JULY 2020, ISSUE 4
RESETTING FOR RECOVERY TARGETED MARKETING ON THE TV, FOR ALL THE POWER OF VIDEO SHARING THE BIGGER PICTURE SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCER MARKETING: PRE AND POST COVID-19 MAXIMISING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF CREATIVE THROUGH PROGRAMMATIC TECHNOLOGY
WELCOME BY CHAIRMAN In June the Tourism Society asked government to; reinforce and reorientate the leadership role of Visit England; strengthen the resilience of DMOs; establish a functioning network; develop a strategy for England and review delivery structures. At the beginning of July a reply from Nigel Huddleston stated; ‘I understand your calls for greater leadership to galvanise English tourism. I also note your call for guidance and leadership in supporting tourism's recovery’. However, the remainder of the letter suggested that our message was not quite getting through. We believe that what is required is a commission to review tourism structures and for a new strategy which should provide a comprehensive roadmap for a revitalised tourism sector beyond the current crisis. We will be replying accordingly. I was delighted on the 8th July to welcome the Tourism Alliances of Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland to our Think Tank session chaired by Lord Thurso. It was a fascinating discussion on responses to Covid19 and the common challenges faced by the devolved nations and I look forward to continuing to work
Kevin Kaley,
with our regional chapters to continue this dialogue over the coming months.
Chairman Tourism Society
You may have noticed the improved design of this newsletter which is courtesy of one of our corporate members Kemosabe. My thanks to them.
AJ U G L Y. 22 002200,, IIS S S U E 41 0
INTRO BY CHAIRMAN OF TSDN TRAVEL IS DIGITAL We set up the Tourism Society Digital Network to curate and showcase best practice in digital for travel. We all become inspired, search, book, check-in, navigate and boast about our travel on digital platforms. And now in a contactless Covid-era, more so than ever. But that can’t mean the ‘human’ is taken out of the experience. It is the responsibility of us all to use digital platforms to facilitate real human connection - we’re in the hospitality business after all! So, to this end, we will find over the next few pages, examples of great humans demonstrating great digital practices to make real human connection to drive our business forward. And if you’d like to know more please contact them as they’d be more than happy to have a real human chat! John Speers, Chair of TSDN John@wearekemosabe.com
John Speers, Head of Strategy & Performance, Owner, Kemosabe
JULY 2020, ISSUE 4
RESETTING FOR RECOVERY By John Speers, Kemosabe Back in April we said that the recovery will be quite literally ‘a game of 2 halves’. We reported that about half of the population would want to travel ‘within a month’ of lockdown release and the other half waiting it out. Today, in the latest July report by BVA BDRC, 47% of the population, who are anxious, impacted or just cautious will not travel.
Those who would be first to travel we suggested would
We
be affluent millennials and those older but active and
is Destination Connection at a time like this. Connecting
suggested
what
is
needed
more
than
ever
affluent, who’s active passions were denied to them in
visitors to the environment, people and place they visit.
lockdown.
Connection means keep on talking – even when you don’t have all the answers. Because who does?
In our webinar we outlined four Rs: Respond, Reimagine, Reach Out and Rebuild. The difficulty was (and is) is how
We have to respond in positive recovery mode. This is not
to Reimagine when really there’s just weeks of summer
lasting, we love travel and are social animals, we’re in the
left to get revenue. This demands action and confidence.
hospitality business where social connectivity (however
With an office in New York and London is was interesting
‘wrong’ that sounds now) is baked into our DNA as
to see the Americans appeared straight on the front foot -
professionals and as human beings.
in
the
tone,
style
and
dialogue
of
webinars
and
subsequent communication to existing and potential
If you believe this, then we have an absolute case for
guests
authentic
building in sustainable principles - in the widest sense.
communication, continual and consistent across multiple
That means travelling for the right reasons towards the
touch points.
betterment of ourselves and the local communities and
and
visitors…responsible
and
environment we come into contact with….what is needed in a Covid-world more than before. John Speers, Head of Strategy at Kemosabe John@wearekemosabe.com
JULY 2020, ISSUE 4
TARGETED MARKETING ON THE TV, FOR ALL By Stephen Wild, Sky Adsmart For years, many businesses have thought thatTV advertising has been out of their reach due to its mass appeal and associated costs.
