What (not) to wear

Our overseas guests - visiting us this Summer from warmer climes - weren't dressed for breezy beach days or autumnal August evenings.

As someone who regularly holidays in the Lake District in November, it reminded me that there's no such thing as bad weather, just the wrong kind of clothes ... worth remembering when packing for a UK trip (for which fashion editor Lisa Armstrong recommends "robust layering" and "high-quality cashmere").

So, do any destinations have a "what to wear" section on their websites? Or even a link through to What To Wear On Holiday, where you'll see that a lightweight raincoat is a must for a visit to the UK, jeans are ubiquitous, and that "crocs" are essential if you're going in the sea at Brighton!

Tourism for Tomorrow Awards

Any destinations out there doing great and perhaps unrecognised things on sustainable travel? The World Tourism and Travel Council (WTTC) is inviting submissions for its Tourism for Tomorrow Awards by December 2009. There are 4 categories - Destination Stewardship, Conservation, Community Benefit and Global Tourism Business.

The UK have previously made a good show for the Destination Stewardship Award with South West Tourism being a finalist in 2009 and Jurassic Coast in 2005.

Next time someone calls you a geek

In case you didn't know ....

trav•el geek |'tra-vəl gēk|
noun
1: A person who explores off the beaten path, often based
on a particular interest
2: One who is independently minded, trusting of local
advice over the establishment's
3: A person who is willing to find and share local
expertise with like-minded individuals

Playing the city

Remember when TMI and VisitBritain commissioned Henley Centre to forecast UK leisure break trends, for the Newcastle Convention back in 2005? Henley described the "Naked City" or "Urban Safari" scenario: future visitors going deep into cultures and sub-cultures, with expert guides, or using the city as a backdrop to gaming or treasure-hunting experiences.

Since then we've seen the rise of fascinating Freerunning and Parkour. And now this week the scaling of the Blackpool Tower by what the Times calls "urban climbers" (complete with safety gear, cleaning fluid, and an open cheque book to compensate for any damage - these guys don't want to be seen as vandals).

For a legit and less dangerous version of "playing" the city, I love the idea of Shoot Liverpool. Last weekend saw teams of people roaming the city's street with a challenge: to take photos which tell the story of the Pied Piper in 3 hours. The results will be on show at the OpenEye Gallery in the Ropewalks, from this Tuesday. And then of course there's David Byrne's playing the building, at the Roundhouse - with an invitation to play your own building and upload it to YouTube.

Which all makes me think that place shaping and experiential place marketing has never been more interesting - or more challenging!

A Tale of Two Henries

To the British Library and the Henry VIII Man and Monarch exhibition. Rather an old-fashioned show, with no electronic trickery or interactive stuff, no video recreations and definitely no guides in dublets and codpieces (thankfully). Yet the story, simply told by portraits, original documents and letters (including those from wives and courtiers Henry beheaded) was strangely gripping and doing good business. Hurry - it closes on 6 September!

But now I'm braced for the new BBC2 series The Tudors, described as a 'blood and bonkfest' and 'gratuitously awful' by purists. Tracy Borman, Head of the Heritage Education Trust, notes the unfeasibly beautiful actors, dodgy costumes and improbable storylines, but admits the show 'undoubtedly stimulated interest in British History'.

Like her I suspect I'm going to be strangely addicted.

When a user reviews yer ...

Here's a succinct piece of advice from Simon Haven in a letter to TravelMole about how hotels should use TripAdvisor and the like: "Best practice - enjoy the positive reviews, learn from the poor reviews and respond - begin to converse with your customers, treat them with respect and you'll gain trust, loyalty and success".

Interested in what I'm having for lunch?

The BBC have reported on a recent US study on Tweeting. Pear Analytics categorised 2,000 messages into one of six types; news, spam, self-promotion, pointless babble, conversational and those with pass-along value.

Most proved to be pointless babble or conversational instant messaging along the lines of "I'm eating a sandwich". A substantial 40.5% were classified as pointless babble while a further 37.5% were simply conversational. Only 8.7% were categorised as having pass-along value.

So jury still out on the influence of Twitter it seems - other than sharing ideas for new sandwich fillings. And some real challenges for destination marketers to make their tweets gems which cry out to be passed on.

A Barrier Broken

A while back destination managers were trying to target minority ethnic communities who historically tended not to venture into the Great British countryside. It was suggested this might be due to a certain lack of welcome in rural parts or maybe little interest in tramping around the sticks.

