Forget the big billboards and radio jingles–it’s time to rely on your tourists’ words.

In a world full of digital ads–that we so eagerly skip–we sometimes forget that word-of-mouth marketing is still a crucial tool to promote our destination. But, when we think about word-of-mouth, we first picture someone talking directly to another person; talking about their experiences and recommendations on a close, personal basis. We rarely picture it as an online and amplified way, but that’s exactly how word-of-mouth marketing works in our digital world. We just don’t give it that exact name anymore.

But how does word-of-mouth happen nowadays?

In the era of online social interaction, everyone can be connected–no matter how distant they physically are. This fact was proven during the 2020 worldwide pandemic, when meetings, family reunions, birthdays, weddings and even funerals featured online attendance. Now, word-of-mouth can happen between people a thousand miles away from each other and still maintain the same level of trustworthiness.

Online reviews. Influencer campaigns. User-generated contents. Compliments and complaints posted on a social media feed. We give it another name, but deep down, these are nothing but word-of-mouth marketing techniques. And, as a tourism operator or a destination marketer, you need to take advantage of it. Now more than ever.

With so many advanced marketing tools out there, why word-of-mouth still works?

According to research conducted by Nielsen, 92 percent of consumers say they trust recommendations from friends and family above all other forms of advertising. Consumer reviews on online platforms, such as TripAdvisor, Yelp and Foursquare ranked as the second most trusted source, with 70 percent indicating they trust the online reviews. Social media ads, website banners, and search engine advertising ranked in the lowest levels of confidence from consumers–not surprisingly. 

When it comes to tourism, consumers search for recommendations for almost every activity or plan they have. What restaurant serves the best food for an affordable price? What hotel has the best reviews? What activity is the most popular and safe for children? And this search for online opinions from fellow travellers occurs in the early stages of planning a trip–and most of the time it can influence the destination chosen for the travel.

That’s why we gathered in this article important factors to consider about this new model of word-of-mouth marketing, including why invest in it and how you can apply it to your destination marketing plan.

It makes your marketing more personal, no matter the distance.

For most consumers, word-of-mouth is a more reliable marketing process than unsolicited advertising. This happens because they are shown real experiences of people who have been in a destination rather than just reading a promotional message in an advertisement or simply looking at a wonderful brochure with great pictures.

It gets more personal when the traveller can identify themselves with other visitors who have been in a place they are planning to visit, and the message is coming from fellow consumers instead of a company or agency, whose main goal is to sell them a package or a trip. And with technology, the personal touch, shifted away from the blunt commercial message, is easily reached, no matter the distance. Using influencers to deliver a conversational message, including their self-made pictures and videos of the activity or destination, is way more convincing to the potential traveller than posed photographs with models at a beautiful scenery.

An exceptional experience can lead to an exceptional recommendation.

A 2019 survey found that 82% of consumers read online reviews for local businesses, with 52% of 18-54-year-olds saying they ‘always’ read reviews. But relying on traveller’s reviews online also means relying on the quality of your destination’s experiences.

Did you know? A visitor who has a negative experience is highly likely to share that experience by leaving a bad review, sometimes as a warning to fellow tourists considering that destination, operator or activity. A visitor who has a positive experience, on the other hand, is unlikely to leave a good review. Researches show only one in 10 happy customers writes a good review. 

An unfavourable review can have a bigger impact than a positive one. Marketing data indicates that negative reviews dramatically influence our buying behaviours, and since there are significantly less negative reviews than positive ones online, the negative ones catch our attention more.

We also look at negative reviews and project that into our future experiences: we instantly fear that might happen to us too.

It helps build a community and a more powerful brand.

Encourage customers to share their travel experiences as your guest on social media and refer your business to their friends and family. For each new traveller they bring in, give them a reward, such as a free night’s stay or 10% off their next booking.

Offering referral programs with incentives is an ideal way to get customers talking about your brand, therefore growing your credibility and reputation.

Offer ‘surprisingly great’ customer service to all customers will also to get them talking about it. Keep in mind research says happy customers will tell at least 10 friends and family good things about your business, dissatisfied customers will tell many times that if they had a poor experience.

How can you invest in this new kind of word-of-mouth marketing?

There are several effective and simple ways to take advantage of this kind of promotion.

1. Show visitors’ testimonials on your website

Testimonials from previous guests and visitors are a great way to build credibility and promote your business or destination taking advantage of past experiences provided. The best testimonials are real, genuine, helpful, and include the name of the customer.

That’s why it’s so important to maintain contact with your guests and consumers even after the travel or experience has ended. Collecting their information and asking for reviews and testimonials is not time-costly and it can improve both your relationship with the visitor and your future marketing.

2. Don’t forget to encourage reviews

If you want to use this kind of marketing, good reviews are essential. Reviews have a great impact on tourism businesses by generating exposure to the destination and operators, increasing credibility, and giving customers an idea of what they’ll get when they book with you.

Encourage and collect reviews from travellers who’ve booked with you to increase your social proof–defined as “the tendency to see an action as more appropriate when others are doing it.” Ask customers to leave feedback on your website, on TripAdvisor, on your Facebook page, and relevant industry sites.

3. Offer an incentive or referral program

As we talked previously, offering referral programs with incentives is an ideal way to get customers talking about your business or destination. You can encourage customers to share their travel experiences as your guest on social media and refer your business to their friends and family. For each new guest or customer they bring in, you can offer a reward, such as 10% off their next booking.

