Digital Tourism: Transforming the Industry

Digital tourism has revolutionised the way we research, plan and experience our holidays. Find out exactly how!

Digital tourism has revolutionised the way we research, plan and experience our holidays. Mobile technology has ensured that global travel is now on-the-go experience, and travellers now know as much as they want about the world around them at any stage of the tourism journey, so it is not enough to merely have an online presence.  If your business depends on tourism, it is fundamentally invisible without digital - your advertising efforts need to be clever, considered and captivating.

 

The journey to a destination starts long before a consumer books, packs their bag and leaves the house. The average trip will be researched and planned months in advance, with 40% of travellers initiating destination research with a Google Search. Mobile also now accounts for 27% of total travel booking, growing at an exceptional rate of 13% year-on-year.

 

This presents a wealth of opportunities for brands to connect with users in these 'micro moments', encouraging people to progress through the various stages within a travel search journey - researching, planning, booking and experiencing. This means that having a multi-platform digital strategy and engaging at every micro moment is key, incorporating Search, Display, YouTube and Social.

 

Your target customers are using digital before travelling to plan every detail of their trip, during travelling to share their experiences and after travelling to review, recommend and rebook. For example, people who are interested in Northern Ireland attractions are highly influenced by YouTube, being 2.5 times more likely than a standard UK internet user to watch travel guides on YouTube. This presents a huge opportunity for NI tourism brands to showcase their services and engage with users visually via YouTube, as well as utilising Search & Display with features such as price extensions, review extensions and remarketing to target previous site visitors.

 

Once a person arrives at their destination, the search for the best places to visit continues, and with half of all international travellers using mobile to search for things to do once they have arrived, it is crucial that you are in front of them when and where they crave this content. For example, mobile ad extensions can be utilised to reach those searching for places 'near me' on mobile searches.

 

97% of millennials also say they share pictures during and after their trip on Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp and Snapchat. Social advertising is the ideal strategy to ensure your brand is in front of an active, hyper-relevant user base whilst they are engaging with their newsfeeds during and after a trip.

 

Mobile and digital technology has ensured that global travel is no longer a leap into the unknown: People are spending more and more time researching and planning travel than ever before. We need to be there at every micro moment, maintaining consistent visibility across all platforms and utilising all information available to connect with new and existing customers.

 

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If you would like to find out how a digital advertising campaign could help generate more leads and revenue for your Tourism business, get in touch with us today!