Does your hand phone have the chirpy bird on it yet? Is the Big F a part of your every day work updates? Do you Vine well and are you totally LinkedIn? Well these are just few of the must haves today on your system and your hand phone. These social media channels are not logos any more. They go out far and wide connecting to a global audience who can be your best business buddy. The very nature of the travel and tourism business is about connecting the world and connecting with the world. Our cover story has been written with an intention to identify where the travel industry stands with its connections with the power of social media. The new media age has been an absolute game changer and those who haven’t yet discovered this power punch are surely going to be left out.
However, the good news is that most players in the travel and tourism industry have woken up to this reality and have started using these tools to reach out to a wider audience but they have not yet been able to quantify the return over investment and are hoping to find out through some mechanism eventually. Destination videos that seem to be a hit are bringing in the traffic, while Twitter and Facebook have proven to be effective tools to identify the profile of the clientele and hence aids in designing the apt package and suggested tours which can be highly individualised. Tools like We Chat and Whatsapp help the agent to connect with a certain group in record time. Social media is also considered a great tool to monitor feedback on products. A negative comment is immediately acted upon, which in turn helps offer a quality product to the end consumer. Read through to get an insightful view on what the industry is doing with these new age marketing and communication tools.
This issue also covers another pertinent issue that is linked to our heritage and monuments. We at ETW have commenced upon a new journey and will bring to you significant tourism spots, either natural or man made, that need immediate attention from the government to get them fixed and refurbished. Under the section ‘Express Watch’, we have highlighted the Fort of Diu, which due to lack of funds from the Archaelogical Survey of India (ASI) is facing a major problem with its restoration and upkeep. The Diu administration is restricted as it falls under the purview of the ASI.
Finally, ATOAI has taken a serious stand to promote and protect the eco system of the Himalayas in terms of tourism inflow. Carrying capacity is a major concern especially to sensitive tourist zones and there has to be an immediate rule in place to strike a worthy balance between tourism and environment protection. The 2016 Himalayan Tourism Meet hopes to address this and more…
Reema Lokesh
Editor