Tradigital Tourism Insights: The Power of AI and Future Trends in Travel and Tourism Marketing
The podcast ‘Tradigital Tourism Insights’ discusses new industry trends, research, and emerging technologies in travel and marketing. This episode investigates potential email marketing trends in 2024 and emphasizes the significance of privacy, personalization, AI, and mobile-friendly design. It also covers the 'Colors of Carlsbad' campaign, which creatively combines data analysis and aesthetics. A large segment discusses Google Maps' upcoming AI features and how it promises to revolutionize local business discovery. Finally, the podcast discusses a study from the World Travel and Tourism Council focusing on the role of AI in the tourism industry.
00:12 Introduction to Tradigital Tourism Insights
00:43 Exploring Email Marketing Trends in 2024
https://nethunt.com/blog/email-marketing-trends
06:26 Destination Focus: Colors of Carlsbad Campaign
https://mindgruve.com/blog/news/visit-carlsbad-signs-one-year-contract-extension-with-mindgruve
https://awol.com.au/popular-travel-colours-2019/74233
https://topdigital.agency/case-study/visit-carlsbad-colorsofcarlsbad/
09:48 Tech Spotlight: AI Updates to Google Maps
https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-maps-launches-ai-powered-local-business-search/507219/
https://blog.google/products/maps/google-maps-generative-ai-local-guides/
16:11 Research Roundup: AI in Travel and Tourism
28:00 Conclusion and Contact Information
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Pat (00:12):
hello and welcome to Digital Tourism Insights, a
podcast by Digital Relativity.
I'm your host, Pat Strader,founder and CEO 20 years of
experience in travel and tourismmarketing.
And I invite you to join me fora quick look at industry trends,
research, emerging technologies,and real talk on what works,
what doesn't, and why.
(00:33):
So grab a coffee, a beer, or acocktail, there is no judgment
here, and let's have some funwith an honest and irreverent
look into the nitty gritty oftravel and tourism marketing.
In today's trend segment, we'regoing to be taking a look at a
recent post on net hunt.
com titled hot or not emailmarketing trends in 2024.
(00:54):
So let's take a quick look athow privacy AI and more
influencing the way that wecraft our email campaigns in
2024.
Some of the trend highlights,first of all, privacy first.
2024 is seeing heightened focuson data privacy.
We've been talking about thisfor quite some time, but
(01:14):
consumers are increasingly waryof how their information is
used.
So it's crucial as marketers.
So we emphasize transparencythat consumers have control of
that.
We honor those things and allowsubscribers to tailor their own
communication preferences.
Hyper personalization is anothertrend.
(01:36):
This is kind of across the boardwhere we continue to talk about
personalization.
You know, the quote unquote, theone size fits all approach is,
is no longer as effective, um,as we all wish it would be
because it makes it more workfor us, right?
And now delivering highlypersonalized content tailored to
(01:56):
that individual's preferencesand behaviors.
It's going to be the key tocontinuing to drive engagement
and conversions, kind of goinghand in hand with this is
leveraging AI.
I know.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
We're going to talk more aboutAI, but AI is a huge ally here
and can tremendously help withenhancing personalization.
(02:19):
Optimizing the email content,delivery times, and just in
general, streamlining ourmarketing strategies by
embracing AI allows us toconnect with our audience more
effectively and efficiently withautomation, segmentation, et
cetera, automated campaignspowered by strategic
segmentation ensures that ourmessages are timely, relevant,
(02:44):
and engaging.
And again, you know, creatingthose connections with this one
is a little surprising to mebecause I kind of feel like
we're past this mobile firstdesign.
And that seems like somethingthat we would have been talking
about 10 years ago.
But as I think about this more,more often than it should, I
(03:06):
feel like that I personally haveemails that come through that
definitely.
Did not have any considerationfor mobile first.
So really thinking about that.
And again, you know, making surethat things are tappable in an
interactive are going to behighly important.
And along with those lines ofinteractive emails, engaging
your audiences.
(03:27):
With interactive elements withinthose emails is something that
is going to be more and morevaluable moving forward, really
clear and concise.
And, you know, moving back tothe mobile piece here, tappable,
CTAs, polls, things withfeatures such as this to enhance
the user engagement and tofrankly, just continue to help
(03:50):
stand out a bit, you know,accessibility, this kind of goes
hand in hand with the mobilefirst, but making emails
accessible to everyone,including those with
disabilities.
It's not just a legalrequirement.
It's, it's becoming a moralimperative, if you will, but you
know, accessible emails aregoing to, first of all, take
care of that mobile first designor should rather, and often
(04:12):
results in better overall userexperience.
So what are some things that wecan be going?
I would, first of all, audityour email list, make sure that
that thing is clean.
You know, as the focus movesmore towards engagement with
subscribers, I think that it'sincredibly important to ensure
that your email list is veryclean and that the content that
(04:35):
you're going to be providing tothose in your list is relevant,
another broken record statementhere, but embracing AI and
automation, this is going to besomething really important.
And there's a number ofdifferent AI tools, which are
very interesting.
I'm not going to get into thoseright now.
Just for fear of completelyopening a can of worms.
(04:57):
There are some very interestingAI tools.
We'll help with your email listto ensure that you're delivering
the right kind of content at theright time to the right people.
And there are some very basicthings that are, you know, built
into to many of our emailplatforms.
(05:19):
But I think that theaugmentation of some of these AI
tools that we're going to beable to use with our email
campaigns are just really goingto help make each of our
campaigns and sends much moreeffective.
Continuing on some of the thingsthey're optimizing for mobile
and incorporating interactivityand again, prioritizing the
(05:39):
accessibility to these emails.
