TOURISM MARKETING AND THE INCREASING SIGNIFICANCE OF AUTHENTICITY

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TOURISM MARKETING AND THE
INCREASING SIGNIFICANCE OF AUTHENTICITY




A study conducted quite recently by
the leading German



market researcher
marketagent.com attempted to find out how




effective pictures prove to be when
it comes to tourism online



marketing
ads. To say the least, the results were quite




surprising.



What the
research company found is that, although pictures
do



matter to a great extent and make
a difference when it comes
to
attracting tourists, cliché photos that contain
sceneries and landscapes often do not work very
well.
What work, instead, are images
that speak compelling stories visually.

Differentiating offerings is
important
Examining the utilization
of promotional pictures to promote alpine skiing
spots located in Austria and
Germany,
the study found that the majority of promoters
relied on interchangeable tourism
marketing
themes and photos to gain
best results. Among the brands promoting the 68
destinations examined,
about 60
percent showed such inclination.

Advertising a destination by
showcasing its best foot forward in every way,
often with the help of photos
of
natural attractions, is a good idea. But,
differentiating ads from competitors is utterly
crucial, too.
Storytelling can move
the youth
To carry out its study,
marketagent.com created a number of different
campaigns associated with a
fictional
alp destination. The researchers examined 2500
participants in total, and measured a large

number of factors.
The
study found that, during the early stages,
different types of campaigns did not produce very

different results. However, it
ascertained that images that describe a visual
story can impact consumers
for a
better duration, assuring an effect that is
longer lasting.
It seems that using
tourism industry images to tell a story can
achieve market differentiation quite

effortlessly. The strategy can
present a particular destination under a unique
light, especially to young
affluent
travelers and experience seekers.

Opportunities for online tourism
marketing
To conclude, the study
found that while most tourists look for an
appealing natural destination in the

alpine, they also look for something
unique an exciting.
That means if a
travel brand wants to remain on top of its
competition, it must differentiate its offerings

by exhibiting its authentic flavors
by telling stories with its tourism industry
images.
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Further, these days, digital media
gives brands plenty of opportunities for
developing something that is
both
visually exciting and authentically appealing.
Not just that, tourism brands can enhance the
impact
of their ad campaigns even
more by working with travel bloggers and
utilizing effective content that is

user generated.