2012 Top Trips

[JBloggs]

[COLOR= rgb(68, 68, 68)]2012 Top Trips: Beach trip 44%, Cultural trip 42%, Roadtrip 40%, City trip 36%, Guys/girlfriend trip 24% [/COLOR]http://t.co/lNTBuJ7C[COLOR= rgb(68, 68, 68)] [/COLOR]
JB - For what it is worth - this is good for: Blog Ideas - Package Ideas - Marketing Ideas
read the article - down where B&B's are mentioned...

 

[JBloggs]

Making heritage tourism appeal to more than just history buffs http://bit.ly/u3a5SX
Excerpt from David Mikula:
It tells me that this already large segment of the travel industry can be staggeringly huge if the marketing is done right. At this blog we preach about how tourism marketing in general needs to sell experiences and emotions not just facts, stats, rates and amenities. It's even more important to make history come alive when promoting heritage tourism. Potential visitors have to understand more than just the headlines. They need to get to know the human personalities involved, the heroic feats accomplished, the monumental adversity that was overcome and exactly what it was like on that fateful day, month or period in history. What was the weather like? What sights, sounds and smells filled the air? What did the people know or not know about their fate? Perhaps most importantly, why does it still matter to society? Historic sites and museums, by and large, do a great job of interpreting history for visitors. Isn’t time the marketing did the same? When you advertise with that level of emotion and power you increase your target audience exponentially from more than just self-described "history buffs" to people who are inquisitive and like unique experiences. People like me.

 

[Arks]

Making heritage tourism appeal to more than just history buffs http://bit.ly/u3a5SX
Excerpt from David Mikula:
It tells me that this already large segment of the travel industry can be staggeringly huge if the marketing is done right. At this blog we preach about how tourism marketing in general needs to sell experiences and emotions not just facts, stats, rates and amenities. It's even more important to make history come alive when promoting heritage tourism. Potential visitors have to understand more than just the headlines. They need to get to know the human personalities involved, the heroic feats accomplished, the monumental adversity that was overcome and exactly what it was like on that fateful day, month or period in history. What was the weather like? What sights, sounds and smells filled the air? What did the people know or not know about their fate? Perhaps most importantly, why does it still matter to society? Historic sites and museums, by and large, do a great job of interpreting history for visitors. Isn’t time the marketing did the same? When you advertise with that level of emotion and power you increase your target audience exponentially from more than just self-described "history buffs" to people who are inquisitive and like unique experiences. People like me..

Making heritage tourism appeal to more than just history buffs http://bit.ly/u3a5SX

Excellent points. Thanks for posting!

 

[Arks]

Making heritage tourism appeal to more than just history buffs http://bit.ly/u3a5SX
Excerpt from David Mikula:
It tells me that this already large segment of the travel industry can be staggeringly huge if the marketing is done right. At this blog we preach about how tourism marketing in general needs to sell experiences and emotions not just facts, stats, rates and amenities. It's even more important to make history come alive when promoting heritage tourism. Potential visitors have to understand more than just the headlines. They need to get to know the human personalities involved, the heroic feats accomplished, the monumental adversity that was overcome and exactly what it was like on that fateful day, month or period in history. What was the weather like? What sights, sounds and smells filled the air? What did the people know or not know about their fate? Perhaps most importantly, why does it still matter to society? Historic sites and museums, by and large, do a great job of interpreting history for visitors. Isn’t time the marketing did the same? When you advertise with that level of emotion and power you increase your target audience exponentially from more than just self-described "history buffs" to people who are inquisitive and like unique experiences. People like me..

The heritage tourism article also links to another good article that makes great points...
Instead of focusing on amenities and stats – regardless of how impressive they may be – it's more powerful to tell the consumer about what experiences they can have at the destination. Tourism advertising should convey what the consumer can do and/or how they will feel. This can be accomplished in numerous ways, but one of them is definitely not to throw the word "experience" in front of the name of your destination.
Here are a few of the ways to sell the experience:
• It can be done through a clever and memorable ad campaign that helps people project themselves into the scene.(examples: http://www.twitpic.com/1fbdtq and http://www.twitpic.com/1c6paj)
• If the marketing vehicle is radio, television, a large enough print ad, a website or a brochure it can be done through powerful writing (example: http://www.michigan.org/Topics/Pure-Michigan-Ads/Default.aspx).
• No matter what the medium, a great way to convey emotion is through breathtaking and evocative photography. (example: http://www.upperjamesriverwatertrail.com)