So as we kind of look at howwe're going to navigate through
2024, the key to successfulemail marketing and the travel
and tourism industry.
It lies in embracing theseevolving trends and just really
paying attention to them.
But again, focusing on theprivacy, the interactive
elements, continuing to findways to implement and improve
(06:01):
personalization.
And then leveraging how AI canhelp us do those things.
If we look at these trends andwe pay attention to them, we can
create more meaningful andeffective email campaigns that
truly resonate with audience.
And remember, our goal is notjust to reach our audience, but
to connect with them and providesome real value that keeps them
(06:23):
engaged and looking forward totheir next adventure.
In today's Destination Focus,we're diving into the Colors of
Carlsbad campaign, acollaboration between Visit
Carlsbad and the Pantone ColorInstitute, which has smartly
combined creative elements withdata analysis to promote
Carlsbad, California, as a mustvisit destination.
(06:45):
At the heart of the Colors ofCarlsbad campaign was a 2019
Colors of Travel Study, in whichVisit Carlsbad, the Pantone
Color Institute, worked withQuantitative Influencer
Marketing Platform 4 to analyzethousands of Instagram images
from 75 travel influencers, eachwith more than 50, 000
(07:06):
followers.
They narrowed down the photos tothe five most engaged Instagram
images from each influencer,which were then analyzed to
determine the four most commoncolors that were present.
One image per influencer wasselected, which was then scanned
through Google Cloud Vision todetermine the most dominant
(07:28):
views.
And this is, uh, this is reallycreative.
I love this approach.
And so visit Carlsbad and thePantone color Institute
identified four trending colors,the best represented Carlsbad.
So this innovative approachhighlights Carlsbad's natural
beauty and vibrancy by informingand elevating the creative using
(07:49):
these hues.
The really fun thing about thisas well, this was in 2019, 2020,
they have actually continued todo this each year.
So it's just a reallyinteresting way to keep up with
the trends that they're seeingthrough their data analysis.
But the Carlsbad campaigncelebrates its unique color
(08:09):
palette.
Here's some flowery language fory'all.
From the warming sunrises andexpansive blue skies to the
soothing green blue lagoonwaters and golden yellow craft
beer experiences.
These colors are emblematic ofCarlsbad's diverse offerings,
including its food scene, arts,culture.
(08:30):
The wellness scene is very, um,a big component of what they do
there in Carlsbad.
As well as adventureopportunities.
By focusing on these hues, thecampaign offers a novel way of
promoting the destination,making it stand out to potential
visitors.
I found this quote in Forbesmagazine from Sam Ross, who was
then the executive director ofVisit Carlsbad.
(08:54):
It is a different way ofpromoting the destination,
instead of just using theattributes of the attractions or
our great beaches.
End quote.
So, It's just a reallyinteresting approach to this.
And what sets the colors ofCarlsbad campaign apart is its
use of data analysis to informcreative.
While I've been able to locatemetrics directly related to this
(09:17):
campaign, there's bits andpieces of things out there.
I can tell you that while SamRoss was still serving as the
Executive Director at VisitCarlsbad, that Carlsbad had
reached the number one rankingin ADR and RevPAR against all
other San Diego regions.
That's a, just an incredibleaccomplishment there and I, I
feel is proof enough for me toknow that this campaign was
(09:39):
effective, but I feel that thiscampaign is more so a great
example to get us all thinkingabout new ways to involve data
and the development of ourcreative.
Next up is our tech spotlighttoday.
We're going to take a look at asignificant shift on the
horizon.
The revolutionary updates toGoogle maps powered by AI
promise to redefine howtravelers discovered local
(10:01):
businesses.
So let's take a look at thistogether by unpacking the
highlights and exploring how tonavigate new territory within
the Google ecosystem.
The digital compass that guidesour travels has become smarter,
more intuitive.
That little navigational tool inour pocket is poised for change.
Google Maps is at the forefrontof this transformation.
(10:24):
It is integrating AI to enhancelocal search in ways that we've
never seen before.
Imagine a map that doesn't justdirect you to your destination,
but also suggests personalizedexperiences based on your
interests, past searches, andeven your real time context.
Recommending a cozy little cafetucked away in a back alley
(10:46):
somewhere, to highlighting localevents that match your
preferences.
seamless and deeplypersonalized.
What is going on here?
Well, Google maps is rolling outan AI powered feature to enhance
local business search, providingusers with personalized
recommendations.
(11:07):
So we talk about AIpersonalization, and this is,
this is going to be a prettypowerful, this is in beta right
now.
They're testing this with their.
Ambassadors, if you will, theGoogle Maps power users, but
this is utilizing large languagemodels to analyze Google Maps,
(11:27):
extensive database.
including places, photos,ratings, reviews.
Users can input conversationalsearch queries, receive tailored
suggestions for businesses,events, restaurants, activities,
with the ability to refinesearches through follow up
questions.
This development aims atrevolutionizing local discovery
(11:49):
by offering ultra personalizedrecommendations Catering to
specific interests and needs andaccommodating various situations
like weather changes or grouppreferences.
As marketers, how do we preparefor this wave of change?
Well, first of all, it's aboutunderstanding the power of data
and personalization.
(12:10):
And as AI thrives oninformation, so ensuring that
your business's digitalfootprint is built out and
accurate across Google'splatforms and beyond.
It's paramount to theimplications of overlooking this
critical step should be reallyprofound.
You've heard this before.
You've heard this from me beforeif you've seen me speak about
(12:31):
Google and local listings inparticular.
But with AI powered search, thevisibility of local attractions,
hotels, restaurants, theexperiences can truly skyrocket.
It's about being at the rightplace and the digital map at the
right time.
So how do we ensure destinationsand businesses stand out?
