Students

Cambodia, an add-on destination

Dr Pagna Pich (Royal University of Phnom Penh, Cambodia)

Dr Puthika Cheab (Royal University of Phnom Penh, Cambodia) Dr Marady Phoeun (Royal University of Phnom Penh, Cambodia) Dr Phyra Sok (Queensland University of Technology, Australia)

Traumatised by a genocidal regime and decades of civil wars, Cambodia has evolved to become a political, social and economically stable country. In developing countries such as Cambodia, travel and tourism development is largely regarded as a source of foreign exchange and forms part of the government poverty reduction strategy (Chen et al., 2008;  Reimer  and  Walter, 2013). Tourism has become the third largest sector in Cambodia, after the agricultural and garment industries, in generating the government’s revenue. According to the data obtained  from the Ministry of Tourism of Cambodia, in 2000 total international tourist arrivals were 466,365; and in just over a decade had increased to 3,584,307 in 2012, 4,210,165 in 2013 and 4,502,775 in 2014. Cambodia is well-known for its nature and cultural heritage. In particular, Angkor Wat, the UNESCO world heritage site, alone attracted more than 2 million international visitors in 2014. Aside from Angkor Wat, Cambodia has other potential tourist sites that  are mostly natural. Kampot, Sihanouk Ville and Koh Kong in the southwest of the country are leisure sites for tourists who seek relaxation. In north-eastern Cambodia lie the protected forests popular for their ecotourism, where tourists can experience indigenous life and see some   of the world’s rarest animals. Historical sites like the Royal Palace, the Khmer Rouge Killing Field, the National Museum and similar can also be found in Phnom Penh, the capital city of Cambodia.

There is an estimate that international arrivals will undergo an upsurge of 25 per cent to Southeast Asian countries and reach 86,700,000 by 2015. However, Cambodia is not a nation that can enjoy the significant benefits from this large increase. Cambodia possesses wonderful treasures other countries do not have. The treasures notwithstanding, Cambodia is not the first destination for most international arrivals. The main ten source markets for visitors to Cambodia, however, subsume Vietnam, China, Laos PDR, South Korea, Thailand, Japan, the United States, Malaysia, France and the UK. Although Cambodia was able to attract a significant number of international tourists in 2014, the country was not really their first destination of choice. Holidays were planned for countries such as Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam or Singapore; yet Cambodia was an add-on destination among many travellers after their visits to neighbouring countries. Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore have much bigger markets for international tourists coming from Southeast Asian countries. Thailand and Malaysia currently attract more than five times, with Singapore attracting more than three times as many tourists as Cambodia. Cambodia accounted for less than  5 per cent of the total amount of tourists in Southeast Asia, while Thailand accounted for up to 30 per cent and Malaysia 27 per cent in 2012.

Further reading

Dong, P. and Siu, N. Y. M. (2013).

Chen, Y. C. et al. (2008).

Reimer, J. K. and Walter, P. (2013).

Discussion question

Why is Cambodia still an add-on destination for international visitors?

Vietnam’s late adoption of social media

Dam Phuong Lien (June)

Manager, Marketing and Sales Department, Vietnam Airlines

Founded in 1960 as the Vietnam Tourism Corporation, the NTO became the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) in 1992. Today, VNAT is still a government department, as part of the Ministry of Culture, Sport and Tourism. In 2014 Vietnam welcomed a total of 7.9 million international visitors (http://vietnamtourism.gov.vn/index.php/items/16397), which was moderate compared to neighbouring competitors such as Thailand, which attracted 24.8 million visitors (http://www.tourism.go.th/home/details/11/221/23044) and Malaysia, which attracted more than 13.9 million visitors (http://corporate.tourism.gov.my/images/research/pdf/2014/arrival/ Tourist_Arrivals_Dec_2014.pdf).