But on recent visits to two National Trust estates - Lyme Park and Tatton Park - I have seen lots of people of Indian sub-continent origin, mostly in large, multi-generation family groups, taking picnics, playing games and seeming to really enjoy the countryside, albeit a safe and managed version of it.

A barrier seems to have been broken. Well done the National Trust.

A rose by any other name ...

From nanobreaks to minimoons - click here to learn the latest terms for what we used to call "holidays" ...

When is a holiday not a holiday?

Accenture's new survey suggests that nearly 50% of Brits are "not planning to take a holiday" in the next 12 months. No doubt the researchers had a definition of "holiday" they were using, which this TravelMole news piece doesn't give us (and neither does the Accenture website).

But before destinations throw up their hands in despair at the news, it's worth remembering that lots of people don't count short breaks, visits to family and friends (even if they stay in paid-for accommodation), attending festivals, or extensions to business trips as "holidays". Some British people don't even call a holiday in the UK "a holiday" - as in: "we're not having a holiday this year - just going to Shropshire/Somerset/Suffolk".

So: what makes a holiday a holiday?

But is it worth it?

Dr Johnson was the sort of celebrity every destination marketer dreads.

Eminently quotable (even after 2 centuries), he put his finger on tourism's fundamental challenge when asked whether the Giant's Causeway was worth seeing: "Worth seeing, yes ... but not worth going to see".

When it comes to tourism, all those creative marketing communications - the gorgeous prose, the arty shots, the zany videos - are nothing unless they convince potential visitors that it's worth making the journey.

And - let's face it - the ability to explore the world from one's armchair has grown exponentially since Dr Johnson's time.

So, everyone, back to work!

Raw, honest and unspun

There's an interesting conversation on the BBC's dot.life blog about the use of social media by global brands and corporate giants conflicting with the "raw, honest and unspun" principle of Twitter.

I like what VisitBritain's Simon Bradley blogs about using social media: it means hanging out wherever your customers are, and joining the conversation. Is there anything wrong, he asks, with bringing marketing down to the level of "an honest conversation with an expert - pretty much where it started out!"

I guess we've known for quite a while that today's savvy consumers don't respond well to blatant hype. Social media has brought that into sharp relief. Perhaps "raw, honest and unspun" should be the new mantra for marketing people everywhere ...

Social Media sites for travellers

We've all heard about Facebook and even wikitravel. But how about Nextstop, Trazzler or City Therapy? Or the other 47 sites mentioned by Emily Chang at the eHub.

Wonder how many destination marketing organisations spend time identifying which is the right site for them or making sure they are featured or monitoring what people say about them.

Glamping

Seduced by the revival in camping in recent times and firmly repressing the rainswept camping holidays of my childhood we set off on a recent family short break to East Sussex to experience luxury camping in a yurt (or glamping ie 'glamorous camping' as it has come to be called in a neat sound-bite way - there is even a glamping society with a website being set up).

True enough you can stand up, there was a real bed and a mini stove which we needed to counter the unseasonal chill. But it is still a tent - draughty and with no protection from the karaoke party in the nearby village still in full swing at 2am - and there is still a 100m walk to the loos. Glamorous and luxurious it certainly wasn't, but at least I can now talk from experience.

Seems like there is a fundamental segmentation which separates natural campers and non-campers. Well at least among adults - all kids seem to be natural campers.

Sea view

What great ‘added value’ to a seaside break - Hotel du Vin at Brighton has its own beach hut for guests’ use. And clever VisitBrighton are offering their website visitors and e-news readers the chance to win a night at the HdV plus use of said beach hut and bikes for the day.

We often wander past the beach huts on the seafront here and are tickled by the different styles and uses - one a rag-bag of sports gear, another stuffed full of kids’ toys, a third an exact replica of a suburban kitchen, circa 1976 (and what a summer that was!).

Then there’s the beach hut with the minimal but oh-so-smart furniture and the chilled (but always different) people with their elegant glasses of white wine and their bowl of olives. Now we know who they are …

Chic as chips

Are windows essential when it comes to hotel rooms?

In today's Times there's a story about a tourist staying in a UK hotel (owned by the renowned Britannia Group) who ended up in a windowless basement room. Apparently the hotel's website states that some of their standard rooms do not have windows (so that's alright, then?).

But I guess the growing trend for pod hotels suggests that - given the right spin and style - windowless hotel rooms can be sold as trendy and fun. Or even "cube-shaped state-of-the-art living spaces" - in the words of Amsterdam's Qbic Hotel.

Room with No View, anyone?