It's all about leveraging thesetechnologies through optimized
(12:52):
listings, engaging content,leveraging user reviews and
interactions to boost visibilityand appeal.
This is nothing earth shatteringor new, but the implications of
not doing this become muchgreater.
As this AI and local searchbegins to roll out to the
(13:15):
general public, to the masses.
So what are some practical tipsfor marketers?
First of all, stop me if you'veheard this before.
Optimize your listings.
Go to your Google My Businessprofile and make sure your
information is complete.
Ensure that it's accurate and,and update it regularly using
rich descriptions, high qualityimages.
(13:35):
Current operating hours isincredibly important and can
significantly enhance yourvisibility.
So if you haven't already donethat, go, go do it right now.
Don't walk, run.
Also embrace reviews andengagements.
I don't want to hear it anymore.
It's like, Oh, somebody that'sjust mad about this, that, and
the other.
There's lots of ways tomitigate.
(13:58):
unfounded reviews, but just byputting your head in the sand,
you're not going to besuccessful.
So encourage your customers toleave reviews, engage with these
reviews promptly and personallyget in there in response.
AI algorithms are going to favorthis.
And businesses that show highlevels of engagement and
positive feedback are going tobe rewarded.
(14:21):
Utilize your keywords wisely.
Incorporate those relevantkeywords into your business
listings and responses toreviews.
And I think that this can alsohelp AI just understand more
about your business.
And make it more likely torecommend your services to users
with matching interests.
And then lastly, just stayinformed and adapt.
(14:43):
AI landscape is moving so fast,it's not even funny.
But just by keeping abreast ofjust the basic changes is one
thing.
And keeping up to date withGoogle Maps and other AI driven
platforms.
Google Maps is just one of them.
So be ready to adapt yourstrategies to leverage these
technologies.
And more than just Google, butthis one is at the forefront.
(15:08):
So as we stand on the brink ofthis new era of AI powered
travel, the journey ahead fortravel and tourism marketers,
it's exciting.
It's also challenging, but byembracing the AI and the
personalization opportunitiesthat it brings, uh, we can offer
travelers, not justdestinations, but experiences
that resonate on a personallevel.
This is incredibly important andwill continue to be even more
(15:31):
fun.
This will move forward with AItruly providing opportunities to
personalize experience ofcontents.
This is not just about beingfound.
It's about being discovered as adestination or an attraction
that offers something trulyunique and memorable or simply
fits the bill for what thetraveler needs at any given
moment.
(15:52):
So as we wrap up today'sepisode, I'm excited about the
immense potential that AIpowered local search holds for
our industry, and it's areminder that in the heart of
every traveler, there is thatinnate desire for discovery with
the right tools and strategies,we can do our best to make our
individual businesses.
And attractions more fun.
Now it's time for the researchroundup.
(16:14):
Today we're going to be taking aslightly different approach to
this and that this research thatwe're going to be covering today
is from the World Travel andTourism Council.
And it focuses on the role ofartificial intelligence in the
travel and tourism industry.
I want you to bear with methrough this segment and here's
why what we're about to talkabout is, is pure AI integration
(16:37):
into the way that businesses.
I think it's important todelineate generative AI, you
know, when we think about, well,how can I use chat GPT to create
X, Y, and Z?
And things of that nature.
So it's two different approachesor concepts rather with AI.
(16:59):
And I'd like to go through thiswith you and just make some
highlights on some of the thingsthat are the findings that are
part of the study and.
Hopefully to get you thinkingconceptually and down the road
about how AI may be able tointegrate within your
organization, organizations,within your member
(17:21):
organizations, however the casemay be.
But just again, thinking downthe road, thinking about this a
bit longer term, and then we'regoing to circle back to some of
the generative stuff and justsome ways to get started.
In this study, World Travel andTourism Council.
They state the obvious, AI is nolonger a distant future concept,
(17:43):
right?
It's here and it's transformingthe travel and tourism industry.
So in this it's AI drivenwayfinding apps, hotel concierge
services, booking engines, youknow, again, this is thinking
about AI and streamliningoperations, improving customer
experiences, optimizing pricingstrategies.
(18:05):
Enhancing decision making and soforth.
And what we've seen in thetravel and tourism industry,
especially emerging from COVID19 is that the travel industry
has shown tremendous resilience.
The landscape's always changingand working within new trends
and environmentalconsiderations, altering the
nature of travel in general.
(18:26):
And to be successful in thisenvironment and to win customer
loyalty, companies need toembrace the power of data and
AI.
AI makes it possible tocapitalize on the data, creating
extraordinary personalizedcustomer experiences, optimized
efficiency, minimized costs, etcetera, et cetera.
(18:47):
So this is the urgency of AIadoption is another piece that
they discuss in this study.
And the AI transformation ishappening faster than the
previous digital transformation.
You know, we look back at likethe The dawn of mobile devices
or going back to, you know, theinternet becoming pro AI
(19:10):
transformation is happeningfaster, about 16 months faster.
According to this study, itshows a clear sense of urgency
for the travel and tourismsector to not get left behind
Frank, this incredibly fastmoving revolution.
There's no other way to describethis.
The travel sector is currentlylagging behind the majority of
(19:33):
other consumer facing industrysectors in the adoption and the
implementation of AI.
And so there is, they cite anumber of different reasons in
this study, including a shortageof AI skilled workers, limited
AI infrastructure, datanetworks, such as, you know, and
they make a couple of differentrecommendations.
(19:54):
A few things here that I thinkstand out driving intentional
AI, okay.
Including AI implementation fromyour stakeholders, all of the
folks within your organizations.
This particular case, we'relooking at big travel and
tourism organizations here andthey advise.
