Have a little budget left for events that can help you with your destination marketing? Sure, we run an online course in social media for tourism, but we are also enthusiastic about the value of in-person learning. Here are some of the 2018 tourism conferences that we either recommend, or are honored...

It's that time of year, when thoughts turn to trends in tourism and destination marketing. Here's the thing, though. A big pile of trends, of "Pay attention to mobile!" plus "Pay attention to video!" plus "Pay attention to Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality!" plus "Don't forget chatbots!" plus "What about influencer...

We speak a lot about event marketing, but generally it is in the context of annual events, not events with a short lead time. Quite often in destination marketing there are festivals and events that spring up out of nowhere; it's great to have these new events, but they often...

How can you create a media contacts list that is perfect for YOUR destination? Online media coverage brings attention and publicity to your town. It can also be the "gift that keeps on giving" for you. Links back to your website and tourism partner sites from online articles and blog posts...

How can you build a stronger team with your tourism partners? Tourism partners can include attractions and hotels, of course, but also parks, retailers, restaurants, Main Street/downtown development organizations, the Chamber of Commerce, local media, your Board of Directors, the City Council, cultural districts, and even the schools. That's certainly a varied group. If...

How can tourism organizations best use social media after a natural disaster? Normally, social media for destination marketing is all about enticing and welcoming visitors, but after disasters like hurricanes, wildfires, floods, or earthquakes, there is a different goal, at least in the short term. What is needed before, during, and after...

Are you ready to get started with video, but are short on either skill or time? We've had a Tourism Currents YouTube channel since we launched our business in 2009, but it lay around kinda sad and unattended in recent years. To get us back on track, we've started shooting a few short videos...

Sometimes you have to chase short-term victories. Most of the time, you do not. We are thoroughly enjoying the opportunity to spend time together in the same location (in the same time zone!) this week at the iDSS/Tempest Tourism Academy 2017, in Long Beach, California. It's made us think a lot about...

Locals are the soul of your community, and a key part of your destination marketing. More than likely, your locals were tourists before they decided to move to your community and perhaps start a business there, because tourism is key to economic development. From a tourism standpoint, those then-visitors-now-locals obviously liked...

What do you REALLY have to do for social media promotion of a festival or special event? One of our clients was running herself ragged handling all of the arrangements for a festival. She said to us, "What do I really have to pay attention to for online promotion of this...