One of the main challenges facing VNAT has been a small marketing budget relative to competing destinations. According to an assessment of Hanoi-based Institute For Tourism Development Research in June 2014, VNAT’s average annual expenditure on promoting tourism was less  than US$3 million, in contrast to the US$80 million spent by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), and US$98 million spent by Tourism Malaysia (http://www.itdr.org.vn/thong-tin-tu-lieu/ cac-tu-lieu-khac/819-bao-cao-ldu-lich-viet-nam-n-thuc-trang-va-giai-phapr.html). Chief of VNAT, Nguyen Van Tuan, admitted that the tight budget for promoting tourism was spread over so many different activities and as a consequence it was hampering tourism promotion campaigns and reducing the country’s ability to grow visitor arrivals (http://www.ttrweekly.com/site/2015/04/ shoestring-budget-slows-vietnams-tourism). Therefore VNAT must become more creative in its approach to marketing communications and take advantage of below-the-line opportunities, such as those presented by social media.

Other countries in South East Asia have successfully embraced social media to promote their destinations. For example, TAT has maintained a Facebook page since 2009. With approximately three daily postings related to their destinations, cuisine, events and travel packages, TAT has been able to attract a fan base of 790,000 followers. This is in addition to their Twitter feeds that provide a constant stream of information, pictures and videos about destinations throughout the country. Similarly, information about travel to and in Malaysia is also abundantly and attractively available through their tourism Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and YouTube presence since early 2010.

However, it has only been recently that VNAT has embraced the internet as part of its marketing. The first Facebook page for the destination was established at the end of 2013, with a YouTube presence following in 2014. VNAT focuses on four main themes on social media: destinations and people; traditional cuisines; Vietnamese tourism news; and travel packages and events. To date these themes have been consistently delivered with a frequency of at least two per week for each theme. In VNAT’s marketing strategy to 2020, one of the key strategies is maintaining their website and boosting e-marketing in which the above activities on social media platforms such as Facebook and YouTube will be prioritised and developed in both content delivered and graphics designed to increase potential tourists’ engagement and, accordingly, promote their destination (http://vietnamtourism.gov.vn/index.php/ docs/736). Details of their action plan for e-marketing in the period 2015–2020 are as follows:

In 2015: Step by step apply e-marketing tools through boosting the NTO’s Facebook page and building up tourist database.

In 2016: Create and produce tourism e-books and Vietnam Tourist Guide, Vietnam Today, Vietnam destination map or other e-leaflets about Vietnam culture tourism to advertise on their own website, Facebook, YouTube and other recognised tourism websites or travel blogs.

In 2017: Coordinate with other tourism associations in the region, marketing agents, tour companies and travel agents to join in VNAT’s e-marketing programmes of co-producing video clips to upload on Facebook and YouTube.

In 2018/2019/2020: Continue to boost and expand e-marketing through increasing the presence on social media networking sites, search engine tools (SEO), email marketing, marketing on other recognised websites by tourists.

VNAT will allocate about 15 per cent of the annual marketing budget to promote products and destinations on digital platforms. As at May 2015 the VNAT tourism Facebook page had only attracted 17,400 followers in the 18 months of its existence and was well below that for Thailand and Malaysia.

Discussion question

In the short term, what initiatives could VNAT undertake to boost the number of Facebook

Black Forest tourism: DMO competition, collaboration and innovation

Professor Florian Hummel

Cologne Business School, Germany

It was in 1906 that the forerunner of today’s Black Forest Tourism Association (Schwarzwald Tourismus GmbH (STG)) was established in southern Germany. This is a marketing organisation and governing body for the Schwarzwald (Black Forest) holiday region. The STG performs all the functions of a DMO responsible for the brand name Black Forest, which the STG owns. The STG represents a total of 321 municipalities in their tourism interests at home and abroad.

However, in recent years, 15 municipalities have formed their own DMO. These municipalities account for the largest number of tourism visitors and income of the whole Black Forest region. With a similar name to the Black Forest Tourism Association (STG), the newly formed Black Forest Tourism GmbH (Hochschwarzwald Tourismus GmbH (HTG)) manages 23 tourist information offices in towns around this high income region of the Black Forest. With around 3.5 million overnight stays, the HTG now represents the strongest tourism region of the southern Black Forest and has in its geographical portfolio the Schluchsee as the largest lake in the Black Forest. Also, Lake Titisee as the most famous lake, the Feldberg is the highest mountain of the Central German Uplands and the Wutachschlucht as the largest canyon in Germany.