Addressable TV is turning that thinking on its head – AdSmart from Sky makes TV relevant and affordable for businesses across the UK.But why use TV to help your business? Because TV is the most effective form of advertising there is…AdSmart allows you to pick and choose from a range of household attributes. There are thousands of ways you can mix the attributes to make sure your ideal customers get to see your TV ad.Many businesses currently using AdSmart choose to utilise one of our many location based targeting options and you can choose from our wide range of fixed segments to hone in on the most relevant socio-demographic attributes of your chosen target audience.Over 2,500 new to TV brands in 5 years and over 85% of them have returned … because it works .Maybe it’s time you experienced the power of TV enhanced!
EXCLUSIVE TOURISM SOCIETY MEMBERS OFFER: AdSmart from Sky & Travlrr offer Tourism Society Members an exclusive discounted media and production package. - Commitment pre 31/8/20 - Active pre 30/9/20- Booked Through TRAVLRR Minimum Level £10 - 20K including, £2k contribution towards the TV ad Between £20 – 50k 10% of budget allocated to content creation Above £50k - 15% of budget allocated to content creation N.B - Full media value delivered to total gross budget- (adapting suitable existing content) Stephen Wild, Sky Adsmart
JULY 2020, ISSUE 4
THE POWER OF VIDEO By Darren Khan, Travlrr How to reach and Inspire your customers using Video and new ways to approach production more cost effectively and in turn more sustainably.Video is the most effective way to drive consideration to booking (300% better) and over 75%+ of the internet use is now video! (Source Think Google Marketing Insights), So, why are so many Travel & Tourism brands not creating and using high quality video in their marketing or even on their websites, which is proven to be 80% more effective in keeping a customer on your website when they land? (Tubular Insights)
And seem to be so disconnected from where the
46% of users act after viewing an ad and Video drives
customer has gone (Digital) and more importantly won’t
a 157% increase in organic traffic from Search Engine
be coming back from now / post CV-19 ? Today’s
Results PagesIf video is the most effective way to reach,
consumers purchasing habits have been rapidly changing
inform, educate, entertain and convert a customer from
and accelerating since the crisis and Amazon, Deliveroo,
consideration to booking then how can clients create high
AirBNB, UBER and Netflix have all transformed our
quality video content more cost effectively and more
decision making and purchasing habits. And for these
sustainably?
audiences booking holidays and experiences is no different.A few headline stats: Marketers who use video
Darren Khan,CEO & Founder of Travlrr a sustainable
from revenue 49% faster than non-video users (Tubular
global production & content solutions business.
Insights), the average user spends 86% more time on the
We fund the planting of trees to the equivalent of 7500kg
website with video (Tubular Insights), viewers retain 95%
for each production commissioned.
of the message when they watch it in a video compared
darrenkhan@travlrr.co
to 10% when reading it in text (Google Insights),
JULY 2020, ISSUE 4
SHARING THE BIGGER PICTURE By Chris Newlands, Spelfie Chris is the CEO of both Spelfie and Tripsology Ltd, in partnership with AIRBUS, bringing a new use-case for the highest resolution satellites in orbit around Earth.On December 3rd, 2019, he was awarded the title of Innovator Of The Year, by the Ex-Scottish Forces In Business Awards. Spelfie was included as a finalist in July’s TECHROUND 100 in 17th position, ahead of brands like Houseparty, Babylon Health and Joe Wickes, The Body Coach.Chris shared his vision for travel and events during the current Coronavirus social distancing environment and also his views on a post COVID-19 world on what information and services he believes travellers will seek, to give them confidence to travel. He suggested that this is a time for the travel sector to reflect and get ready to survive and thrive as we emerge from the COVID pandemic. His assumptions rely upon proven scientific and psychological models. His presentation can be found here. Spelfie and Tripsology also rely heavily on science and space.Spelfie - in partnership with AIRBUS - uniquely allows people to capture their experiences at events, from space, in real time, capturing the individual and the event from a new perspective.
Experiential selfies are the most popular content on the web - it's all about the user - selfies from space offer an entirely new and unique perspective. Critically Spelfie, often referred to as Google Earth Live, is a new marketing channel which allows brands to bypass social and paid advertising models, reducing costs and improving ROI. Tripsology launches in Q1 2021, bringing science-based Spelfie has also developed a visible-from-space destination marketing tool, allowing DMOs to send the right message to the world, at the right time.
research tools to the travelling public, which could save lives. Offering air quality forecasts and recent satellite imagery to help people make better, more informed choices. Chris Newlands, Spelife
JULY 2020, ISSUE 4
SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCER MARKETING: PRE AND POST COVID-19 By Ben Bryant, Travlrr Influencer Competition in the Travel Industry has increased hugely as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, due to less demand for the same level of supply. The value of outdoor and print media has reduced, as consumer attention moves online due to global lockdowns. It’s therefore vital that travel brands refocus marketing budgets to social media as soon as possible, which is where their consumer’s attention is.
