The travel & tourism industry is all about connections. Connecting people, places, and cultures. Using new technologies, social media, and social networks can help to foster the connections that we share. I would like to share with you some of my experiences as an innovator in this new world of connectivity and build connections for all tourism related businesses both large and small.
Prerequisites: You’re looking at various ways your customers could pay you. Estimated Time for Completion: 20 min reading time Details: There is no doubt that credit cards are a major part of e-commerce. The question is whether or not you should or need to accept credit cards with your tourism related business. There are a number of pros and cons to accepting payment by credit card, whether... Read More...
Prerequisites: You have decided to make video part of your tourism business, you’ve learned the basics of shooting video for the web, and now you’re ready to make better videos. Estimated Time for Completion: 20 min reading time Details: So now that you’ve got the basic video requirements down, you’ve got a place to host your sites, and you understand the basics of shooting... Read More...
Prerequisites: You should have a few videos ready for uploading to a video sharing and hosting site. Estimated Time for Completion: 20 min reading time, 15 min. execution Details: There are a number of video hosting and sharing sites on the Internet. Which one, though, is the best for hosting your tour and activity videos? That depends on how you want to share your videos and how much control you... Read More...
For the last week or so I have been communicating with my friend Daniele Beccari from isango! He and his family are going through a terrible medical ordeal and he has reached out to his friends and colleagues for help in spreading the word and raising money to help cover the immense costs. I cannot imagine the hardship Daniele and his family are going through, but anything I can do as a friend and... Read More...
Guest Author, Ryan Bifulco, TravelSpike.com – Destinations are always looking for ways to market and promote themselves. Every Destination offers something unique to visitors and locals alike, and a short video is one of the best ways to showcase what you have to the world. Many DMOs still seem to think that online video and podcasts are for kids, but times have changed and the stats below back... Read More...
Prerequisites: You should have a digital video camera of your choice to use for business purposes. Estimated Time for Completion: Reading time of 20 mins. Details: I am not a videographer, professional camera person, or a film-maker. Chances are, neither are you. But, that doesn’t mean that you don’t have the ability to make interesting, compelling, and even exciting videos about your... Read More...
Prerequisites: You should have a digital video camera of your choice to use for business purposes. Estimated Time for Completion: Reading time of 20 mins. Details: Video technology has changed dramatically over the last few years. Why on recently for example, I pulled out my Sony DVD video camera to shock of my friends. The camera, which was state of the art only a few years ago is now practically... Read More...
Prerequisites: Photos already posted on the web, preferably on a well ranked photo sharing website or on your own website. Estimated Time for Completion: Reading time of 20 minutes. Details: Let’s face it, photos are great, but conversions are better. So how do you use your photos to increase the likelihood that a viewer is going to visit your site and book your tour. There are several key... Read More...
Prerequisites: Some photos that you are ready to host on-line or post publicly for display. Estimated Time for Completion: 30 minutes – 1 hour Details: Taking photos of your tours is one thing, actually having them on-line so that they can be shared with your customers and future guests is another thing. As I discussed in the previous article “Best Online Photo Editors for you Tourism... Read More...
Prerequisites: You should have some photos ready to edit. I also recommend you have descriptions and titles ready for your test photos as well. Estimated Time for Completion: 1-2 hours Details: Thanks to improvements in Flash technology and increased access to broadband Internet access, there are now a growing list of on-line photo editor that can support high resolution photos from today’s digital... Read More...
