The National Online Strategy Committee in Australia delivered on a tourism initiative to provide a comprehensive online marketing ekit for the tourism industry that covers off a variety of basic and advanced topics. Funded by all Australian State and Territory tourism offices, the online marketing kit covers off the fundamentals of online tourism marketing including:

• Step-by-step tutorials on e-marketing
• Hundreds of online marketing resources
• Social Media marketing
• Pay per click campaigns
• Email marketing
• Tracking and reporting
• Online distribution

While this free ekit provides information specific to the Australian Tourism Data Warehouse there is a wealth of information in this ekit that will assist anyone who is evaluating or reevaluating their online marketing strategy. You can download the entire ekit or individual marketing modules as required. You can find this free resource and its associated marketing modules at Tourism Tasmania. It’s worth a look.

Google Labs is now presenting a new feature called City Tours. City Tours allows you to map locations and points of interest as well as providing access to tours of the area you are visiting.

Google City Tours offers predefined walking tour routes as well as walking tour times for trip planning. You can also plan and create multiple tour routes for multi-day tour itineraries.

This new feature has the potential for sightseeing companies to share their sightseeing routes online. While still in its infancy, it will be interesting to see how this tool evolves. To learn more, visit Google Labs City Tours.

PATA’s (Pacific Asia Travel Association) recent newsletter announced New Zealand’s new website for the travel trade:

“New cutting-edge features are making selling New Zealand easier for the international travel trade. In four languages, with more engaging online training modules, a comprehensive ‘Industry Guidebook’ with nearly 2000 New Zealand product listings offering trade information, and new market snapshots Tourism New Zealand’s website for the travel trade.”

New Zealand Tourism has been on the leading edge of the Web for years – and if there is one thing we can take away from their continued efforts in the online space – it’s – this is the international marketing agency to watch. They offer online training, a database of tourism products, a marketing toolbox, which includes research, marketing materials, downloadable maps and an image library and they segment information and learning for product planners, front line travel sellers, and managers.

If you’re targeting international markets and wholesalers you’ll find some ideas here.

(Tourism New Zealand is an international marketing agency responsible for marketing ‘destination New Zealand’ offshore. They market in 12 countries around the world, through more than 100 staff in 16 offices.)

With some sightseeing companies and tourism operators  jumping into micro-blogging, we thought we’d share some free and useful Twitter tools:

Twtpoll: Free polling software for Twitter users – Twtpoll allows you to create a quick and simple poll. Enter your Twitter name, your question, and your answer choices. You can also create an expiration date. Click Create Poll.

Retweetradar: Using Retweetradar you can follow Twitter trends. This includes the top retweeted Twitter users as well as the top retweeted links.

TweetCube: This is a 100% free file sharing service for Twitter. You can upload as many images, archives, videos and songs as you want and share them on Twitter with your followers. You can share up to a 10MB file.

Twuffer: Twuffer allows you to compose a list of future tweets and schedule their release. You can schedule pre-written, post-dated tweets hourly, daily, and monthly.

TweetDeck (Beta): TweetDeck is a personal browser for staying in touch with what’s happening now. You can customise your Twitter experience with columns, groups, saved searches and automatic updates helping you to stay updated with people and topics of interest. You can share photos, videos or links directly from TweetDeck. It’s also a great tool for tracking multiple twitter keyword searches in real time. TweetDeck is an Adobe Air desktop application which is currently in public beta.

Are you thinking about doing some new Search Engine Optimization (SEO) work on your website? Here’s three keyword tools that will assist you in gaining better search engine results (for free):

Keyword Density: Submit your website address and you’ll get a quick analysis of how frequently your keywords and phrases are used on your website.

Page & Keyword Optimizer: Evaluate specific keywords. Learn how they are optimized on your web pages by selecting a specific search engine. You’ll get a thorough report with suggestions and recommendations for improvement. This is a great tool for free. Use it while you can.

Google AdWords Keyword Tool: You can use Google’s Keyword Tool to get find new keywords. It’s simple to use – enter a few descriptive words or phrases, or type in your website address. Google will provide you with a list of new key word ideas.

Great tourism/travel experiences often lead to positive Word of Mouth (”WOM”) recommendations. And there is nothing more important (or more powerful than positive WOM).

If you’re interested in learning more about WOM, we recommend that you visit the Word Of Mouth Marketing Association website. WOMMA just launched a new website that offers WOM 101, a case study library, a blog, events, and a section on ethics.

If you’re looking to incorporate WOM into your marketing strategy – this is a good place to start.

Using Twitter? If you’re following people who aren’t actively updating their online status – you can unfollow these twitter users quickly and easily.

Using UnTweeps, “you can check for users who haven’t tweeted for the last 30, 60 or 90 days. Once you find users who haven’t updated for a long time, you can unfollow all of them together at the click of a button.”

Click here to use this free tool: UnTweeps.

The U.S. Department of Commerce announced that 3.8 million international visitors traveled to the United States in March 2009, a decrease of 20 percent compared to March 2008.  Total visitation in the first quarter 2009 was down 14 percent from the first quarter 2008.  International visitors spent $9.9 billion during the month, 16 percent less than visitors spent in March 2008.  March 2009 marks the fifth consecutive month of decreases in international visitors spending.  In first quarter 2009, visitors spent $30.6 billion, down 12 percent from the same period in 2008.

