Tourism Industry has witnessed a great transformation compared to the bygone days. Today, with technology taking a superior stand in people’s lives, an era of connectivity and engagement is born. A large part of traditional way of communication is swapped with the Social Media way of communication. This change and adaptation was expected as there rests a great potential for this sector to implement social media in the way they market or brand themselves as tourists and travelers. Not forgetting what some of the brands like Make my trip, Yatra, Travelguru, Expedia India, Kerala Tourism, Cleartrip are already doing.

Harnessing the power of social media for Tourism Industry will go a long way. The cut-throat travel communications online are also functionally leveraging tourism industry worldwide.

We have made an attempt to throw light upon this globally booming sector of Travel and Tourism and discuss the most effective tools and applications that will help you promote and leverage your business and attract more people to your website, in turn increasing the profits. Let us discuss the ‘Why’s’ and ‘what’s’ of the social media integration into this sector.

To start with,

Why would a Tourism Industry need a Social Media?

The reforms in the usage of Internet and the facilities one gets through it are tremendous. Nowadays, along with the industry experts, we find internet users publishing and exchanging information about their favourite destinations, photographs, videos, and reviews on the places they have or want to travel etc. what is more to this is Social Media spreading this information across places and with minimal or no cost. Word of mouth has always been proved to be essential part of promoting businesses. Thus, you can build your marketing techniques to reach this rising engagement of people that will render great prospect of profit to this sector.

You can basically create a buzz about your brand and services around the world with social media tools, showcasing and discussing about best travel destinations all over.

You can basically look into:

Monitoring: Travel and Tourism companies can analyze or monitor the preferences, reviews and interactions online and use it to generate more traffic to their brand increasing loyalty and driving sales.

Reviews by customers: During a travel plan, a positive review or feedback online is very influential. Customers make informed decision based on fellow travelers feedback and ratings by reputed travel sites like TripAdvisor for instance.

Social Media Platforms: From Facebook and Twitter to Bloggers the Tourism industry is penetrating the market aggressively. For example an attractive Facebook page to display ads etc. also works well with this industry. Location based search can also be done through Facebook or Foursquare making it more significant.

Here’s an insight into how you can shine across platforms as a Tourism Industry. Create/Improve your Social Media Presence with:

Facebook

You can create a page and share informative content, photos, videos, news etc. You can, as a Tourism Company promote a lot of events, integrate applications or custom tabs, come up with offers for your fans, get reviews from your customers. You should make a great effort so that people ‘Like’ you. Have a look at the Kerala Tourism & Expedia India Facebook page.

Twitter

Here you can update travel related news, facts etc. Explore or search for travel experts and bloggers as the inputs given by them on travel influences a lot of people. You can follow them on Twitter and share your views and your content. You can engage guests on your Twitter page in interactions. You can try being an active part of travel forums which will drive them ‘follow’ you.

Kerala Tourism on Twitter.

Blog

Blog can help you build a much closer connect with your customers and potential visitors. An inside view of destinations, offers and experiences create an interest amongst the visitors. Pictures shared in the blog will help build a curiosity in them to be at that place. People who have already visited places and planned a package through you and have liked your service will comment happily. This will help you build the trust and loyalty and more visitors will visit you. For example: – Cleartrip went social with a belief that travelling is a naturally social activity. Once on their website, one can sync it to their Facebook page and explore and extract the information needed.

Youtube

People get attracted to the audiovisual substance majorly. Therefore, you can set up your own YouTube channel and place a call to action for your viewers to ‘watch’ your videos & subscribe. Videos throw a light upon the admired destinations worldwide, which makes people yearn for exploring the same. A great amount of information can be given out through these videos. Just like Epediaindia’s presence on Youtube is liked by everyone.

Flickr

Sharing photos of beautiful destinations that embark a curiosity amongst travelers is a great concept. Uploading them on regular basis will attract a lot of people. With many other Tourism Companies present in the market, Yatra is also on Flickr.

Foursquare

Get listed on Foursquare and let people find you and ‘Check in’. It is also an interesting way to gain information on social networks. Makemytrip, for example is present on Fourswuare.

