Attracting Tourists to Local Businesses

How local businesses can tap into the tourism economy.

Not a DMO or typical tourist attraction? You can still position your business in front of tourists! A few tactics are below.

Strong presence on social

• Tourists are using social media more and more to find dining options on their vacations. Instagram allows users to save posts now, so that process begins at the time of booking. Help them get stoked on your brand and anticipate their arrival by:

• • Curating strong brand imagery
    • Cultivate a following and get them to save your posts!
    • Professional images help immensely.
  • Consistent efforts
    • Remember hashtags to gain visibility to the tourism audience
  • Coincides with blogging efforts
    • Push your blog content out on social, especially if your blog provides that “insider knowledge” travelers are looking for! Driving traffic to your blog will boost your SEO and if you have tracking installed properly, you can run retargeting campaigns on social or Google.

Programs with DMOs

• • Leads programs with Tourism Engine™
  • Email marketing/automated campaigns based on travel dates
    • Reach tourists while they’re here with relevant content
      • Summer tourists will want to see summer imagery & content around summer activities and elements of the outdoors
      • Winter tourists will have a much different experience and expect to see winter imagery and things to do indoors.

Blogging

• • Start a blog that showcases your expertise in the local tourism scene
    • Create stories around what to do in your town or city, involving your business when appropriate
      • Breweries can gain visibility with outdoor enthusiasts by creating great content around these activities.
      • Coffee shops can position themselves as a place for pre-activity fuel by developing content around this.
  • Leverage your blogging efforts by repurposing for social media and email marketing. Pushing your blog content out on social and email will drive traffic to the blog, helping gain visibility in search results. It’s full circle!