Part of the decline in March 2009 was expected since the Easter holidays occurred in March 2008.  In 2009, the Easter holidays were in April.

Highlights

• In March 2009, Canadian visitation declined 13 percent compared to March 2008 (seven months of consecutive decreases).  At the same time, land arrivals (1 million) decreased 16 percent and air arrivals (680,000) decreased nine percent.  In the first quarter 2009, visitation from Canada decreased 12 percent, with land arrivals (2.2 million) down 14 percent and air arrivals (1.8 million) down nine percent.
• Visitation from Mexico (traveling to interior U.S. points) totaled 380,000, down 43 percent in March 2009 (ten months of consecutive decreases).  For the month, land arrivals (287,000) decreased 42 percent and air arrivals (91,000) declined 46 percent.  Overall, traffic for the first quarter 2009 was down 26 percent with land arrivals (844,000) down 24 percent and air arrivals (265,000) decreasing 33 percent.
• Overseas visitation (excluding Canada and Mexico) decreased 19 percent in March 2009 (five months of consecutive decreases) and 13 percent year-to-date.
• In March 2009, three of the top 20 countries posted increases in visitation to the United States, with visitation from Israel growing at a double-digit growth rate.
  • French arrivals to the United States increased one percent in March 2009.
  • Argentine arrivals were nearly flat, increasing 0.4 percent in March 2009, barely continuing its growth trend from August 2006 (32 months of consecutive increases).
  • Israeli arrivals were up 15 percent for the month.
• In the first quarter 2009, four of the top 20 countries posted increases in visitation to the United States, with visitation from Argentina growing at a double-digit growth rate.
  • French visitation increased one percent in the first quarter 2009.  At the same time, Brazilian visitation to the United States increased six percent; Chinese visitation increased nine percent; and Argentine visitation increased 10 percent.

Overseas Visitation

• U.S. visitation from the 27 European Union countries declined 23 percent in March 2009 and dropped 17 percent from the first quarter 2008.
• U.S. visits from Western Europe, 776,000 visitors, accounting for 46 percent of all overseas arrivals, were down 24 percent in March 2009.  Year-to-date, arrivals decreased 18 percent and accounted for 43 percent of all overseas visitors.
  • U.S. visits from the United Kingdom, 278,000 visitors, were down 31 percent in March 2009 (seven months of consecutive decreases).  Year-to-date, visitation from the United Kingdom dropped 26 percent.  For the month and year-to-date, visitors from the United Kingdom accounted for 36 percent of all Western European arrivals.
  • German visits were down 18 percent for the month (three months of consecutive decreases) and down 15 percent year-to-date.  At the same time, French arrivals increased one percent in March 2009 and grew one percent in the first quarter 2009.
  • Italian visitation was down 12 percent in March 2009, and down five percent year-to-date 2009.  Visitors from Spain and the Netherlands were down 32 percent (three months of consecutive decreases) and 10 percent (five months of consecutive decreases), respectively, for the month and down 20 percent and 10 percent for the year.
  • Visitation from Ireland decreased 37 percent for the month and 25 percent for the year.  Visitors from Sweden and Switzerland were down 31 percent and 16 percent, respectively, for the month and down 22 percent and nine percent for the year.
• Eastern European visits were up one percent for the month, and up two percent for the year.  Russian visitation decreased seven percent for the month, while remaining at one percent up for the year.
• Visitation from Asia decreased 12 percent in both March 2009 and in the first quarter 2009.
  • Japanese visits were nine percent below the March 2008 visitor levels, and down 11 percent in the first quarter 2009.  Japan accounted for 60 percent of all Asian visitors for the month and 57 percent of Asian visitors in the first quarter 2009.
  • In March 2009, visitation from South Korea, India, and the People’s Republic of China declined 17 percent, 14 percent, and five percent, respectively.  Year-to-date, arrivals from South Korea and India declined 20 percent and 14 percent, respectively.  In the first quarter 2009, arrivals from the People’s Republic of China increased nine percent.
  • Taiwanese visitation dropped 20 percent for the month and was down 21 percent year-to-date.
• U.S. visitation from South America decreased 14 percent in March 2009 and two percent in the first quarter 2009.
  • Brazilian visitation was down 10 percent for the month, but remained up six percent in the first quarter.  Brazil is the top visitation market from South America; and in the first quarter 2009 accounted for 34 percent of visits from the region.  U.S. visits from Argentina were flat in March 2009 and grew 10 percent for the year.
  • U.S. visitation from Venezuela decreased 24 percent in March 2009 and declined 14 percent for the year.  Colombian visits decreased 32 percent for the month and dropped 17 percent year-to-date.
• Central American visits decreased 19 percent in March 2009 and dropped 11 percent for the year.
• U.S. visitation from the Caribbean declined 29 percent in March 2009 and dropped 11 percent in the first quarter.
  • Visitation from the Dominican Republic, the top visitation market from the Caribbean region, decreased 32 percent in March 2009 and declined 20 percent in the first quarter.
  • In March 2009, there was an eight percent decrease in visits from the Bahamas.  Year-to-date, visits increased 38 percent.
• Travel from Oceania decreased 14 percent in March 2009 and 15 percent year-to-date.
  • Australia registered a 15 percent decrease for the month and a 16 percent decrease year-to-date.  Australia accounted for 83 percent of all visits from Oceania in the first quarter 2009.
  • U.S. visitation from the Middle East increased eight percent in March 2009 and was flat year-to-date.
    • Israeli visitation to the United States increased 15 percent in March 2009 and dropped four percent year-to-date.
  • U.S. visitation from Africa decreased 12 percent in March 2009 and declined seven percent from the first quarter 2008.

