Can a Tourism Campaign Be Too Successful? — Digital Marketing News This Week

What should a destination do when its marketing efforts work too well?

While conventional wisdom would hold that more demand is always a good thing, Iceland has realized in recent years there is a downside to having lots of visitors show up in your country all at once. Not only does it put new strains on the local environment, it also impacts transportation systems, hotels and has a potentially negative impact on local residents.

The CEOs of Carnival, Expedia, Peek, and More Are Speaking at Skift Global Forum 2016. Join Us.

Iceland isn’t the only destination facing this dilemma. As more destinations and tourism boards like Western Norway experience sudden surges in popularity thanks to movies, television, and social media, destination marketers will need to think more strategically about what this means for their efforts to court new visitors. How will they react in the future? Read on for more details, plus the rest of this week’s marketing news.

Can a Tourism Campaign Be Too Successful? Western Norway Says Yes.
For nearly every destination marketing group, the goal of a tourism campaign has one focus: encourage more visitors. But what if a tourism board’s efforts worked out too well? Could too many visitors become too much of a good thing? That’s exactly the problem facing Western Norway, where a surge of interest from the movie Frozen has created a conundrum about how to promote the region moving forward. Read more

Standard Hotels Creates HotelTonight Competitor with 20 Partners
Last-minute hotel bookings continue to grow, and the key beneficiaries of the trend so far have been the OTAs and companies like HotelTonight. But for independent hotel properties like The Standard however, the concern is these deal-focused platforms emphasize discounts over unique property experiences. The Standard’s new app, One Night, is designed to fight back against this discount focused experience. It expands the hotel’s existing last-minute booking app to include more than 20 upscale partners in New York and Los Angeles.. Read more

How Google Trips Will Impact Airlines and Airports
Google just released its newest travel-themed app, Google Trips, earlier this week. While the app seems mostly consumer-facing, many airline and airport insiders are speculating about how tit may change their relationships with passengers moving forward. If an app like Google Trips can handle tasks like managing reservations and giving directions to and from the airport, what’s the point of having an airline or airport app in the first place? Read more

Delta Targets Millennials With Snapchat-based Scavenger Hunt
Delta is the latest travel brand to jump on the Snapchat bandwagon, launching a scavenger hunt promotion that takes advantage of the social platform’s geo-filter feature. Snapchat users in Los Angeles can search for the airline’s neighborhood-specific “geo-filters” for the chance to win branded perks. Read more

Carnival Launches Network TV Shows To Change Cruise Perceptions
Carnival is entering the world of branded entertainment thanks to a series of new cruise-themed TV shows launching on ABC, NBC and CW this fall. The new shows are a part of a broader effort by Carnival CEO Arnold Donald to try and change traveler perceptions around the cruise experience, and will focus on cruising themes like adventure travel, food and culture. Read more

New Atlas Obscura Hardcover Book Extends Company Footprint
In the age of TripAdvisor and Google Maps, where every “off-the-beaten-path” sight seems to already be discovered, it’s easy for people to complain modern travel lacks adventure. That’s why it’s been so refreshing to watch the growth of Atlas Obscura, an organization dedicated to creating a guide to the “world’s most wondrous and curious places.” The company is out this week with a beautiful hardcover book that highlights some of the most unusual places from its extensive database of curiosities. Read more