Large-scale video productions are no longer viable or sustainable using the traditional production model, due to travel restrictions, quarantines, cancellations, etc. Therefore, travel influencers and content production platforms such as Travlrr are a great option, as they offer small crews who are fast, agile and capable of creating production standard content. Influencers have highly engaged audiences and are experts in creating social media optimised content. Micro-Influencer with less than 100k followers are favoured as they are responsive, truthful in their reviews and hold high authority within their niche.Also, there is the huge benefit of media amplification to their audiences. Top tips for social media video and using influencers: Increase your brand’s activity on social media to mirror consumer’s attention
Repurpose your existing video contentTake advantage of agile influencers for video content production Use all of the tools available within social platforms (stories,live, etc.. Produce and test video content on TikTok to find what worksUse influencers to organically target travel consumers Reallocate your marketing and advertising budgets to social media In summary, if you want to sell anything to anyone, you first need their attention. The attention of your travel consumers is firmly on social media and to be relevant and visible to them, you need to commit to a strong social media content strategy. Benjamin Bryant, Founder of Benjamin Bryant Creative, a travel video production and social media amplification business, with 3.6 million followers across Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. benjaminbryantcreative@gmail.com
JULY 2020, ISSUE 4
MAXIMISING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF CREATIVE THROUGH PROGRAMMATIC TECHNOLOGY By Ian Winton, Jonathan Weeks, James Sansome, Crimtan
Now more than ever you should aim to maximise the effectiveness of your creative as the worldwide travel market comes back to life. Travel brands will need to focus on their audience and to use the data at their disposal to place their advertisements in front of those prospects who are most likely to respond. We call that Audience Intelligence.
The advertisements you then choose to deliver must be
And so by combining Audience, Creative and Investment
as relevant as is possible to the very best prospects you
intelligence you will optimise every aspect of every
have identified as they travel around the internet. You
campaign to meet and exceed your pre agreed key
should use the anonymous footprints your audience have
performance indicators and so deliver consistently
left on their journey to select those most likely to respond,
reliable acquisition costs across the customer life
and capitalise on that with an immediately relevant
cycle. Programmatic display should be a key part of any
creative message. We call this Creative Intelligence and it
travel brand’s communications and as it is highly cost
means elements such as the class of travel, the
effective it is of particular importance as we progressively
destination, the video or static nature of the execution,
emerge from the shattering impact of the virus. We'd be
the type of vacation, the style of accommodation, the
happy to tell you more.
overall budget, and any available offers all vary to meet the qualified requirements of the prospect as the
James Sansome, Technical Account Manager,
advertisement appears on their laptop, PC, tablet or
jsansome@crimtan.com
mobile. Finally it is now more important than ever that
Jonathan Weeks, International Sales Director
your budget is well spent.
jweeks@crimtan.com Ian Winton, International Partnerships Director,
Investment Intelligence comes from optimising the effect of your budget by controlling all of the variables that you can access through the available digital technology.
iwinton@crimtan.com
JULY 2020, ISSUE 4
LOCATING YOUR BEST CUSTOMERS THROUGH MOBILE TECHNOLOGY. By Matt Longley, Mobsta Mobsta verifies location signals from mobile devices and uses real-world location behaviour to build audiences, recognising groups with ‘active lifestyles’ or those deemed as ‘business travellers’, for example.
Our data builds insights that help plan offline and online campaigns and we then activate digital campaigns using those insights. Ads are served to the right person, at the right time, in the right place and we measure campaign success by tracking footfall to specific locations. We recently ran a campaign for Jet2 using our insights to inform where to target based on drive times to regional airports and who to target based on the demographic index of each airport. We minimised wastage by only targeting those most likely to book a holiday, and our technology enabled us to retarget mobiles that had been near a Jet2 outdoor ad, or seen at the cinema when Jet2’s cinema ad was shown. We achieved some fantastic results with an awareness increase of 56% and a consideration
uplift of 14%; both exceeding industry benchmarks. For the wider travel industry, we’ve monitored how our audiences have engaged with campaigns running in 2020. There has been a significant shift in what these groups are interested in. Atypical audiences are engaging with those campaigns suggesting audience behaviour shifting away from traditional travel audiences. For example, ‘sports enthusiasts’ showed an increase of 49% in interest in travel ads while people that are regularly seen in coffee shops are up a whopping 124%! And our ‘leisure travel’ data shows that interest in travel has dropped significantly during lockdown among 18-24s and 55+. So the message we want to convey is that audiences are shifting around; trust the data and be aware that you may have to change tack in order to reach your audience in a post-COVID world. Matt Longley, Client Director, Mobsta
JULY 2020, ISSUE 4
6 STEPS OF PLANNING AND THE MANAGEMENT OF TOURISM TODAY By Dr Julian Zaab, FTS, TCN & Board member of the Tourism Society Over the past weeks I have had the time to follow social media and the current news more closely and, frankly, it is alarming to read such negativity and see such apathy from many persons.
