How to Promote Tourism in Your Country

Tour and activity operators often get caught up in creating marketing campaigns for their own business, yet they forget about the importance of having a destination promotion strategy as a whole. While it’s necessary to generate buzz about your tour products, you also will want to make an effort to encourage travelers to visit your region. Without a steady stream of tourists, you will be struggling to get the bookings you need to survive. Here’s how to promote tourism in your country:

Join a destination marketing organization

One of the best ways to promote tourism in your country is to get involved in the organization that creates branding messages and marketing materials for the region. Destination marketing organizations, or DMOs, consist of a group of tourism industry leaders in the region who work to promote the area as an attractive tourist destination. When you join a DMO, you get to influence the direction of the brand and you can uncover new ways to drive that influx of tourism traffic to your own business. It’s the perfect place to start when you are trying to promote your country as an amazing vacation spot.

Become an active participant on social media

As a tour and activity operator, you likely have a social media strategy for your own business. In addition to the hours that you put into posting, sharing and promoting your own content, you also should become an active participant on other local tourism pages. Here are some ways that you can actively promote your region through your own social media activity:

• Sharing a local tourism business page on your own business page. This shows that you are a team player, and acknowledges that there are many businesses in your region that can enhance a traveler’s experience.
• Commenting on Instagram photos posted by the DMO. When you compliment the photo that was taken or make a positive comment about the activity that they are promoting, you are providing social proof that your destination is a wonderful place to visit.

Create visual marketing materials that promote both your products and the destination

As you design your own marketing materials, such as videos that will be posted on Facebook or slideshows to add to your website, you will want to showcase your offerings as well as the surrounding region. You can easily do this by adding images of panoramic sunsets on a local beach or of historic landmarks that are located in a nearby city. These subtle visual clues will remind travelers that there’s a lot to see and do in your location, making it a worthwhile vacation destination.

Invite bloggers to try out your tours

When it comes to generating more tourism traffic in your country, sometimes all you have to do is ask. Inviting bloggers to come to your destination and try out one of your tours is an easy and cost-effective way to get noticed on a global scale. Social influencers are a powerful force. You can trade them an experience for some positive reviews, and their followers will take note of what you have to offer in your region.

Transform your website into a destination resource

Most of your website will be designed to provide insight into what you have to offer and to encourage your site visitors to book directly with you. However, as part of your content marketing strategy, you can create a few extra landing pages that will transform your website into a destination resource. For instance, you can add a local directory with recommendations for your favorite restaurants, stores and attractions in the area. This proves to your travelers that you are a reliable resource, and showcases that there’s so much more to see and do in your country.

Promoting tourism in your country will help increase the number of people who visit your country on an annual basis, and may help you uncover new market segments that are interested in your tours and activities. It’s important to have technology in place that allows you to collect valuable data and use that data to create effective marketing campaigns.

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Read our blog on ‘5 ways to attract tourists to your tour or experience business’ here.