C suite, BIA, et cetera, etcetera, and in making AI a
(20:21):
strategic priority at thehighest level of your
organization.
So even for those of us that aresmall organizations, this needs
to start at the top.
And also, you know, they reallytalk about tuning out data
noise.
And this is something that Ithink a lot of folks are going
to be thinking about more andmore.
But just that business criticaldata and, you know, a lot of
(20:44):
folks have struggled to reallykind of gather this and make
sense of it and store it and allthose different types of things
and making actionable they alsoadvise to treat AI as a team
sport.
Embedding multidisciplinaryteams throughout your
organization.
Data scientists, trainingspecialists, communications
professionals.
All of these folks workingtogether to drive AI adoption in
(21:07):
all relevant business units.
I think this is geared towards,you know, some very large
organizations, but think abouthow you can do that no matter
what your size.
Not only generating buy in withAI, but getting everybody
involved.
So despite the currentchallenges, the future of AI
travel and tourism is bright.
(21:27):
Obviously there's a hugeopportunity for companies
embracing AI and with the travelindustry having the fourth
lowest level of AI maturity,according to the study lagging
behind most other consumerfacing industries, uh, this
indicates just a massiveopportunity for growth.
One of the recommendations thatthey make, and again, I'm going
(21:48):
to, I'm going to go through thiswith you and then I'm going to
distill it.
Some of the examples that theygive are, are going to be
challenging for some of us tothink about and apply for a
number of different reasons.
One, these are, these arestraight up AI, not, you know, I
think a lot of folks, again,kind of confused the differences
between generative and nongenerative AI.
(22:12):
And in this particular case,they cite a couple.
Examples, one where Microsoftand American Airlines were
utilizing AI to save time on howlong airplanes were sitting on
the runway.
That's an example.
Google was working with AmericanAirlines to mitigate the climate
(22:32):
impact of contrails.
And a third example here is IBMworking with Lufthansa to help
scape.
So, you know, these, these aregreat examples and I highly
encourage you to go and take alook at these, cause there's a
lot of really interestinginformation.
And again, hopefully it inspiresus to think about some ways that
(22:52):
we can utilize these types ofthings in our organizations, but
let's just be honest for themajority of us, these are not
necessarily applicable and.
And one of the things that Ifind interesting here too, is
that one of the suggestions inthis study for, you know, AI
adoption within yourorganization, and again, I'm
going to read this to you andthen I'm going to give you a
(23:14):
starting for folks like us.
Champion AI as a strategicpriority for the entire
organization with fullsponsorship from leadership.
Okay, we can all do that.
Doesn't matter how big we are.
This is something that needs tobe a top down initiative within
all of our organizations.
Invest heavily in talent to getmore from AI investments.
(23:35):
Well, this, this becomeschallenging, right?
Especially for some of us that,you know, our offices might only
have two of us.
So CVB of one or two, uh, it'sreally not feasible.
And then industrialize AI toolsand teams to create an AI core.
Oh boy.
(23:55):
Boy, that sounds reallycomplicated and difficult,
right?
Uh, and I'm going to give you astarting point here in just a
minute that will replace this.
And then number four, they saydesign AI responsibly from the
start.
Well, no, there's a couple ofways that you can look at this.
(24:16):
And, and that would be, I thinkprobably their intent here is
like how to develop like AI andlanguage models and things like
that.
I'm going to distill this downand simply say, rethink design,
AI responsibly.
And, and rethink of it asimplementation of AI in a
(24:38):
responsible way.
So having internal policies anddeterminations about how, when,
and where you're going to useAI.
Prioritize long and short terminvestments, you know, this is
another one where you're goingto be looking at tools.
And really just paying attentionto how the tools might be able
(24:58):
to help your organization as awhole.
So developing use cases.
So not just willy nilly tryingnew tools, but trying new tools
with a very specific purpose inthe use case of what it is that
you're trying to accomplish.
I'm going to, again, just kindof pull back from this here and,
and just kind of thinking aboutorganizations.
(25:20):
And there's a couple of.
Foundational things that need tobe done one, understanding how
AI can help your organization.
Where, where ways that you canbecome more efficient through
automation, using those thingsthat you discover in that little
(25:40):
process and developing use casesare specific for.
I want to save time writingemails, for example.
And then locating, researchingtools that might be able to help
you with that.
And then try really putting themin place and make a concerted
effort to do so.
(26:01):
But I'm going to take an evenfurther step back.
Just start somewhere, startsome, go create.
A chat GPT account, go createperplexity, AI accounts, Gemini,
formerly known as Bard, andprobably going to change again,
go just start using some ofthese tools, asking them
(26:25):
questions.
I will say this, you're going toget a lot more value out of the
paid versions than you are outof the free versions.
And it's just the truth.
So before you make it a judgmenton say chat GPT three, I would
maybe invest 20 a month to tryout the newest turbo version, as
(26:47):
well as, you know, all thedifferent types of integrations
that go in there, but justgetting started with one of
these tools, simply asking itquestions, keeping a tab open in
your browser.
And, and making use of it, justlearning a bit how to do it.
Now the prompting, you know, issomething that is a learned
skill and you'll learn it to bemore detailed, but the more
(27:10):
explicit that you can be whenyou begin prompting just to get
yourself started, the better offyou are going to be.
And the more that you'll learn,that is a whole nother topic,
prompting and so forth.
But I really just wanted totalk.
This particular study, sharewith you some of these just
really big picture types ofthings.
(27:33):
Distill it down just a littlebit so it becomes a little bit
more approachable to those of usthat are not American Airlines,
United Airlines, Lufthansa, etc.
That have these massive, massiveR& D budgets and huge staff,
technologists and those that canhelp implement it.
