Sixth International Conference on Tourism & Leisure Studies

Abstract

Tourism media have more influence than ever on trends in hospitality and hotels. The line between travel public relations and travel media is more blurred than ever, and many have worked on both sides of it. I have leveraged my experience as a content creator, to consult state and country visitor bureaus on how to better position their destinations. Influencers may do the same, if they brand themselves properly. The game changed even before social media- travel and foodie tv channels and the blogosphere moved the needle on consumer awareness of experience. So did Yelp! and TripAdvisor. Many bureaus are asking media “How may I serve you (and in turn, your audiences) better?” I have been a party to this. My paper addresses how destinations should distinguish themselves in an era when everyone can digitally search for experience information. Most significantly, how should industry officials react to the leverage influencers have on their followers, particularly since in most cases, their audiences are too young and not earning enough to afford their destination or property.