Tourism is the main source of income in this unique but remote area. Politically and economically, this new breakaway DMO entity has created friction within the overall Black Forest region tour- ism community.

Discussion question 1: Discuss the potential frictions that the split up of these two DMOs might generate. In particular, take into account sustaining and developing the brand image of the Black Forest as well as operational issues that tour operators and tourists might face.

In addition, the HTG seems to be a more innovative entity than the older STG. A recent development and initiative are the Cuckoo Nests – Design Apartments, which the HTG is marketing to visitors. The apartments feature lovingly designed decor with wood and stone walls, real wood design kitchens, many natural materials, tree stumps as bedside tables and their own furniture line. The staged authenticity of the interior shows off the well-known attributes of the Black Forest region.

Overall 40 such Cuckoo Nests – Design Apartments are planned to open and be offered to visitors, scattered around all 15 Black Forest villages that the HTG represents. The Cuckoo Nests are located in the mid to upper quality segment, with prices starting at just under €100 per night for two people and are distributed through the HTG website. The apartments are secured initially for 5 years by HTG from the local owner who receives 18 per cent commission on the revenue generated through HTG, but who needs to initially invest €20,000 for furniture and fittings.

A background of the initiative is to help apartment owners with successor problems, difficulties in dealing with modern marketing tools (e.g. online booking facilities) and overcoming an outdated product. The aim is to develop a standardised apartment brand that guarantees the owner a secure income and, overall, to secure the future of this important tourism market in the Black Forest.

Discussion questions

Discussion question 1: What might be the reception of such standardised hospitality offerings in a very rural and traditional region?

Discussion question 2: How will local owners of holiday apartments react when the regional DMO adds these specially designed apartments to the region’s portfolio and exclusively makes them available through its webs

Beaches open for business

In March 2009, during Cyclone Hamish, the MV Pacific Adventurer spilled 260 tonnes of fuel, along with 31 shipping containers housing 620 tonnes of ammonium nitrate, into the Coral Sea, just north of Brisbane, Australia. The following week the spillage washed ashore along 60 kilometres of coastline that included 4 popular beach destinations: Sunshine Coast, Moreton Bay, Bribie Island and Moreton Island. Affected areas included surf beaches, reefs and wetlands. Many of  these areas had also already been battered by the cyclone. The ship continued through into the Port of Brisbane, leaving a 500 metre oil slick at the mouth of the Brisbane River. A state of emergency was declared by the Queensland state government, with Premier, Anna Bligh, describing the event as ‘the worst environmental disaster Queensland has ever seen’. The spillage took   16 months of work by over 1,400 people to clean, at a direct cost of millions of dollars, along with the ensuing loss of revenue by affected businesses.

Nine days after the spill, Tourism Queensland announced details of a coordinated, cooperative campaign involving the STO and three RTOs: Brisbane Marketing, Tourism Sunshine Coast and Fraser Coast South Burnett Tourism. The aim was to reassure the domestic market and local residents that most beaches in south-east Queensland were open for business. The initiative was anchored by a AUD$750,000 television advertising campaign in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and northern New South Wales. Other tactics included:

• a three-week newspaper advertising campaign linked to the television advertising;
• a campaign featuring local cricketing legend, Matthew Hayden, encouraging Queenslanders   to Donate a day to the bay to assist the clean-up operation;
• a local radio blitz promoting the Sunshine Coast to Brisbane residents;
• weather segments and live weather crosses on a national television network;
• television and print publicity in high profile television travel shows and newspaper travel sections;
• a special travel promotion via the STO’s email newsletter to a database of over 400,000 consumers;
• updates to the local tourism industry encouraging them to make sure frontline staff were aware of unaffected beach areas and operations;
• a dedicated STO email account and Maritime Services Queensland phone hotline for tourism operators to direct tourism-related questions and concerns.