Because the truth is that we'veall got to figure this out on
(27:54):
our own, and we've got to startsomewhere and it is not going
away.
that's all for today's episode.
I hope that you found one smallpiece of information to help you
along your marketing journey.
If you have any questions over atopic that you'd like to hear
covered or a great example oftravel and tourism marketing in
the wild, I'd love to hear fromyou.
Just drop me an email, tti atdigital relativity.
(28:18):
com.
That's tti at digitalrelativity.
com.
You can text 209 300 5017.
That's 209 300 5017.
Or message me on X at PatStrader.
I'm your host, Pat Strader,signing off, and I invite you to
subscribe wherever you get yourpodcasts and join us next time
(28:40):
as we continue to explore thefuture of travel and tourism
marketing.
hello and welcome to Digital Tourism Insights, a
podcast by Digital Relativity.
I'm your host, Pat Strader,founder and CEO 20 years of
experience in travel and tourismmarketing.
And I invite you to join me fora quick look at industry trends,
research, emerging technologies,and real talk on what works,
what doesn't, and why.
(00:33):
So grab a coffee, a beer, or acocktail, there is no judgment
here, and let's have some funwith an honest and irreverent
look into the nitty gritty oftravel and tourism marketing.
In today's trend segment, we'regoing to be taking a look at a
recent post on net hunt.
com titled hot or not emailmarketing trends in 2024.
(00:54):
So let's take a quick look athow privacy AI and more
influencing the way that wecraft our email campaigns in
2024.
Some of the trend highlights,first of all, privacy first.
2024 is seeing heightened focuson data privacy.
We've been talking about thisfor quite some time, but
(01:14):
consumers are increasingly waryof how their information is
used.
So it's crucial as marketers.
So we emphasize transparencythat consumers have control of
that.
We honor those things and allowsubscribers to tailor their own
communication preferences.
Hyper personalization is anothertrend.
(01:36):
This is kind of across the boardwhere we continue to talk about
personalization.
You know, the quote unquote, theone size fits all approach is,
is no longer as effective, um,as we all wish it would be
because it makes it more workfor us, right?
And now delivering highlypersonalized content tailored to
(01:56):
that individual's preferencesand behaviors.
It's going to be the key tocontinuing to drive engagement
and conversions, kind of goinghand in hand with this is
leveraging AI.
I know.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
We're going to talk more aboutAI, but AI is a huge ally here
and can tremendously help withenhancing personalization.
(02:19):
Optimizing the email content,delivery times, and just in
general, streamlining ourmarketing strategies by
embracing AI allows us toconnect with our audience more
effectively and efficiently withautomation, segmentation, et
cetera, automated campaignspowered by strategic
segmentation ensures that ourmessages are timely, relevant,
(02:44):
and engaging.
And again, you know, creatingthose connections with this one
is a little surprising to mebecause I kind of feel like
we're past this mobile firstdesign.
And that seems like somethingthat we would have been talking
about 10 years ago.
But as I think about this more,more often than it should, I
(03:06):
feel like that I personally haveemails that come through that
definitely.
Did not have any considerationfor mobile first.
So really thinking about that.
And again, you know, making surethat things are tappable in an
interactive are going to behighly important.
And along with those lines ofinteractive emails, engaging
your audiences.
(03:27):
With interactive elements withinthose emails is something that
is going to be more and morevaluable moving forward, really
clear and concise.
And, you know, moving back tothe mobile piece here, tappable,
CTAs, polls, things withfeatures such as this to enhance
the user engagement and tofrankly, just continue to help
(03:50):
stand out a bit, you know,accessibility, this kind of goes
hand in hand with the mobilefirst, but making emails
accessible to everyone,including those with
disabilities.
It's not just a legalrequirement.
It's, it's becoming a moralimperative, if you will, but you
know, accessible emails aregoing to, first of all, take
care of that mobile first designor should rather, and often
(04:12):
results in better overall userexperience.
So what are some things that wecan be going?
I would, first of all, audityour email list, make sure that
that thing is clean.
You know, as the focus movesmore towards engagement with
subscribers, I think that it'sincredibly important to ensure
that your email list is veryclean and that the content that
(04:35):
you're going to be providing tothose in your list is relevant,
another broken record statementhere, but embracing AI and
automation, this is going to besomething really important.
And there's a number ofdifferent AI tools, which are
very interesting.
I'm not going to get into thoseright now.
Just for fear of completelyopening a can of worms.
(04:57):
There are some very interestingAI tools.
We'll help with your email listto ensure that you're delivering
the right kind of content at theright time to the right people.
And there are some very basicthings that are, you know, built
into to many of our emailplatforms.
(05:19):
But I think that theaugmentation of some of these AI
tools that we're going to beable to use with our email
campaigns are just really goingto help make each of our
campaigns and sends much moreeffective.
Continuing on some of the thingsthey're optimizing for mobile
and incorporating interactivityand again, prioritizing the
(05:39):
accessibility to these emails.
So as we kind of look at howwe're going to navigate through
2024, the key to successfulemail marketing and the travel
and tourism industry.
It lies in embracing theseevolving trends and just really
paying attention to them.
But again, focusing on theprivacy, the interactive
elements, continuing to findways to implement and improve
(06:01):
personalization.
And then leveraging how AI canhelp us do those things.
If we look at these trends andwe pay attention to them, we can
create more meaningful andeffective email campaigns that
truly resonate with audience.
And remember, our goal is notjust to reach our audience, but
to connect with them and providesome real value that keeps them
(06:23):
engaged and looking forward totheir next adventure.
In today's Destination Focus,we're diving into the Colors of
Carlsbad campaign, acollaboration between Visit
Carlsbad and the Pantone ColorInstitute, which has smartly
combined creative elements withdata analysis to promote
Carlsbad, California, as a mustvisit destination.
