Travel and tourism marketing for destinations, businesses and brands that care give back transform lives inspire

1. Imagine that your website and online marketing campaigns are the only salespeople promoting your business. They  work 24 hours a day, seven days a week without rest. But as the internet is fast-paced and ever-changing, your website and campaigns constantly need to adapt in order to be in tip-top shape. Just like athletes who need coaching, your campaigns need expert and continual guidance for optimal performance.
2. Save money and time. Instead of investing a full-time salary in one staff member, or juggling marketing while running your business, partnering with a travel and tourism marketing agency will offer you great value for money. A marketing agency provides a team of specialists with different skill sets that can focus on your marketing strategy and deliver results.
3. When you partner with a tourism digital marketing agency, you engage a team of marketing experts with many years of experience in their speciality areas, as well as exposure to diverse brands and projects. They have seen what works and what doesn’t work, which takes away a lot of the guesswork, saving time and delivering faster results.

Marketing in travel and tourism involves specific strategies, models and techniques. These are needed to identify, reach and connect with consumers in a way that motivates them to take action.

One of the key differences for marketing in the tourism industry and tourism destination marketing when compared to other industry verticals is the customer journey. In the tourism sector, the majority of the customer journey is captured in an online environment, making digital marketing channels the most cost-effective approach for reaching visitors. 

The five key stages of the tourism customer journey are dreaming, planning, booking, experiencing and sharing. For businesses in the tourism sector, it’s important to understand your customers’ needs and wants at each stage of the buying cycle. Content marketing strategies and targeted advertising that reaches and resonates with potential customers in each of the five stages will have the greatest impact on your business, profit and return on investment.

The main purpose of tourism marketing is to raise awareness, encourage consideration and increase demand for a particular destination, attraction, tourism activity or experience in a destination. Travel and tourism marketing strategies and tactics are used in both the private and public sectors to communicate and promote destinations, experiences and service providers.

The primary goals of tourism marketing are often to increase visitation and profit. At Mankind Digital, we partner with tourism organisations that are motivated by regeneration and sustainability, community benefit and environmental impact.

Learn more about our purpose and the Mankind Digital story.

Understanding who your customers are, along with what they need, want and expect at each stage of the customer journey is essential to a successful marketing strategy.

Effective tourism marketing can result in increased visitation and awareness of a specific region. It can also help to raise a destination’s profile and improve public perception. 

For tourism businesses and travel experience providers, successful marketing strategies can increase profits and brand awareness. They can also improve a businesses’ profile on the internet. Satisfied customers will promote an organisation on social media and in online forums, and write positive online reviews that encourage other travellers to experience particular services.

Mankind Digital are experts in:

1. Connecting tourism providers with targeted visitors
2. Increasing bookings and enquiries
3. Communicating the benefits of responsible tourism
4. Creating and repositioning tourism brands

Learn more about the tourism marketing services that can help you to achieve your goals.

Travel and tourism marketing often relies heavily on digital marketing channels. These channels allow organisations to reach travellers anywhere at any time within the consumer journey or buying cycle. The primary online channels are SEO (Google search results), social media and email marketing. Other necessary digital channels include websites (including blog articles, forums and review sites), paid advertising (social media and Google Ads) and affiliate marketing.

Offline channels include outdoor advertising, print, wholesalers, partnerships, sponsorships and events, to name a few. 

Every business is different in terms of the recommended channel mix. Each stage a traveller has reached within the consumer journey—whether it be dreaming, planning, booking, experiencing or sharing—has specific channels that are best. 

Customer research and targeted 1:1 interviews with your existing customers can identify opportunities and new marketing tactics to reach more of your ideal customers in the future. 

There are typically five core activities required to develop a successful tourism marketing strategy. These include:

1. Define the target audience and their needs, wants and desires at each stage of the buying cycle 
2. Decide which approach to tourism marketing makes the most sense for your audience (ie location-based marketing, activity marketing or corporate marketing)
3. Consider which markets to target and which locations your campaigns should run in
4. Focus on selling the benefits of the destination, activities or experiences 
5. Set a compelling price or package and consider a deal or temporary promotion that may be suitable   
6. Promote the destination, activity or experience through various marketing and communication strategies and tactics best suited to your audience, approach and destination.

At Mankind Digital, we focus on internet marketing for tourism and marketing for travel experience providers. Our core services include customer research, tourism marketing strategy, content marketing for travel, social media marketing, SEO, paid digital advertising, website design and development, and tourism marketing training. We also deliver digital marketing strategy for travel agencies, tour operators, tourism activity and accommodation providers, and destinations.

The most common approaches to tourism marketing are outlined below.

Location-based tourism marketing:

This type of marketing promotes a destination by endorsing the benefit of the location rather than promoting a specific business or service provider. Location-based marketing campaigns are often led by strong imagery and video content that help prospective visitors imagine themselves in the destination. Many location-based campaigns are supported by search engine marketing strategies that focus on specific keywords, maps and tools with information about the destination.

Activity-based tourism marketing:

This form of marketing is focused on promoting the attractions, sights and activities available in the destination. For example, travellers interested in discovering ‘things to do in Melbourne’ are in the planning stages of their trip. They are often creating an itinerary of activities to enjoy. They may also be comparing the activities available in multiple destinations to help them decide where they should go. The attractions and activities they find online may help them choose which city they travel to.

Corporate tourism marketing:

Corporate marketing strategies generally target attendees at conferences, trade shows and events. They promote the business and leisure aspects of the destination, enticing business travellers to make the most of an opportunity to travel for business purposes. In Australia, for example, a high proportion of corporate marketing strategies are focused on regional and interstate travellers, rather than international visitors.

High-quality images and video content are two of the most powerful tools in tourism marketing. Multimedia engages visitors in the dreaming and planning phases of the buying cycle. It helps people imagine themselves in the destination. To elicit a positive emotional reaction and an instant connection with a location, guests need to visualise themselves enjoying the attractions and the natural beauty of the region. 

A good tourism marketing campaign is led by strong imagery and a thought-provoking content strategy. This raises awareness of the destination and encourages travellers to consider a trip in the future.

Talk to us about your upcoming campaign and how we can help you meet your objectives.