Further reading

Ironside et al. (2009). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFJALMXLf9k http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_southeast_Queensland_oil_spill

Discussion question

Why did the DMOs target communications towards the local host community as well as the major domestic markets of Sydney and Melbourne?

Tours to Christchurch’s earthquake Red Zone

Dr Anne Lane

Queensland University of Technology, Australia

Christchurch is New Zealand’s second-largest city with a population of about 360,000 people.  It is the capital of the Canterbury region, situated on the eastern coast of New Zealand’s South Island in an area renowned for earthquake activity – which is why NZ is sometimes referred to as the Shaky Isles. Although Christchurch’s economy is based largely on agriculture, it has also has a thriving tourism industry. Tourists visit Christchurch because of its proximity to the snow fields of the Southern Alps, its growing reputation as a base camp for action and adventure activities and the charm of its architecture and culture. These and other attractions also make Christchurch a favoured destination for cruise ship passengers.

On 4 September 2010 a severe earthquake with a magnitude of 7.1 on the Richter scale rocked Christchurch. The area was still recovering from this when, on 22 February 2011, another major quake occurred. This second shock caused widespread damage and destruction in the Christchurch area and resulted in the deaths of 185 people.

Once the immediate after effects of the disaster had been addressed, and parts of the city had been made safe, the council set up the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (CERA) to look for ways to help local residents and businesses recover. As part of these efforts, CERA began to run bus tours to the Red Zone, the area of Christchurch hardest hit by the earthquakes. Over 37,000 tourists and locals paid a gold coin donation to take a trip to view the devastation.

The initial purpose of these bus tours was to allow those interested to see the reality of the disaster site for themselves, rather than relying on the often sanitised images portrayed in the media. Other visitors, particularly locals, wanted to go to pay their respects and to grieve for those who had lost their lives. Tour operators provided warnings about the danger of visiting the city centre, which was still experiencing aftershocks, and gave participants two chances to get off the bus before the tour began. Support facilities were provided for those who became distressed. Visitors were asked to listen to a provided audio track using headphones to respect the wishes of those who wanted to view the situation in silence. Red Zone tours were also provided for celebrities and politicians. Despite these efforts, local tourism operators experienced an 80 per cent drop in visitor numbers.

By March 2012, it became apparent that CERA could no longer afford to keep running the loss-making Red Zone bus tours. They put out a tender for a private company to offer the tours instead. Interested parties initially indicated they would need to charge visitors a minimum of NZ$10 per ticket to make the trips financially viable. The company whose tender bid was successful now brands the trips as The Rebuild Tour (see http://www.redbus.co.nz/christchurch/ rebuild-tour), and focuses on showing visitors the rebuilding and regeneration of Christchurch in their NZ$29 tours. The tour is rated eighth out of 69 tours and activities in Christchurch by TripAdvisor with a user score of 4.5 out of 5.

Discussion question

What is the tourism benefit of offering tours of a disaster zone?

Collaborative marketing research for product development

Sarah Gardiner and Noel Scott

Griffith University, Gold Coast, Australia

To remain competitive in a changing tourism market DMOs need to support and encourage tourism operators to continue to evolve their experiences to meet their changing visitors’ mix and market-specific needs. The Gold Coast is Australia’s major leisure tourism destination, providing a fun holiday environment built around its core resources of surf beaches, waterways and rain- forest environments combined with its relaxed lifestyle and built attractions, centred on theme  parks, shopping and dining activities. Not unlike many other tourism destinations around the world over the past century, Gold Coast tourism experiences have historically catered for mostly Western travellers, chiefly Australian (domestic) visitors from Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne and visitors from New Zealand, Europe and the United States. However, the recent dramatic growth in first Japanese (1980s onwards) and later in Chinese (2000s onwards) visitors presents a challenge for operators who need to evolve their experiences to accommodate the important cultural differences of these new markets.

