Traditional Journalists Use Blogs for Story Ideas

One of the reasons why blogs are such a good idea and why I enjoy following blogs, especially those on the T-List, is because they are a great source of knowledge.  At ITB Berlin in March a number of T-List bloggers, including myself, sat on an expert panel and debated the role of blogs versus traditional journalists.  There was much discussion about whether citizen journalism would replace traditional journalism and about the credibility of user generated content.  My take has always been that the two will eventually find an equilibrium and that they may also feed off each other, one supporting... Read more »

A Lesson Learned - Big Changes at VisitScotland.com

Earlier in February I wrote about the role of the DMO and the lesson learned from VisitScotland.com. That post received a number of comments back that added more depth to the conversation. Today there was an announcement from Visit Scotland that the VisitScotland.com website would be changing the way it does busy to better support the grassroots tour operators. Ofcourse, the small operators are ecstatic about the change and are praising the work of organizations like ReclaimVS.com who petitioned to have VisitScotland.com returned to public control. The big issue for many was the fact that... Read more »

Best Travel Marketing Secrets - A Tips from the T-List Initiative

This was originally posted by Jens Thraenhart at the Tourism Internet Marketing blog. Please be sure to leave your comments and secrets using the Contact Form on Jens’ blog. Tourism Marketing Blog contributor Claude Benard had the brilliant idea to reach out and ask experts to share their Travel Marketing Secrets and Tips - similar to the initative from Small Business Trends…but focused on travel, tourism, and hospitality marketing.The results will be shared on the Tourism Internet Marketing Blog, and will also be presented at the Phocuswright Bloggers Summit at ITB, in collaboration... Read more »

The 5 Must Do Travel Marketing Investments for 2008 - No.2

Investment #2 - Sharing your expertise So what does your expertise have to do with marketing or technology? Well, your expertise is powerful marketing content and there are many technologies that can help you share your expertise with your current and future clients. Here are my five favorite technologies for sharing: 1. Blogger: You can probably tell that I am a huge fan of blogs. As far as I am concerned, they are the best way to share your knowledge and build trust with your audience. What is great about them is that they are simple to use, extremely search engine friendly, and most platforms... Read more »

The 5 Must Do Travel Marketing Investments for 2008 - No.1

Investment #1: Your Website This is an absolutely crucial investment and now is the best time to bring your website up to speed. If you don’t have a website now, then plan to launch your website this year. Why the urgency? If you are a Canadian tour operator then the urgency is that there are only two years left before the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, and if you miss this opportunity because of something as simple as not having an informative and well designed website, then you are missing an opportunity of a lifetime. There will be millions of visitors to Canada and specifically British... Read more »