Instead of looking on this as a chance to better our lives
For the past ten years I have been researching and
in future; we dwell on our past (warts and all!) and
studying alternative forms of tourism and looking at new
bemoan these moments. My career, over the past forty
ways to manage tourism. The article included in the link
years has been in an activity which was very much
below should form the basis for a strong debate about
oriented to delivering service and hospitality, there was a
the way forward in a post-COVID world. The key
time that this was seen as a vocation and a career. Over
question we need to ask ourselves today: Do we really
these past years, these qualities have been degraded
want the old normal tourism activity or are we ready to
and, today, the tourism activity, has become another
manage tourism better and more sustainably now that we
industry based on mass production and quantitative
have this chance?
returns instead of quality and employees saw this simply as a job instead of a career.
JULY 2020, ISSUE 4
FUTURE EVENTS AND MEMBERSHIP NEWS
LIONEL BECHEREL, FTS TCN
The Tourism Society have hosted a series of Think Tanks over the weeks since lock down, where different speakers review a different aspect of the industry after and during the impact of COVID. Please check www.thetourismsociety.com for future events.
New member - Frances Julia Riemer, has a newly edited volume of Front and Back Stage of Tourism Performance: Imaginaries and Bucket List Venues, and would like the Tourism Society members to review it. Front and Back Stage of Tourism Performance: Imaginaries and Bucket List Venues situates the dream destinations on our travel bucket lists in modernity’s new global cultural economy, and as co-constructed by the tourist industry, state development policies, and community negotiations. The text’s ethnographically-grounded chapters describe tourism complicated by war and enacted against the economic inequities of neocolonialism. The authors focus on entrepreneurial strategizing, cultural identity, and natural resource management in markets in Agra and Fez, beaches in Mexico and the Caribbean, Mayan ruins of Tulum, safari in Botswana, the Festival in the Desert outside Timbuktu, backpacking treks in Nepal, Kichwa cultural displays in Ecuador, and Komodo dragon walks in Indonesia. See the full book here: https://www.amazon.com/Front-Back-Stage-TourismPerformance/dp/1138347868/ref=sr_1_1? dchild=1&keywords=front+and+back+stage+of+tourism+perfor mance&qid=1593632124&sr=8-1 https://www.routledge.com/Front-and-Back-Stage-of-TourismPerformance-Imaginaries-and-BucketList/Riemer/p/book/9781138347861
Sadly and shockingly, TCN member Lionel Becherel was discovered dead in his flat in Chiswick on June 28th of unknown causes. Lionel was an active consultant who worked extensively overseas, often in partnership with other TCN members. Lionel grew up in the United Kingdom and France and had dual British and French nationality. He obtained a degree in Modern Languages from the University of Westminster and was a tour manager at Globus Gateway and Voyage Jules Verne over the period 1983-1989, which gave him a solid grounding in tourism. His path into tourism planning was consolidated when he studied for a Masters in Tourism Marketing Management at the University of Surrey in 1988 followed by a period of postgraduate study at the University of Bournemouth and membership of the prestigious Surrey Research Group. Over the next 30 years Lionel worked in over 50 countries on a highly diverse range of projects. He ably took on projects in marketing, economic analysis, manpower planning, product development, tour operation and master planning. Lionel was tri-lingual, being fluent in English, French and Spanish, and used these skills to good effect on several of his consulting assignments, particularly in French speaking Africa, Mauritius, France, and Spain. He worked as a tourism specialist and as project manager on large-scale tourism master planning projects, notably those commissioned by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). Always willing to share with colleagues his immense experience and know-how, his mix of professionalism, congeniality and canny ability to slot into local life in the destinations he worked, gained him respect and affection among colleagues and counterparts, many of whom became best friends. His passing creates a sense of loss and hurt to many of us who treasured his humanity. Lionel had another remarkable skill – he was able to watch any football fixture live on his computer, anywhere in the world, for free! He knew all the tricks of the trade, and when on overseas assignments, meetings and workshops were often planned around Liverpool matches. To miss one was almost unthinkable. He passed away as his team triumphed as 2019/2020 Premier League champions.
JULY 2020, ISSUE 4