social media and the low carbon tourism project
TRANSCRIPT
So Why Am I Here?
“The explosive adoption of social media in tourism is driven by the inspirationalvalue of holidays for content creation, and the intrinsic satisfaction it brings tonourishing individuals’ need for “belonging” and “sharing”. (Adriana Budeanu,2013)
Does the increasing role of social media during all stages of tourism - pre,during and post visit - create opportunities to increase the breadth and depthof awareness and engagement with the project “Towards Carbon NeutralTourism in Montenegro” across some or all key stakeholder audiences?
Part One:Quick Dose of Theory
Who Do We Trust?
Source: Edelman Trust Barometer 2015
The Authenticity Gap
Source: FleishmanHillard Authenticity Gap 2014
Authenticity Drivers
Source: FleishmanHillard Authenticity Gap 2014
The OK News…
Source: FleishmanHillard Authenticity Gap 2014
Part Two:Sustainable Tourism + Social Media = ?
Sustainable Tourism
Definition
“According to the World Tourism Organisation, sustainable means ‘tourism that meets the needs ofpresent tourists and host regions while protecting and enhancing opportunities for the future”
“… Particularly for tourism, sustainable management involves raising efficiency and effectiveness ofservice provision, through recycling, energy efficiency, the optimisation of value creation processes(such as closed loop management) and a redefinition of tourist consumption at levels that createmeaningful experiences within the limits of available resources.”
Adriana Budeanu, 2013
Public Engagement 2.0
Definition
“The creation of meaning participatory frameworks that bring people andbusinesses/governments/organisations closer together around initiatives from which shared valuecan be achieved.”
Me, building upon Robert Philip’s Public Engagement Framework, 2010
“Sustainability” in the Social Conversation of Tourists
“Searches on TripAdvisor show that posts about sustainable tourism are rare and addresspredominantly tourism products rather than destinations, with no mentions of policy. Frequentsubjects are hotels and restaurants labeled as “sustainable”, while sustainable transport, touroperators and attractions are less popular… the majority of TripAdvisor reviews reproduce eco-claims made by tourism organisations, without questioning them, and eventual exchanges ofopinions die off after 3-4 messages.”
BUT
In response to a Twitter campaign promoting the Maldives became the focus of a public backlashthat “revealed the hypocrisy of the campaign, mentioning the social realities of the country, humanrights violations, corruption, and social unrest.”
Adriana Budeanu, 2013
Research
Part Three:So What’s the Plan for .ME?(Mozes li mi pokazati na karti?)
Some Principles
To Guide Our Social Interactions
Authenticity concerns the truthfulness of origins, attributes, commitments, sincerity, devotion, andintentions. We must be authentic in our social interactions.
Trust is defined as a reliance on the integrity, strength, ability, surety etc of a person or thing to act,behave or perform in a particular way. We must be trustworthy.
Reputation of a social entity (a person, social group or organisation) is an opinion about that entity,typically a result of social evaluation on a set of criteria. We must be mindful of shifts andprospective threats to our reputation.
Brand is the make, kind or grade of a product or service, often used for differentiation vis-a-vis othersimilar products or services. We must create a brand that others can understand and “see in us”.
PresenceWe have to be wherever audiences might start, progress or end their own journeys
Non-Experts
Experts
General Tourists
Eco-Tourists
Adventurous Tourists
ME Tourism & Travel Industry
External TravelIndustry
ME Citizens (?)
Industry, Gov’t and
NGO Partnersin ME
Int’lPartners
Getting the Pitch RightBy understanding audiences
Non-Experts
Experts
General Tourists
Eco-Tourists
Adventurous Tourists
ME Tourism & Travel Industry
External TravelIndustry
ME Citizens (?)
Industry, Gov’t and
NGO Partnersin ME
Int’lPartners
“I’d like new opportunities to grow my business…”
“I’d like greater opportunityfor my family, but without
tourists taking overthe place…”
“I want a great holidaythat won’t cost the earth…”
“I want to be the 1st personI know to really explore ME…”
“I want a great holiday ata price I find reasonable.”
“We need to make sure we achieve maximum ROI…”
“We’ll pack ‘em in planeslike sardines when this place
becomes the next…”
“We’re committed to balancing…”
Image (CC) Jonathan Powell: https://www.flickr.com/photos/metrojp/92038203
…how do we get all those people to hear what we have to say about Low CarbonTourism in Montenegro, much less get them involved?
SocialPyramid
Reach
Awareness
Engagement
Involvement
Ambassador
Lead
Empowerment
Ownership
Shared Meaning &Mutual Benefit
Simple Mechanic
Compelling Content
Channels
Channels
Channel Core Audiences Objective
Instagram Tourists considering destinations;visitors to ME; Citizens; TourismIndustry
Build awareness of ME as a prospective holidaydestination (with green credentials); Help citizensfeel pride; Support marketing of industry
Facebook Citizens; Tourism Industry;Tourists considering destinations
Build awareness and engagement ofsustainability/development activities; nurtureambassadors
Twitter Partner organisations;Sustainability community; media
Build awareness and engagement with programmeand it’s objectives
Blogger Engagement
Tourists considering destinations Build awareness of ME as a prospective holidaydestination (with green credentials)
WhatsApp Visitors to ME Build awareness and engagement ofsustainability/development activities tourists canbenefit from
Making Montenegro’s Ambitions SocialOur Approach
• Identify and prioritise key audiences
• Define measurable objectives for social• Identify and prioritise key audiences• Understand audience “use case scenarios”• Establish branded social channels• Determine “service levels” of each channel• Develop content planning, production and sign off procedures• Identify, train and schedule resource• Establish “long view” content calendar• Engage (and prepare) partners for amplification• Plan and produce content• Publish content• Evaluate, learn and adapt
Treba mi tvoja pomoc…
• Identify and prioritise key audiences
http://instagram.com/SustDevMe
https://www.facebook.com/SustDevMe
http://twitter.com/SustDevMe
#MonteGreen
#LowCO2me
(You might also wish to add your own signposts based on the conversation -
e.g. #Sustainability #Montenegro or #Tourism )