(06:45):
At the heart of the Colors ofCarlsbad campaign was a 2019
Colors of Travel Study, in whichVisit Carlsbad, the Pantone
Color Institute, worked withQuantitative Influencer
Marketing Platform 4 to analyzethousands of Instagram images
from 75 travel influencers, eachwith more than 50, 000
(07:06):
followers.
They narrowed down the photos tothe five most engaged Instagram
images from each influencer,which were then analyzed to
determine the four most commoncolors that were present.
One image per influencer wasselected, which was then scanned
through Google Cloud Vision todetermine the most dominant
(07:28):
views.
And this is, uh, this is reallycreative.
I love this approach.
And so visit Carlsbad and thePantone color Institute
identified four trending colors,the best represented Carlsbad.
So this innovative approachhighlights Carlsbad's natural
beauty and vibrancy by informingand elevating the creative using
(07:49):
these hues.
The really fun thing about thisas well, this was in 2019, 2020,
they have actually continued todo this each year.
So it's just a reallyinteresting way to keep up with
the trends that they're seeingthrough their data analysis.
But the Carlsbad campaigncelebrates its unique color
(08:09):
palette.
Here's some flowery language fory'all.
From the warming sunrises andexpansive blue skies to the
soothing green blue lagoonwaters and golden yellow craft
beer experiences.
These colors are emblematic ofCarlsbad's diverse offerings,
including its food scene, arts,culture.
(08:30):
The wellness scene is very, um,a big component of what they do
there in Carlsbad.
As well as adventureopportunities.
By focusing on these hues, thecampaign offers a novel way of
promoting the destination,making it stand out to potential
visitors.
I found this quote in Forbesmagazine from Sam Ross, who was
then the executive director ofVisit Carlsbad.
(08:54):
It is a different way ofpromoting the destination,
instead of just using theattributes of the attractions or
our great beaches.
End quote.
So, It's just a reallyinteresting approach to this.
And what sets the colors ofCarlsbad campaign apart is its
use of data analysis to informcreative.
While I've been able to locatemetrics directly related to this
(09:17):
campaign, there's bits andpieces of things out there.
I can tell you that while SamRoss was still serving as the
Executive Director at VisitCarlsbad, that Carlsbad had
reached the number one rankingin ADR and RevPAR against all
other San Diego regions.
That's a, just an incredibleaccomplishment there and I, I
feel is proof enough for me toknow that this campaign was
(09:39):
effective, but I feel that thiscampaign is more so a great
example to get us all thinkingabout new ways to involve data
and the development of ourcreative.
Next up is our tech spotlighttoday.
We're going to take a look at asignificant shift on the
horizon.
The revolutionary updates toGoogle maps powered by AI
promise to redefine howtravelers discovered local
(10:01):
businesses.
So let's take a look at thistogether by unpacking the
highlights and exploring how tonavigate new territory within
the Google ecosystem.
The digital compass that guidesour travels has become smarter,
more intuitive.
That little navigational tool inour pocket is poised for change.
Google Maps is at the forefrontof this transformation.
(10:24):
It is integrating AI to enhancelocal search in ways that we've
never seen before.
Imagine a map that doesn't justdirect you to your destination,
but also suggests personalizedexperiences based on your
interests, past searches, andeven your real time context.
Recommending a cozy little cafetucked away in a back alley
(10:46):
somewhere, to highlighting localevents that match your
preferences.
seamless and deeplypersonalized.
What is going on here?
Well, Google maps is rolling outan AI powered feature to enhance
local business search, providingusers with personalized
recommendations.
(11:07):
So we talk about AIpersonalization, and this is,
this is going to be a prettypowerful, this is in beta right
now.
They're testing this with their.
Ambassadors, if you will, theGoogle Maps power users, but
this is utilizing large languagemodels to analyze Google Maps,
(11:27):
extensive database.
including places, photos,ratings, reviews.
Users can input conversationalsearch queries, receive tailored
suggestions for businesses,events, restaurants, activities,
with the ability to refinesearches through follow up
questions.
This development aims atrevolutionizing local discovery
(11:49):
by offering ultra personalizedrecommendations Catering to
specific interests and needs andaccommodating various situations
like weather changes or grouppreferences.
As marketers, how do we preparefor this wave of change?
Well, first of all, it's aboutunderstanding the power of data
and personalization.
(12:10):
And as AI thrives oninformation, so ensuring that
your business's digitalfootprint is built out and
accurate across Google'splatforms and beyond.
It's paramount to theimplications of overlooking this
critical step should be reallyprofound.
You've heard this before.
You've heard this from me beforeif you've seen me speak about
(12:31):
Google and local listings inparticular.
But with AI powered search, thevisibility of local attractions,
hotels, restaurants, theexperiences can truly skyrocket.
It's about being at the rightplace and the digital map at the
right time.
So how do we ensure destinationsand businesses stand out?
It's all about leveraging thesetechnologies through optimized
(12:52):
listings, engaging content,leveraging user reviews and
interactions to boost visibilityand appeal.
This is nothing earth shatteringor new, but the implications of
not doing this become muchgreater.
As this AI and local searchbegins to roll out to the
(13:15):
general public, to the masses.
So what are some practical tipsfor marketers?
First of all, stop me if you'veheard this before.
Optimize your listings.
Go to your Google My Businessprofile and make sure your
information is complete.
Ensure that it's accurate and,and update it regularly using
rich descriptions, high qualityimages.
(13:35):
Current operating hours isincredibly important and can
significantly enhance yourvisibility.
So if you haven't already donethat, go, go do it right now.
Don't walk, run.
