[#10] IFTM Paris / Greek Overtourism / Hotels & Social Media

This month's recap of travel stories, tourism trends and news

In my monthly newsletters I'm wearing the traveler's and tourism insider’s hat to discuss some "juicy" topics in travel & hospitality. Find out more about me here.

Enjoy reading!

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#1 - IFTM in Paris: The Tourism industry behind the scenes

After visiting the ITB in Berlin earlier this year, this week I’ve visited IFTM in Paris, one of the tourism fairs in Europe with around 400 stands between tourism boards, airlines, tour operators, technology providers and more than 30,000 tourism professionals attending.

These are some of my key takeaways:

• The outlook for the tourism industry remains positive, with stands bustling with people and lots of positive energy;

• Artificial Intelligence and Sustainability are still top of mind for tourism professionals, with keynotes addressing topics like the role of content creators in supporting companies’ efforts in sustainability, or how AI is transforming marketing and SEO practices;

• Destinations and tourism boards are finding new, creative ways to stand out and tell their story (beside just bigger stands).

I’ve shared more of my takeaways, trends and inspiration in this article.

And if you’re attending one of the upcoming tourism fairs in Europe, do get in touch -I’d love to connect.

#2 - Greece: Overtourism vs No Tourism

The Greek Islands of Santorini and Mykonos, some of the most popular Mediterranean destinations, are facing the risk of overtourism. These stunning pictures show narrow promenades and viewpoints completely packed with tourists.

It’s hard to believe that things have changed so dramatically since last time I’ve visited: Back then, walking through the alleyways in Mykonos without bumping into other tourists, or watching the sunset in little Venice without queuing, was possible.

Probably you’ve already guessed it: That time was shortly after the pandemics, when countries were slowly re-opening their borders.

Since then, tourism went back to pre-pandemic levels. And overtourism is a hot topic again.

How to find the right balance?

#3 - Some Hotels are too busy for social media

Some time ago I was talking about social media with a friend who owns a B&B in Italy.

"I don't have time to post on social media. It’s time consuming and I need to focus on more urgent things like X and Y."

Does that sound familiar?

Without any doubt, managing a social media presence (in hospitality and in other industries) can be time consuming, especially when resources are limited.

But in my experience, this issue usually boils down to 4 challenges:

1. Not having an overall marketing strategy

2. Not having social media-specific objectives

3. Lack of content to post

4. Lack of time to write and publish

Often I’ve seen businesses overlooking 1+2 and focusing straight on posting, mostly with average or disappointing results.

But with the right strategy and objectives, managing a social media channel will take less time and bring some pretty good results. Want to know more? Drop me a message.

In my upcoming newsletters I will share some examples and best practices of successful social media strategies in tourism and hospitality.

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#4 - Peak-end rule in travel

Recently I came across this interesting article about the “Peak-end-rule” applied to travel.

In a nutshell, the peak-end-rule suggests that people tend to judge an overall experience based on the most positive or negative point and how it begins or ends. An example would be hotels offering complimentary welcome drinks to guests at check-in.

Here are a few more examples I can think of:

• A hotel offers you a complimentary bottle of champagne to celebrate an important occasion during your stay. At the check-out you see the price of the bottle on the invoice -but it’s marked as “free”!

• On the contrary, you just had a fantastic holiday but the return flight is cancelled and you are stranded at the airport for 12 hours -a real nightmare! Chances are that you’ll remember that holiday for that specific part of the journey.

What other (positive or negative) examples come to your mind?

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#5: Other travel news

• Unesco says ‘selfie-tourism’ is destroying world’s best landmarks

• This company is hiring a “Chief Nomad Officer” to travel the world

• Until 7 October, registrations for the World Travel Market in London are free.

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