • @maddenmedia: We post them to our website and SoMe accounts. As far as press goes, we send it the old fashioned way – pigeon carrier.
  • @AshleyTravels: Increased interaction, IMO. RT @lizpurcell What is the response to having SoMe links on your releases?

Do you have an online newsroom?

Feb24

Tourismchat on Facebook Pages

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Tourismchat on Facebook Pages

The Feb 24 #tourismchat focused on Facebook Pages (transcript). You can also download the transcript as a PDF.

Here are my chat highlights:

  • You can somewhat “hack” the photos at the top of your page. Upload new photos (no need to publish the album to your news feed) and they will be displayed across the top. If you don’t like one of the photos, mouse over the photo and click the X when it appears. Read the rest of this entry →
Feb23

Best Practices: Destination Blogging

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Best Practices: Destination Blogging

The Feb 3 #tourismchat focused on Blogging for Destinations (transcript). You can also download the transcript as a PDF.

Here are my chat highlights:

  • WordPress seemed to be the favored platform among chat participants. Tumblr and Blogger were also mentioned.
  • When it came to in-house blogging vs. using outside bloggers, many of the chat participants did it in-house. However two great examples of using outside bloggers are the Indiana Insider Blog and the Travel Oregon Blog.
  • How do you find outside bloggers? Two excellent examples: Indiana Insider Blogger Application and Travel Oregon Blogger Guidelines.
  • Using a content/editorial calendar is necessary but you must leave room for flexibility.

There was much more conversation about how blogging platforms affect SEO, whether to pay bloggers and marketing your blog so definitely check out the entire chat transcript!

Jan21

Best Practices: E-Newsletters

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Best Practices: E-Newsletters

The Jan 20 #tourismchat focused on the Best Practices for E-Newsletters in the age of Social Media (transcript). You can also download the transcript as a PDF.

Here are my chat highlights:

  • Many of the chat participants thought e-newsletters shouldn’t be sent out more frequently than monthly or quarterly
  • Some topics to include in your e-newsletters are blog content, promotions, contests, new products and events/calendar link (from Joe Vargo)
  • Niche markets for e-newsletters include arts, culinary, shopping, gardening, group travel, industry partners and general consumer/travel (from Buffalo Niagara)

There was much more conversation about how destinations are connecting their e-newsletter to social media, building their contact lists and e-newsletter providers so definitely check out the chat transcript!

Jan18

Using Social Media to Promote Events

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Using Social Media to Promote Events

The Jan 6 #tourismchat focused on using social media for event promotion. You can read the entire transcript in a google doc. Here are my highlights:

Hashtags: the responses were split on whether events needed a specific hashtag or one that has multiple uses. A good example is #PCMA (used year-round) and #PCMA11 (used specifically for Convening Leaders). Either way, a hashtag MUST be promoted weeks, if not months, in advance and should be placed on all marketing material such as brochures, websites, e-newsletters, twitter bio, etc. For more hashtag information, check out my post on How to Create a Hashtag for Your Event. Read the rest of this entry →

Dec20

Social Media Contests

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Social Media Contests

The #tourismchat on December 16 focused on social media contests. Here are some of the highlights:

- apps, like Wildfire, make managing social media contests very easy

- determine the goal of your contest: build fan base, gain photo assets, etc

- have Terms and Conditions set in place, especially if public voting is involved

- shorter contests work well on twitter, especially when the call to action is simple, like retweeting something

- Facebook contests can be longer but don’t let the voting phase get too long as it can lead to contest fatigue

- Facebook revised their Promotion Guidelines on December 1

As always, you can read the full #tourismchat transcript on wthashtag or check out this beautiful pdf version.

What are your best practices & success stories when it comes to social media contests?

Nov5

QR Codes in the Tourism Industry

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QR Codes in the Tourism Industry

Last week’s #tourismchat was on QR Codes and how they can be used in the tourism industry. If you have time, you should definitely read the full chat transcript. We were lucky to have two extremely knowledgeable people participating on this chat: John Foley (@johnfoleyjr) and QReate & Track (@QReateAndTrack).

Here are some of my takeaways:

  • QR codes can link to anything. Some link to targeted landing pages. Others link to an email address/contact info. The options are endless and can include videos, maps, photo galleries, text-messaging opt-ins, etc.
  • If you’re linking to a site, make sure it’s a mobile site Read the rest of this entry →
Oct5

Crisis Communication

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Crisis Communication

Last week’s #tourismchat focused on crisis communication and it was discovered that even though we all know how important a crisis communication plan is, many of us don’t have one in place yet. You can read the entire chat transcript but here are some of the key takeaways. Read the rest of this entry →