Also embrace reviews andengagements.
I don't want to hear it anymore.
It's like, Oh, somebody that'sjust mad about this, that, and
the other.
There's lots of ways tomitigate.
(13:58):
unfounded reviews, but just byputting your head in the sand,
you're not going to besuccessful.
So encourage your customers toleave reviews, engage with these
reviews promptly and personallyget in there in response.
AI algorithms are going to favorthis.
And businesses that show highlevels of engagement and
positive feedback are going tobe rewarded.
(14:21):
Utilize your keywords wisely.
Incorporate those relevantkeywords into your business
listings and responses toreviews.
And I think that this can alsohelp AI just understand more
about your business.
And make it more likely torecommend your services to users
with matching interests.
And then lastly, just stayinformed and adapt.
(14:43):
AI landscape is moving so fast,it's not even funny.
But just by keeping abreast ofjust the basic changes is one
thing.
And keeping up to date withGoogle Maps and other AI driven
platforms.
Google Maps is just one of them.
So be ready to adapt yourstrategies to leverage these
technologies.
And more than just Google, butthis one is at the forefront.
(15:08):
So as we stand on the brink ofthis new era of AI powered
travel, the journey ahead fortravel and tourism marketers,
it's exciting.
It's also challenging, but byembracing the AI and the
personalization opportunitiesthat it brings, uh, we can offer
travelers, not justdestinations, but experiences
that resonate on a personallevel.
This is incredibly important andwill continue to be even more
(15:31):
fun.
This will move forward with AItruly providing opportunities to
personalize experience ofcontents.
This is not just about beingfound.
It's about being discovered as adestination or an attraction
that offers something trulyunique and memorable or simply
fits the bill for what thetraveler needs at any given
moment.
(15:52):
So as we wrap up today'sepisode, I'm excited about the
immense potential that AIpowered local search holds for
our industry, and it's areminder that in the heart of
every traveler, there is thatinnate desire for discovery with
the right tools and strategies,we can do our best to make our
individual businesses.
And attractions more fun.
Now it's time for the researchroundup.
(16:14):
Today we're going to be taking aslightly different approach to
this and that this research thatwe're going to be covering today
is from the World Travel andTourism Council.
And it focuses on the role ofartificial intelligence in the
travel and tourism industry.
I want you to bear with methrough this segment and here's
why what we're about to talkabout is, is pure AI integration
(16:37):
into the way that businesses.
I think it's important todelineate generative AI, you
know, when we think about, well,how can I use chat GPT to create
X, Y, and Z?
And things of that nature.
So it's two different approachesor concepts rather with AI.
(16:59):
And I'd like to go through thiswith you and just make some
highlights on some of the thingsthat are the findings that are
part of the study and.
Hopefully to get you thinkingconceptually and down the road
about how AI may be able tointegrate within your
organization, organizations,within your member
(17:21):
organizations, however the casemay be.
But just again, thinking downthe road, thinking about this a
bit longer term, and then we'regoing to circle back to some of
the generative stuff and justsome ways to get started.
In this study, World Travel andTourism Council.
They state the obvious, AI is nolonger a distant future concept,
(17:43):
right?
It's here and it's transformingthe travel and tourism industry.
So in this it's AI drivenwayfinding apps, hotel concierge
services, booking engines, youknow, again, this is thinking
about AI and streamliningoperations, improving customer
experiences, optimizing pricingstrategies.
(18:05):
Enhancing decision making and soforth.
And what we've seen in thetravel and tourism industry,
especially emerging from COVID19 is that the travel industry
has shown tremendous resilience.
The landscape's always changingand working within new trends
and environmentalconsiderations, altering the
nature of travel in general.
(18:26):
And to be successful in thisenvironment and to win customer
loyalty, companies need toembrace the power of data and
AI.
AI makes it possible tocapitalize on the data, creating
extraordinary personalizedcustomer experiences, optimized
efficiency, minimized costs, etcetera, et cetera.
(18:47):
So this is the urgency of AIadoption is another piece that
they discuss in this study.
And the AI transformation ishappening faster than the
previous digital transformation.
You know, we look back at likethe The dawn of mobile devices
or going back to, you know, theinternet becoming pro AI
(19:10):
transformation is happeningfaster, about 16 months faster.
According to this study, itshows a clear sense of urgency
for the travel and tourismsector to not get left behind
Frank, this incredibly fastmoving revolution.
There's no other way to describethis.
The travel sector is currentlylagging behind the majority of
(19:33):
other consumer facing industrysectors in the adoption and the
implementation of AI.
And so there is, they cite anumber of different reasons in
this study, including a shortageof AI skilled workers, limited
AI infrastructure, datanetworks, such as, you know, and
they make a couple of differentrecommendations.
(19:54):
A few things here that I thinkstand out driving intentional
AI, okay.
Including AI implementation fromyour stakeholders, all of the
folks within your organizations.
This particular case, we'relooking at big travel and
tourism organizations here andthey advise.
C suite, BIA, et cetera, etcetera, and in making AI a
(20:21):
strategic priority at thehighest level of your
organization.
So even for those of us that aresmall organizations, this needs
to start at the top.
And also, you know, they reallytalk about tuning out data
noise.
And this is something that Ithink a lot of folks are going
to be thinking about more andmore.
But just that business criticaldata and, you know, a lot of
(20:44):
folks have struggled to reallykind of gather this and make
sense of it and store it and allthose different types of things
and making actionable they alsoadvise to treat AI as a team
sport.
Embedding multidisciplinaryteams throughout your
organization.
Data scientists, trainingspecialists, communications
professionals.
All of these folks workingtogether to drive AI adoption in
(21:07):
all relevant business units.
