Happy holidays! Whether your destination is covered in snow or sunny and warm, everyone is getting in the spirit. As you prepare yourself and your destination for the season, we have news and resources for you to keep up with the latest in the industry. Check out how TikTok is working for destinations, read about value-based tourists and more in this week’s download. Keep reading for some interesting news and updates!

With over 100 million active users in the U.S., TikTok platform offers opportunities to reach a lot of potential visitors through engaging video. This article highlights 5 reasons why DMOs should consider getting on TikTok:

1. Short videos make your destination come alive to potential visitors. Showing visitors what exciting things there are to do around your area can be much more engaging than a blog post.
2. Whether you’re on TikTok or not, your destination is. With so many users, there will be posts about your destination that are influencing potential visitors. Check in on posts about your location to see how others are perceiving you!
3. Don’t miss seeing firsthand what others find fascinating about your destination. It may surprise you! Users will post unique things about their experiences, so seeing what others are doing in your destination can give you insight in how to market it.
4. TikTok is a great way to engage with and showcase your stakeholders. By auditing TikToks posted about your destination, you can highlight why visitors come to your destination, and how they’re interacting with your local businesses, restaurants and attractions.
5. It’s an excellent way to illuminate parts of your destination that an image or words can’t capture. When it comes to the moments that show the heart and vibe of your region, TikTok can communicate those moments more memorably.

To see how DMOs are using TikTok to show off their destination, check out this page for real-life examples of their seasonal campaigns.

Value-based tourism has grown in popularity since the pandemic, making it important for DMOs to learn how to market to this segment of visitors. This audience wants to see value and sustainability built into their travel experience. This means DMOs need to consider the environmental, economic and community-wide effects of tourism in the area and how they can best market to potential visitors. Here are 3 opportunities DMOs can take advantage of when it comes to planning value-based marketing campaigns:

1. Understand what value-based tourists prefer to do. Someone interested in the local economy may prefer to shop local over shopping at a strip mall. By connecting with the specifics of this audience prefers, DMOs can best communicate the offerings and activities that fit.
2. Make sure everyone is included. Communities are wonderful and diverse places, so make sure you’re highlighting all of the ways that visitors can enjoy and learn from your destination.
3. Feature the local culture and heritage. Value-based travelers want to know about your community and look forward to having an authentic experience. Be strategic and creative about how visitors can experience what makes your community unique.

Value-based tourists want real experiences. That means DMOs need to use marketing to build a story that tells exactly how visitors can get up close and personal with your destination.

Global travel intelligence and news platform Skift is gathering research for a new report that will analyze lessons learned from the pandemic to reveal opportunities for growth strategies. The Destination Marketing 2022 report takes about 5 minutes to complete and asks questions about you destination’s funding and responsibilities. DMOs that complete the survey will have access to a free copy of the report with survey findings, executive interviews, analysis and insights into the industry.

This new research project presents a unique opportunity for DMOs to expand industry data and benefit from new insights, too.

With local being the new focus for travelers post-pandemic, DMOs in rural areas have a huge advantage. People want to go to an off-the-beaten-path destination for their next getaway. This is great news! But, if visitors aren’t able to find your destination online, it puts you at a significant disadvantage to those who have a strong digital presence. Now is the time to audit your online presence to ensure that visitors are able to find the information they need to book a trip. This means you need to optimize your site for search engines.

This article from Search Engine Journal offers some helpful tips for DMOs to consider when it comes to ranking on Google:

• Optimize content for terms like “what to do in [city] this weekend” or “best things to do with the family in [city].”
• Write solution-focused content that addresses a specific question or problem.
• Build a strong keyword list.
• Don’t forget visitors from your area! Embrace a local SEO approach, too.

A good grasp of SEO will get your content higher on search results, and by extension, get your destination at the top of visitors’ minds.