China is the fastest growing international travel source market in the world, and many Australian destinations, like the Gold Coast, have benefited from this boom in Chinese travellers. Australia was one of the first Western countries to be given Approved Destination Status (in 1999) for Chinese travellers and, since then, this market has grown around 13 per cent per annum (2002 to 2012) to become Australia’s second largest inbound market (after New Zealand and exceeding visitors from the United Kingdom). This growth is expected to continue with the Australian Government estimating total expenditure by Chinese travellers to reach between AUD$7.4 billion and AUD$9 billion by 2020.

Cognisant of this market trend, Gold Coast operators saw a significant opportunity to grow     their businesses to attract Chinese visitors, but required insightful and actionable research on  the preferences of Chinese visitors to make their experience ‘China ready’. Accordingly, the region’s DMO, Gold Coast Tourism, and local government agency, City of Gold Coast, partnered with Griffith University to investigate ways in which Gold Coast tourism businesses could make changes to their guest experience to better accommodate Chinese visitors, in particular Chinese youth and student travellers. To make sure the research results were practical and actionable, the researchers worked with a surf school that was interested in getting into the China market. Chinese university students living in Brisbane and the Gold Coast were invited to participate in     a focus group where they were asked qualitative questions about their perceptions and attitude towards participating in a surf lesson as part of a Gold Coast holiday. Further insights were gathered when some participants later participated in a surf lesson and were interviewed about their perceptions, emotions and attitudes to the activity following the lesson.

Results suggest they really liked the beach and it was one of their main reasons for visiting and studying on the Gold Coast. Yet, most of the time, they just tended to look and visit the beach, they did not actually enter the water, because they were unfamiliar with the surf and had a fear of the water. Many of them could not swim and had never experienced the surf before. They are interested in surfing, but perceived it as too difficult. Yet, the idea of standing up and surfing a wave was viewed as a significant goal achievement. Sending an image of surfing a wave back home would provide social kudos. Sun exposure was also a concern. Darker skin was associated with farmers and agricultural workers who were perceived as lower class than Asian international students from cities and middle to upper class families who preferred fairer skin to represent their social status.

For those who went on the surf lesson there was a lot of excitement and students were proud and satisfied, because they confronted their fears of the activity. They really did not expect to stand up on a surfboard, so when they did stand, it was a moment of great joy. The professionalism and enthusiasm of the instructor also rated highly. They were keen to share their experiences on social media and used a Weibo account because Facebook is not accessible in China.

The surf school modified their products to suit the new Chinese market. Based on these findings, the surf school changed its emphasis from thrill and adventure to focus on learning about the beach, surfing safety and water skills as well as ensuring their instructors were more sensitive to various guest cultural needs and backgrounds. Sun sensitivity was addressed with long sleeve rash vests available to avoid sun exposure. International students also tended to partake in activities in friendship groups, and so the surf school offers group discounts and social activities, like a ‘Surf and Sizzle’ beach barbeque to extend the experience beyond just riding a wave.

Further reading

Scott, N., Gardiner, S. and Carlini, J. (2014). http://www.griffith.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/678307/Experience-Gold-Coast-Innovative-

Products-for-Asian-Visitors-2.pdf

Discussion question

Identify an ecotourism experience at your destination that might need adapting to suit Chinese visitors. What type of market research could you undertake to test the proposed changes to the experience?

The Wyndham Group: Promoting the destination first and their business second

Jane Gentle

Strategic Business Advisor, Iconic Solutions, Australia

Wyndham Worldwide is one of the world’s largest hospitality companies with 80 properties in 6 continents across South East Asia and the Pacific Rim. The group’s portfolio of world-renowned hotel and resort brands offer leisure and business travellers a broad array of products and services across a variety of budgets. Wyndham Worldwide recently initiated a new approach to managing their online social media programme, based on the recognition of the need to promote the destination first and the company second, in order to drive traffic to individual properties. The group has achieved this by aligning their initiatives with those of the local DMO at each of their destinations.