I think this is geared towards,you know, some very large
organizations, but think abouthow you can do that no matter
what your size.
Not only generating buy in withAI, but getting everybody
involved.
So despite the currentchallenges, the future of AI
travel and tourism is bright.
(21:27):
Obviously there's a hugeopportunity for companies
embracing AI and with the travelindustry having the fourth
lowest level of AI maturity,according to the study lagging
behind most other consumerfacing industries, uh, this
indicates just a massiveopportunity for growth.
One of the recommendations thatthey make, and again, I'm going
(21:48):
to, I'm going to go through thiswith you and then I'm going to
distill it.
Some of the examples that theygive are, are going to be
challenging for some of us tothink about and apply for a
number of different reasons.
One, these are, these arestraight up AI, not, you know, I
think a lot of folks, again,kind of confused the differences
between generative and nongenerative AI.
(22:12):
And in this particular case,they cite a couple.
Examples, one where Microsoftand American Airlines were
utilizing AI to save time on howlong airplanes were sitting on
the runway.
That's an example.
Google was working with AmericanAirlines to mitigate the climate
(22:32):
impact of contrails.
And a third example here is IBMworking with Lufthansa to help
scape.
So, you know, these, these aregreat examples and I highly
encourage you to go and take alook at these, cause there's a
lot of really interestinginformation.
And again, hopefully it inspiresus to think about some ways that
(22:52):
we can utilize these types ofthings in our organizations, but
let's just be honest for themajority of us, these are not
necessarily applicable and.
And one of the things that Ifind interesting here too, is
that one of the suggestions inthis study for, you know, AI
adoption within yourorganization, and again, I'm
going to read this to you andthen I'm going to give you a
(23:14):
starting for folks like us.
Champion AI as a strategicpriority for the entire
organization with fullsponsorship from leadership.
Okay, we can all do that.
Doesn't matter how big we are.
This is something that needs tobe a top down initiative within
all of our organizations.
Invest heavily in talent to getmore from AI investments.
(23:35):
Well, this, this becomeschallenging, right?
Especially for some of us that,you know, our offices might only
have two of us.
So CVB of one or two, uh, it'sreally not feasible.
And then industrialize AI toolsand teams to create an AI core.
Oh boy.
(23:55):
Boy, that sounds reallycomplicated and difficult,
right?
Uh, and I'm going to give you astarting point here in just a
minute that will replace this.
And then number four, they saydesign AI responsibly from the
start.
Well, no, there's a couple ofways that you can look at this.
(24:16):
And, and that would be, I thinkprobably their intent here is
like how to develop like AI andlanguage models and things like
that.
I'm going to distill this downand simply say, rethink design,
AI responsibly.
And, and rethink of it asimplementation of AI in a
(24:38):
responsible way.
So having internal policies anddeterminations about how, when,
and where you're going to useAI.
Prioritize long and short terminvestments, you know, this is
another one where you're goingto be looking at tools.
And really just paying attentionto how the tools might be able
(24:58):
to help your organization as awhole.
So developing use cases.
So not just willy nilly tryingnew tools, but trying new tools
with a very specific purpose inthe use case of what it is that
you're trying to accomplish.
I'm going to, again, just kindof pull back from this here and,
and just kind of thinking aboutorganizations.
(25:20):
And there's a couple of.
Foundational things that need tobe done one, understanding how
AI can help your organization.
Where, where ways that you canbecome more efficient through
automation, using those thingsthat you discover in that little
(25:40):
process and developing use casesare specific for.
I want to save time writingemails, for example.
And then locating, researchingtools that might be able to help
you with that.
And then try really putting themin place and make a concerted
effort to do so.
(26:01):
But I'm going to take an evenfurther step back.
Just start somewhere, startsome, go create.
A chat GPT account, go createperplexity, AI accounts, Gemini,
formerly known as Bard, andprobably going to change again,
go just start using some ofthese tools, asking them
(26:25):
questions.
I will say this, you're going toget a lot more value out of the
paid versions than you are outof the free versions.
And it's just the truth.
So before you make it a judgmenton say chat GPT three, I would
maybe invest 20 a month to tryout the newest turbo version, as
(26:47):
well as, you know, all thedifferent types of integrations
that go in there, but justgetting started with one of
these tools, simply asking itquestions, keeping a tab open in
your browser.
And, and making use of it, justlearning a bit how to do it.
Now the prompting, you know, issomething that is a learned
skill and you'll learn it to bemore detailed, but the more
(27:10):
explicit that you can be whenyou begin prompting just to get
yourself started, the better offyou are going to be.
And the more that you'll learn,that is a whole nother topic,
prompting and so forth.
But I really just wanted totalk.
This particular study, sharewith you some of these just
really big picture types ofthings.
(27:33):
Distill it down just a littlebit so it becomes a little bit
more approachable to those of usthat are not American Airlines,
United Airlines, Lufthansa, etc.
That have these massive, massiveR& D budgets and huge staff,
technologists and those that canhelp implement it.
Because the truth is that we'veall got to figure this out on
(27:54):
our own, and we've got to startsomewhere and it is not going
away.
that's all for today's episode.
I hope that you found one smallpiece of information to help you
along your marketing journey.
If you have any questions over atopic that you'd like to hear
covered or a great example oftravel and tourism marketing in
the wild, I'd love to hear fromyou.
Just drop me an email, tti atdigital relativity.
(28:18):
com.
That's tti at digitalrelativity.
com.
You can text 209 300 5017.
That's 209 300 5017.
Or message me on X at PatStrader.
I'm your host, Pat Strader,signing off, and I invite you to
subscribe wherever you get yourpodcasts and join us next time
(28:40):
as we continue to explore thefuture of travel and tourism
marketing.
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