Tourism Marketing - Tourism: Principles, Practices, Philosophies - page 431

Considerations for the public relations effort include being aware of public attitudes toward
present policies; ask some of the visitors for feedback. Communication is the lifeblood of good
relations. In publicizing the rm, first do good things and then tell the public about them. Above all,
give the public factual information about your area. False information is detrimental; you must
describe conditions as they exist.

Internet Marketing

The has changed travel and tourism forever. Tourism was one of the early industries to be

transformed by the Internet as it first became a major information source and next as a major channel
of distribution. The Internet has gone on to become pervasive in all areas of tourism marketing.
Internet marketing is also called i-marketing, Web marketing, online marketing, and e-marketing.
Internet marketing is being used by the tourism industry to perform multiple tasks and impact a
number of areas of the marketing mix. Direct e-mail marketing, advertising, promotion, customer
service, relationship marketing, providing information, distribution, selling, and research are all tasks
being performed via the Internet. The Internet provides the same capabilities found in direct mail and
telemarketing; it provides a new communication medium; it can provide interaction with the
customer; and it has the ability to deliver a rich multimedia message 24 hours a day, 7 days a
week, 365 days a year. A large segment of consumers are looking to the Internet for information,
research, trip planning, and booking trips; therefore, the Internet will continue to grow as an important
marketing tool.
To take advantage of people

Internet

s desire to travel, companies and destinations need to present their
brand and offerings online. The Internet gives every tourism operator and destination, regardless of
size or resources, an opportunity to engage the traveler. It has become the new medium of the day—a
medium where the rate of change is remarkably faster than traditional media. Things move quickly on
the Internet with new technologies, new concepts, innovations, inspirations, and new approaches
occurring frequently. Tourism marketers must stay on top of these changes and still balance the use
with other media. One of the best ways to get visitors online is to use of ine media

'

— newspapers,

magazine, brochures, and television to drive visitors to your Web site. Also, your Web site should be

search engine optimized (SEO). SEO is the process of improving the visibility of a Web site or Web
page in several search engines. Once online, visitors need to find a site that is easy to navigate and
gives them the same kind of answers they would get if they were sitting across the desk from a travel
planner.
E-mail marketing messages, newsletters, Web sites, search engine marketing, banner advertising,
mobile applications, e-partnerships, and Web 2.0 strategies are well-established Internet marketing
activities. An area that is receiving increased attention is social media marketing. Recent surveys show
that companies are planning new social media initiatives, are increasing budgets for social media, and
are puzzled about how to measure the return on investment from this phenomenon. It is being argued
that social media has become an important and necessary part of tourism marketing.

—

Social Media (Consumer-Generated Media)

Social media is online content created by Internet users themselves, anyone other than professional

writers or journalists, and made available to other Internet users via interactive technology. It can take
numerous different forms, including text, images, audio, and video. Social media has been described
as instant word-of-mouth to mass markets.
Although traditional media is about providing content to an audience, social media is more like a
two-way conversation, more interactive. Most types of social media thrive on their connectedness,
making use of resources, people, and links to other sites. Participation in the form of comments,
contributions, feedback and sharing information are encouraged. Social media includes social net-
works, blogs, wikis, podcasting, microblogging, forums, and content communities.