Click here to access the 2009 monthly arrivals data for world regions and top markets.

Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad, an organization which operates an excursion train through the Cuyahoga Valley National Park in cooperation with the National Park Service, announces the first train in America to significantly enhance passenger experiences on its scenic tour routes. Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad provides passengers with scenic touring experiences on a historic railway between Cleveland and Akron, Ohio, passing through the river floodplains, steep cut valley walls and serene forests of Cuyahoga Valley National Park and the quaint towns and villages in between.

 As part of its goal to preserve the significant cultural and natural resources in the Cuyahoga Valley, Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad and the National Parks Service are providing better railway tours for passengers by introducing advanced GPS audio tour systems on its excursion tours. Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad, utilizing satellite (GPS) technology, is telling compelling location-based stories to connect passengers to the people who have called this valley home and to the places and events that have shaped Cuyahoga Valley’s natural and environmental history.   

Providing fun, entertaining, and educational audio tours on its excursion train, passengers using small wireless receivers and headsets are provided with more meaningful and memorable scenic rail sightseeing tours. GPS Audio Tour systems are installed in each train car. Tour commentaries are triggered by GPS waypoints at precisely the right moment, regardless of whether passengers are located in the front or back of the train.

For more information on this story, please visit Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad Launches First GPS Tour Train Experience in America Using AudioConexus Technology

Travelers are looking for new, authentic and different experiences and the well-traveled visitor has high expectations of experiences they will find in a destination. Quality, service and hospitality are critical. While many of today’s travelers are prepared to spend, they also expect value for their money. Greater emphasis will be required to ensure tourism businesses are market ready to meet the needs of more demanding, sophisticated travelers. Based on research collected by a variety of studies, reports, and articles, here are some interesting points of consideration for your tourism business. 

•  Tourists “are looking for high-quality, authentic, memorable experiences that broaden their knowledge and provide excitement, while at the same time offering value for their money.”
• With growing confidence in using the internet, in many countries the travel agent is no longer the first call when researching possible destinations or planning a holiday.
• While there has been an increase in long haul travel, consumers are also taking shorter, more frequent breaks with shorter lead-in times for booking.
• While value conscious consumers are booking low cost flights, they are increasingly spending their money elsewhere, such as selecting better quality accommodation.
• Women and children are key influencers in the purchasing process.
• With a greater choice of destinations and distribution channels, consumers expect to get the best deals.
• Consumers are looking for an ‘experiential’ holiday; they want to be seen as trendsetters, discovering new destinations and new activities that provide a learning component to travel.
• Holidays and short breaks are a vital part of today’s lifestyle; evidenced by the introduction of dedicated channels on satellite television, in specialist magazines and in supplements in newspapers, etc.
• Now, and in the future, the group having the most dramatic impact on the travel industry is baby boomers – persons born between 1946 and 1964. This nearly two decade long period of population growth produced 10 million Canadians and 78 million Americans. Approximately 30% of all Canadians and about 28% of Americans are baby boomers.
• Baby Boomers are better traveled and travel savvy, and are more demanding in obtaining service and value. They are more knowledgeable, quality conscious and sophisticated consumers, interested in a sense of achievement rather than rest and relaxation. Boomers are well educated and inclined to expand their education through learning oriented travel.
• In 2004, Gen Xers — the 60 million Americans from age 25 to 40 — spent an estimated $2,140 per capita on overall travel involving a hotel stay, vs. boomers’ $2,016, according to a preliminary estimate from travel researcher D.K. Shifflet & Associates. The larger boomer population still dominates on a total dollar basis — about $157 billion last year, vs. $130 billion for Gen Xers.
• Vacation spending by Gen Xers has soared 66% per trip in the past five years, vs. 25% among boomers, ages 41 to 59. Compared with the 78 million boomers, Gen Xers are more likely to book online and pay for eye-catching extras.
• Boomers want to be forever young. They want to sample new experiences and activities and seek “learning” travel experiences.
• Gen Xers “make different demands than the older baby boomers for style and ambience”. The sketch of the Gen X traveler, as developed by market researchers, goes like this: They crave branded items — for example, Starbucks, not coffee. Paradoxically, they’re less loyal than older travelers to single brands. As a result, they’re willing to scour the Web to find a boutique hotel oozing with attitude, instead of simply booking the same chain hotel their family booked for their 1980s vacations.” (Anne Ryan, USA TODAY)