Trip Advisor

You need to list your company with Tripadvisor which is an online travel community reached by lakhs of monthly users. Comments and reviews made by you visitors will help you promote your brand in a great way. It will be easy for you to manage your brand well when you get the feedback directly from your visitors. You can motivate them to ‘recommend’ you.

Twitter presence of TripAdvisor:

Website

All your Social Media handles can be promoted through your website. This is an effective way to drive the traffic or potential customers to your online presence. It will enhance the interaction and engagement. Content creation should be interesting in a way that more and more readers get attracted to the word given out by you and leverage your brand identity across the Tourism sector.

Madhya Pradesh Tourism’s website is creatively designed. It persuades a major audience to explore their website.

Pinterest

People view, admire and follow and pin to the boards they like. It is also a great platform for a Tourism Industry to add images of awe-inspiring travel locations with the reviews. People get attracted to the visual presentations majorly. Tamilnadu Tourism has beautifully created boards on Pinterest on various travel locations.

Google+

Expedia US has their presence on Google+ which helps them connect to a wider audience globally. This helps them spread their word for travel locations, experiences and everything about tourism. Businesses can very well leverage their organizations through this platform.

Social Media Bookmarking

It goes a long way to leverage your business online. You can convey your brand message clearly and promptly just like Delicious, Digg etc. are doing. Blog promotion can also be done successfully with this effort.

In a Nutshell,

• Engage with wider groups and build a community to interact.
• Keep a consumer centric approach.
• Share experiences and ideas to maximize impact.
• Encourage visitors to upload and share photos of real experiences.
• Engage through rewards and offers.
• Offer free WIFI to visitors/guests making it easy for them to share their views on the place.
• TripAdvisor can be utilized to a great extent with its listings and forums.
• Emphasize on value generation for your brand.
• Integrate location based services or have QR codes to let people through links with offers etc.
• Aim to integrate your Tourism Company with web presence to convert them to bookings.
• Testimonials or foreword from the work force of your organization goes a long way in engaging people by invoking fruitful communication.

You can leverage online bookings and travel plans as major of the World’s travel is now researched looked for, advertised, booked and procured online. The decisions of travelers, tourists and other people are influenced by the technology, mobile apps and social media when they are planning their travel. Even the bulk travel plans by travelers are done via internet.

Though changing trends, booming technology and numerous options depict a great shift in the consumer buying behavior patterns; they still trust word of mouth. Digitally speaking, word of mouth is everywhere! For example – a status update by your friend on a vacation on Facebook, a hotel or an accommodation review on Foursquare, a trend followed on Twitter, a Youtube video, a travel blog and so on so forth. All these activities online create a spark of inspiration within the users of Social Media platforms. They view, like and get inspired!

With millions of users present in social media world they are sure to Like, Follow or Share the things they admire before planning a vacation!

Effective communication, commitment and authenticity in the response you make to your guests through social media are essential. Social media strategy will help you persuade your Tourism business to new heights. Therefore, use your social media presence to give value to your customers, treat them like royals, reward them; then see how they recommend your brand when spoken about travel.

To conclude on the points stated above, what is evident in the social media driven psychology of today’s travelers is that they rely almost completely on the resources online, wherein Tourism Industry needs to keep a check to strategize their targeting. Tourism Industry specialists need to upgrade to latest technology and concrete social media strategy to connect with their customers better. They also need to track the development of mobile apps which also prove beneficial at most places.

Integration of Social Media aids in establishing a brand with a strong foundation and promising the best travel experience. Therefore, a well planned central marketing strategy will help the Tourism companies go a long way in building their brands and making them known.

While a few major players of the Tourism and Travel Industry explain a remarkable presence on social media platforms, what do you think should be the next step towards leveraging their brand? What effort should be taken to create a long lasting impact on the population? Do you think Social Media tools, if implemented in a competitive way will help promoting and building their brand in the industry. Will Social Media escalate the interactions, engagements and excitement for the brand?