Travel is essential to many people’s lives—whether it’s seeking new adventures, escaping the day-to-day, exploring diverse cultures, or connecting with others. According to the U.S. Travel Association, the appetite for travel is forecasted to grow year-over-year in volume. With more trips on the horizon, destination marketers should focus on creating seamless and memorable experiences from the inspiration phase all the way through the journey’s completion.
The way travelers plan their vacations continues to evolve in the digital age. About 3 out of 5 travelers now use social media for inspiration, and 11.3% leverage AI tools to help plan their getaways. Recently, our team attended ESTO (Educational Seminar for Tourism Organizations), where we learned from and collaborated with industry professionals. Below are a few key themes destination marketers should be leveraging.
Differentiate Your Destination
Many destinations offer similar attractions—outdoor adventures, urban experiences, or museums. But why should they visit your destination? What truly sets a destination apart are the stories and rich cultural experiences it has to offer. Fully understanding the unique aspects of a destination empowers marketers to test new strategies and embrace bold, creative ideas.
Create Unique and Authentic Experiences
Today’s travelers crave authenticity. Many destinations are capitalizing on this in their marketing efforts. Take Visit Detroit, for example—their brand is like a love letter to their residents, with around 90% of their content sourced from people who live there.
Destinations are also activating in other cities to inspire travel. For example, Visit Washington D.C., held a pop-up event called "DC Sounds" in Brooklyn and Miami, offering a taste of its music scene to spark interest in the city.
Leverage Short-Form Content
The average user spends about 143 minutes per day on social media, across platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook. Younger travelers, especially, are turning to Instagram and TikTok for trip inspiration, with 40% using these platforms instead of Google Search or Maps to plan their next destination.
Destination marketers should prioritize short-form content on these platforms, as it often yields the highest engagement. Here are a few things to keep in mind when creating short-form content:
- Think outside the box
- Keep it simple
- Consistency is key
Maximize Your Resource Tools
With a wealth of data tools at your disposal, it’s crucial to maximize their capabilities when planning annual or campaign goals. These tools provide valuable insights, but it's important to dig deeper and ensure you’re interpreting the data correctly. Here are a few tips for evidence-based decision-making:
- Review goals, strategies, KPIs, and document decisions based on data.
- Audit current data sources to confirm what informs your decisions and identify gaps.
- Talk to your vendors about data quality.
- Ask yourself and your team these questions:
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- Is the data we’re using and how we’re gauging success the best way of measuring our impact?
- What business decisions can we make with this data?
- What can we intentionally do with this data?
- Is the data a real reflection of the truth?
Overall, destination marketers should continue pushing boundaries and making the most of the resources available to them.
If destination marketers can look for ways to differentiate their destination, create unique and authentic experiences for travelers, leverage short-form content to engage and inspire, and ensure they’re maximizing the resources at their disposal, then they’ll be well on their way to driving a positive impact for their destination.