Wyndham keeps a tight rein on their corporate Facebook and Instagram pages, with the marketing department, located in their head office on Australia’s Gold Coast, being responsible for all content for each property. Wyndham management views Facebook as a way of connecting  with followers and providing information that will capture the attention  of  potential  and  current visitors, while enabling followers to share, like or comment on their posts. The group  has nearly 30 properties located throughout Australia, and Facebook pages for each individual property are not permitted (see https://www.facebook.com/Wyndhamap?fref=ts). Rather, an ambassador is appointed at each property, with the responsibility for creating newsworthy content on the region, which is then sent to head office. These story ideas are then reviewed  for potential posting to the 23,000  Facebook  followers  of  the  Wyndham  corporate  page.  The idea of the ambassadors in each location is to enable each individual property to have    their opportunity to be showcased to the group’s wider audience, while providing locale-centric stories to promote the destination over the corporate entity. Adopting a jab, jab, jab, hook approach, the strategic plan uses Facebook to post informative articles that link back to the corporate website, which has a dedicated blog page (http://www.wyndhamap.com/wps/wcm/ connect/wyndham/home/sitetools/exturl-wandrful).

Recognising the bigger picture of destination competitiveness, the articles are carefully crafted to promote the destination first and the Wyndham property second. For example, one recent article focused on ‘how to wine and dine in Torquay’, providing readers with a unique guide on how best to tour the region’s cuisine offerings. The story was part of an attempt to re-position the region from being known as a surfing community, to one that offers fine dining and vineyards specialising in classic varietals such as Shiraz and Merlot, as well as more exquisite Grenache and Gewürztraminer, all of which ‘can be enjoyed while watching a stunning moonlight summer concert in a 200 seat amphitheatre in one of the local vineyards’.

Another recent Facebook posting offered suggestions on ‘the best things to do in Melbourne on a rainy day’, which recognised the city’s renown for sometimes providing all four seasons in one day. The Wyndham Melbourne ambassador asked locals to share their favourite things to do on rainy days, to provide insiders’ knowledge. Another article titled ‘A photographic vision: Melbourne’ detailed an urban walk of the city, complete with a downloadable guided map, navigating photographers through the city’s unique laneways, urban graffiti hot spots and historic arcades, providing newcomers with an off-the-beaten track and stunning photographic trail of the city.

Discussion question

What initiatives could a DMO use to stimulate stakeholders to promote the destination image in their own marketing communications?

DMO collaboration with an online travel agent

Kim Stockham

Head of Public Relations, Wotif Group, Australia As at February 2015

Destination marketing, at its best, is a collaborative journey between a DMO and its stakeholders, including their strategic partners. Before marketing a destination, DMOs must endeavour to understand the needs of key stakeholders, which can include tourist attractions in-market, hotels, travel agents and marketing channel partners. Of course, they also need to understand what travellers want to experience, or expect to gain, from a visit to the destination they plan to promote. This helps tap into compelling destination images and messaging later in the process.

Destination marketing, conducted in partnership with an online travel agent (OTA), can have many advantages for DMOs, which include the opportunity to gain insights into traveller booking behaviour and online trends through the sharing of rich digital data, which they may not be able to access otherwise. OTAs may also provide insights about compelling times and ways to position the destination to their unique audience of travellers, particularly geared to an online-savvy audience.

Consumers visit an OTA site at various stages of the purchase funnel, from being inspired about a destination, to actively searching for a deal, or comparing pricing and value for money between sites and destinations. The ideal, final step would be in the booking of a trip to the promoted destination. Marketing a destination with OTAs can help build brand/destination awareness and focus attention on key attributes of the destination and promote reasons to book.

OTAs like those in the Wotif Group portfolio, including wotif.com and lastminute.com.au, work very closely with many DMOs to promote their destination. In our experience, great OTA destination campaigns tend to have common elements: compelling design and images, unique content for each channel targeted to the key audience using that distribution channel, amplified through PR and social media and orchestrated to build a positive image of, and interest in, the destination. A common promotional path is for the DMO to utilise the OTA’s owned channels (these predominantly being the OTA’s website, as well as re-marketing via the OTA’s customer relation- ship management communication channels, most commonly via email). At times, promotional campaigns also utilise paid channels (which include joint search engine marketing investment and above the line advertising activities). When combined, these marketing channels can provide the DMO with huge audience reach into key source markets for a destination. Incorporating the OTA embeds a connected path between promotions and the booking channel.

