Local Governments Should Use Social Media To Promote Tourism, Columnist Writes.

http://www.governing.com/articles/0812techtalk.htm

From the ICMA News Briefing this morning:

Local Governments Should Use Social Media To Promote Tourism, Columnist Writes.

In an article for Governing (Dec. 2008) magazine, Ellen Perlman asks, "Tourism marketing departments of America: Are you working with bloggers, vloggers and podcasters to help promote your state, county, city, park or campground? If not, why not?" She advises "state and local governments...to take lessons on what we'll call 'Online Community 101.'" While having an online presence is a good thing, it "is not the same as building tourism visits by courting the people who write, talk and video about travel digitally." Any local government "tourism bureau that woos and works with these people will likely get some ink. Or pixels, in this case," she writes. For example, "marketing people in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, teamed up with a local group to host a 'pod camp,' a social media get-together for businesses and residents. They showed them around the city in the same way they would a writer from a traditional magazine or newspaper. That night, many bloggers went back to their hotel rooms to write about what they saw and did."

 

 

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