Tech in tourism: say hello before you get there

It used to be that when you visited a destination, you picked up a couple of brochures at the airport or the train station or the bus station, to go along with your guidebook.

Sometimes, there was even an opportunity to wander into a physical Visitor’s Center and talk to a knowledgeable human from the tourist bureau.

Today, with travelers Googling for information, asking questions on Facebook and tossing out queries on Twitter, many of the places that you’re going to visit are learning to reach out and say hello before you even get there.

Some are using a Twitter hashtag to keep track of your questions:

• #inPDX is monitored by the Portland, Oregon CVB (Convention and Visitor’s Bureau)
• #abilenevisitors is monitored by the Abilene, Texas CVB.

Some are using blogs to give you the inside scoop:

• the Indiana Insider blog
• the ShoreLines blog for Virginia Beach, VA
• the blog for the Boise, Idaho Basque festival Jaialdi (held every five years in Boise, which has a large Basque population)
• the New Bedford (MA) Whaling Museum blog
• the Christchurch and Canterbury blog in New Zealand
• the Fargo, North Dakota/Moorhead, Minnesota CVB blog (they share tourism responsibilities)
• the Cape Town, South Africa blog
• (Update – by popular demand from our Twitter readers) the Columbus (Ohio) Experience blog

Some are using YouTube video to show their destinations:

• the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Visit Philly channel
• the Cedar Point (Sandusky, Ohio) channel (for you roller coaster fans) (Update – I originally had this in Iowa. D’oh!)
• the Travel Nevada channel
• the Loudon County, Virginia channel
• the Western Minnesota Steam Threshers Reunion (every Labor Day in Rollag, Minnesota)
• (Update – by popular demand from our Twitter readers) the Visit Findlay, Ohio channel

They’re on Facebook (Discover South Carolina,) on MySpace (Nashville’s Visit Music City) and sharing photos on Flickr (Visit Idaho.)

Here’s the good news: a CVB or tourism organization is non-commercial. They exist to “sell” you on the merits of their destination and convince you to visit. Nothing else.

Someone whose whole job is simply to make sure you have a nice visit?

That’s worth a follow….

Related posts:

1. Thoughts from a Taco Bell in Waco, Texas
2. It’s a Tough Sell: Tourism in Iraq and Afghanistan.
3. Treasures at the Kansas Cosmosphere: Liberty Bell 7
4. Video: Philadelphia brewpubs and taverns

This entry was posted
on Thursday, April 15th, 2010 at 9:26 pm and is filed under Sheila projects, travel video, travel websites.
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