4. Provide great–not just good–experiences

Providing quality service should always be your goal, but an over-the-top experience will get your guests talking about it. Satisfied customers–whose expectations were met–don’t necessarily leave reviews, but dissatisfied customers will tell many times that if they had a poor experience. Attention to detail, a friendly but comfortable service, and personalized experience can lead a guest or visitor to reverberate the great experience they had!

Learn 4 tips to provide a great tourist experience here!

5. Train your locals and front-line workers 

If getting real recommendations from fellow visitors can make a huge impact on deciding where to go, what to do and enjoying a trip to the fullest, imagine the impact of getting good advice from people who live all year in the region! Training your locals on how to deliver a good customer service and empowering them with knowledge about all that your region has to offer for every kind of tourist is essential.

Our program was designed especially to help you with that–we created a workshop-in-a-box that provides everything you need to train your locals and front-line workers on everything your region has to offer!

Get to know more about the Experience Specialist Program and request your free marketing information package!

In 2020, the tourism industry was put on hold. What does the future hold once borders start reopening?

The pandemic that hit the world in 2020 made us look at our community with different eyes and changed our way of consuming, working, socializing, and travelling. With countries closing their borders, air companies cancelling flights, and people being confined inside their homes, the tourism industry was highly impacted. Now that countries are seeing positive results and quarantine is being lifted in many places, tourism providers are reinventing their work and their method of attracting tourists and locals, in order to provide the same excellence of service in a safe way.

Some changes are already being put in practice, and trends in both the industry and on what travellers will expect are already being projected to happen. We’ll discuss some of the changes and expectations below as we adapt to the “new normal,” and what you, as a tourism region, an operator, or a tourism employee can do to keep providing the best experience to your visitors.

Travellers will stay closer to home

Experts believe travellers will first start venturing out closer to home. The end of quarantine restrictions coinciding with summer in the North Hemisphere showed that travellers favoured local places on their pleasure summer vacations, both for reasons of safety, budget, and incentives given by local tourism providers. The prospect of hopping on a plane and travelling to another country is not in the plans of most tourists, even though airlines are slowly adding more international flights to their schedule.

But being a local tourist doesn’t mean that they know everything about their destination. It’s a fundamental part of being an Experience Specialist to understand the visitor and show them good attractions and experiences to be lived, no matter how close they live. We believe that every region has a lot to offer, and understanding that these local visitors want a safe, but exciting summer vacation this year is important to provide an excellent experience for all.

Travellers will avoid big tourist attractions and crowds

Some travellers will not be too eager to visit crowded places where social-distancing can not be practiced, so the biggest tourist attractions might look a little more empty this season. Special measures will be taken to guarantee the safety of those who will adventure themselves to go, including temperature screenings, visitors and staff masks, and, eventually, capacity restrictions.

Attractions that can not be easily controlled, such as beaches, or outdoor parks, will rely on the visitor’s conscious and safe behaviour. A good advantage of these attractions are the large spaces usually provided, so social distancing can be put in practice more easily than in indoor spaces, such as museums or amusement parks. It is important to access the worries of the visitors while suggesting these big and known attractions.

More flexibility will be expected from operators

The times are uncertain, and travellers want flexibility when booking their vacation accommodations, activities, and experiences. Things might be looking better now, with quarantines being lifted, restaurants and attractions opening again, borders being reopen, but travellers want to be sure that they will not have more economic losses to worry about in case of a second-wave of the virus, or a travel restriction imposed again due to a surge in cases.

Hotels, rental companies, transportation, and experience providers need to be aware that more flexibility on cancelations or changes can attract the post-pandemic traveller at this moment, as well as other methods of payment–sometimes even in installments. Since all operators are searching for new clients, offering these benefits and flexibility can be a huge differential.

Private experiences will peak

The pandemic created a greater demand for experiences away from crowds, and travellers will favour private experiences and activities. According to surveys conducted by travel associations, people feel more comfortable travelling in personal vehicles and staying in vacation rentals than taking flights and cruises or staying in hotels. 

Private experiences, especially with people from the same household or a group of close friends, will peak during and after the pandemic. People will be wary of experiencing activities such as boat trips, on-hands activities, or tours with strangers, especially since the proximity in such experiences is sometimes inevitable. It’s good to consider this trend to provide a mostly safe and worry-free experience for travellers wishing to experience the local culture up-close.

Learn 4 tips to provide a great tourist experience here!

Other trends expected

Some other changes might be anticipated. For example, with working from home becoming mainstream because of the lockdown measures, companies learned productivity was possible outside of the office. It’s possible we’ll see a rise in people taking longer trips that combine work and pleasure. Providing a good space for work and strong wi-fi in accommodations and even restaurants and coffee-shops is a good method of attracting those travellers.

Strong attention to cleaning also became the routine for every space that welcomes clients. Accommodations, restaurants, and indoor attractions will need to focus on practicing an extensive cleaning process to guarantee the guests safety–and make all the process clear and evident to them. Contact-free technology will also be crucial whenever possible, such as online check-in, phones as room keys, disposable menus, and contactless payments.

We hope some of these insights into what’s going to be a “new normal” for visitors and tourism operators may help you get prepared to rebuild your region and attract tourists while still providing a safe and incredible experience. With the Experience Specialist Program, you can help your region thrive! The program will guide you step by step through creating and marketing workshops for locals and front line workers to ensure they are selling your region to its full potential. Make every visit and every dollar count!