In the online environment, there is a highly measurable component to marketing campaigns, including the evaluation of the number of clicks to a landing page, or to destination travel products, or content on the OTA site. The ability to attract clicks confirms target audience interest in the destination and/or confirms that the destination deal on the OTA site is compelling. And ultimately, campaign success can be evaluated directly on consumer purchase behaviour, which occurs when online bookings of travel-related products in the promoted destination occur via the OTA site.

DMOs, travel suppliers (hotels, etc.) and the partner OTA can all benefit from destination campaigns where sales are generated, but travellers are the ultimate winners in this type of destination marketing approach, as OTAs often negotiate special product pricing in the promoted destination to support the marketing activity during the campaign period.

Additional elements in a compelling destination campaign can include social media and PR activities by the DMO, as well as by its OTA partner, which in turn can drive audience reach, and at times drive audience engagement, as well as potentially driving search engine optimisation (SEO) benefits for the DMO, OTA and for the campaign/destination. The OTA’s owned social media channels (i.e. the OTA’s social media sites such as Facebook, Google+, Instagram and Twitter) can work to support images and messages shared via the OTA’s earned communication methods, such as PR (particularly any resulting media coverage) and social sharing by online audiences. These are often referred to as below the line promotions.

A recent example of how public relations helped fuel awareness and build a positive destination image for Melbourne in media coverage (as part of a coordinated destination campaign on lastminute.com.au) can be seen below. This type of aligned approach across multiple channels, including PR activity, takes a great deal of forward planning, creative thinking and an acknowledgement that news media rarely run a story about marketing campaigns, but can be interested in trends, statistics and data on a destination or traveller habits. As such, the PR team can source and position destination-related news and share this news with media outlets, ideally at the same time as the campaign is running on owned and perhaps paid channels.

For the Play up in Melbourne campaign on lastminute.com.au, the PR team surveyed the OTA’s audience of travellers some weeks before the start of the campaign and then shared the sup- porting survey results with media, along with images. The resulting media coverage was directly attributable to lastminute.com.au’s PR efforts as part of a broader destination marketing campaign. The News Ltd Escape.com.au article reached a wide Australian audience as a result of syndication of the story (into The Daily Telegraph, The Herald Sun, The Courier Mail, Perth Now and Adelaide Now, for example http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/travel/australia/this-is-the- city-aussies-most-want-to-visit-in-2015/story-fnjjv1f2-1227208777517). The journalist utilised the PR angle shared by the lastminute.com.au PR team around Melbourne being the Australian city most people want to visit in 2015, as based on lastminute.com.au survey results.

Even broader audience awareness and geographic reach was gained for the same proactive PR outreach in additional media coverage in The Daily Mail, which utilised the same survey data, in a different way, to support an Aussie City Wish List story, also promoting Melbourne: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2940573/Sydney-Melbourne-Hobart-Perth-Darwin-make-wish-list-Aussie-cities-capital-city-Australians-want-visit.html

Media coverage drives reach and builds awareness, but as occurred in this example, it can also be an important channel to foster online sharing of the marketing campaign through social media reach (the sharing of the story via social networks). In this same example, further online reach was driven by the sharing of the stories on Escape.com.au’s social channels, which the DMO may then choose to share with its network of followers via their own social channels. https://www.facebook.com/escape.com.au?fref=nf

https://twitter.com/Escape_team

Embedded links in the online version of stories not only help to drive SEO benefits for the campaign, but they play an important role in helping people interested in travelling to Melbourne to find a great travel deal on, you guessed it, lastminute.com.au. In short: mutual benefits for the OTA, the DMO and the destination. Together, all channels work to drive visitors to (and therefore clicks) the lastminute.com.au Play up in Melbourne campaign landing page, which featured Melbourne travel deals, completing the purchase cycle: http://www.lastminute.com.au/dms/site/play-melbourne/index.html?intcmp=l:home:pod4:visualnav:play_melbourne

Discussion question

What are the main advantages for a DMO partnering with an OTA?