Blue Sailing

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2010-03-18T22:51:00.001Z

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Hard cheese and the Henchicks

2010-03-15T10:52:00.003Z

News that this year's eccentric Gloucestershire Cheese Rolling has been pulled for fear of a mass influx of visitors is devastating for 83-year-old Diana Smart who makes the 7lb cheeses.

And it should give pause for thought to anyone involved in destination marketing too. Events-led tourism is high on the agenda for many of our clients, and of course is a great way to turn an "I'll go there some time" place into a "must go - and go now" destination. The 'holy grail' is the homegrown event with a distinctive sense of place that will attract a niche segment of staying visitors.

But niche used to mean small: these days social media can take idiosyncratic local events to a global niche, attracting unprecedented crowds. Take the unexpected numbers queuing for 90 minutes to see 40 zebra finches playing electric guitars at London's Barbican Curve Gallery - the 'Jimi Henchicks' as yesterday's Sunday Times calls them. This quirky art installation, limited to 25 visitors at a time, has become a 'must see' for many, thanks in part to the internet: the YouTube video clip had over 600,000 hits in the first 4 weeks.

Visualising the internet

2010-03-13T14:50:00.003Z

Imagine...the 1,721,575,605 internet users in the world sent 176,092,827,838 emails today... and blogged 374,739 times ...and made 1,879,692,970 google searches.

For more fascinating stats about the internet beautifully presented via a 'tree map' (a way of analysing large amounts of data in a small space) you can find out the market share of social media networks, portals, blogging sites, reference sites and internet growth rates by country - check out BBC news.

Marketing Scholarships

2010-03-09T12:44:00.004Z

Any young marketing people out there looking to your future? Or if that is not you are you working with anyone who fits that description? A new Marketing Academy, run by a UK charity called Marketing Hall of Legends, aims to take some of the brightest and best young marketers and equip them to become senior industry leaders of tomorrow through 25 free scholarships.

’Scholars’, as they will be known, will receive 12 months of world-class mentoring, development and coaching from more than 50 CEOs, CMOs and marketing directors of brands and agencies as well as luminaries within academia and trade bodies.

Nominations close on 15 March. It would be great to have tourism marketing talent taking advantage of this.

Facebook for tourist boards

2010-03-08T17:47:00.009Z

I really like Ian McKee's 8 Rules for Tourist Boards using Facebook. I'd add a ninth - which is "... and don't forget to go where the conversation is". Lots of destinations have their own Facebook page with a few hundred - maybe even a few thousand - fans, while the main conversation about their place is happening elsewhere, on an 'unofficial' page, with tens of thousands of fans. So - make sure you join in there as well!

New Attractions

2010-03-01T14:15:00.004Z

We like to keep on top of new trends so when we heard about Daylesford Organics, the (so much more than) a farm shop on the edge of the Cotswolds we just had to pay a visit. And it so much more than a farm shop - it also has a cafe, a store, a cookery school, and a spa (teaching yoga, meditation and selling their own product range of body care). The whole place is beautifully built, branded, packaged and presented in the most tasteful way. We can well believe people make the trip from London (passing by outlets in Notting Hill and Harvey Nicholls not to mention Munich) for a day out in the 'country'.

While this is one of the most up-market manifestations we've seen, rural based retail/food/farming/craft places are definitely part of a growing trend. Have a look at Brodie Country Fair in Morayshire in Scotland - or our good friends at Whitmuir Organics near Edinburgh.

And returning to Daylesford - their place is so seductive that despite this being just a research trip we came away with considerably lighter pockets and (paper) carrier bags of goodies. Small price to pay!

The power of an international brand

2010-02-25T14:08:00.009Z

Want to get your destination on CNN? Well, all you need is some snow ... and an international literary brand!

We're doing some work for the beautiful rural Hampshire area around Chawton where Jane Austen lived, and I was delighted to find that CNN International had broadcast an extended item about England under snow, focusing on the village - no doubt because they knew the Austen connection would ring bells with their viewers.

The result: picturesque images guaranteed to appeal to international target markets.

Shortlisted cities make their pitch

2010-02-24T20:30:00.010Z

The shortlist for UK City of Culture 2013 was announced today. The advisory panel, chaired by Liverpool's Phil Redmond, has whittled 29 down to 4: Birmingham, Sheffield, Norwich and Londonderry/Derry. For destination professionals, it's worth listening to what representatives from these four made of the opportunity to lay out their stall on tonight's Front Row - the live arts magazine programme on Radio 4. So, if you were in their fortunate shoes, who would you field for your destination, and what would you have them say?

Google stories

2010-02-18T11:27:00.002Z

Did you catch the fantastic google advert 'Parisian Love' during the coverage of the Superbowl? If not check it out now on YouTube.

It's utterly engaging and shows how creative you can be in under a minute without using words and images. And it absolutely illustrates what google does best.

Our ad of the year so far!

No beginners, please

2010-02-15T12:20:00.027Z

Have you spared a thought for people running English Language schools lately?

This is an important part of the UK's tourism industry - for the billions it brings into our economy (from students and their visiting friends and families), and also because young people coming here to learn English often revisit later in life.

Yet tough new immigration controls mean that anyone from outside the EU applying to come here to study in future must already be able to speak English to near GCSE standard. So does that spell the end of beginners' courses for people from the world's fastest-growing economies?

And those on short courses can't bring their dependents any more - so no more family holidays while an adult brushes up his or her English.

What will this do to the UK's EFL sector, already facing tough competition from the other anglophone countries?

More than a laundry list

2010-02-14T16:37:00.006Z

There's lots of chat on blogs this weekend about Canadian slam poet Shane Koyczan's performance at the Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony of his poem "We are more". It begins "Define Canada ...", extolls the glorious tapestry of his homeland, includes the lines "more than a laundry list of things to do and places to see" [wouldbe destination marketers take note ...] and ends with "we are the true North, strong and free - and what's more we didn't just say it - we made it be!" Interesting to note that this moving and rousing anthem is also a great piece of destination marketing ... it was commissioned by the Canadian Tourism Commission.

Stars and places

2010-02-11T17:25:00.017Z

What destination marketer can resist name-dropping famous residents and visitors to add kudos to a place? But surely we all stop and think first about our target audience and our brand values - judging whether there's a good 'fit'? I'm wondering what the prominent pictures of Piers Morgan on 3 pages of its website say about the values and targets of one of my favourite boutique hotel brands ...

Kicking the Bucket

2010-02-08T10:12:00.003Z

Edinburgh, Bath and Liverpool have emerged as the top 3 cities Brits most want to visit before they 'kick the bucket' - according to a survey of 5,500 conducted by Travelodge.

The top 10 Bucket List are - Edinburgh, Bath, Liverpool, Belfast, Glasgow, Oxford, London, Cardiff, York, Cambridge.

Perhaps no great surprises there and it must be gratifying for Liverpool to feature highly, presumably in part due to increased exposure from its year as Capital of Culture.

Interesting however, how well the Northern cities do in terms of friendliness. Newcastle topped the poll as Britain's friendliest city followed by Liverpool and then Manchester.

Entente cordiale?

2010-01-27T20:57:00.021Z

If this week's papers are to be believed, the chairman of the Pas de Calais regional council takes a pragmatic view of place. When London won the 2012 Games, Dominique Dupilet was quick to spot the opportunity. According to the Times, he raised the Union Jack above the Council offices within minutes of the announcement.

Now he's promoting the region - a stone's throw from Stratford (or perhaps more importantly, a short direct train ride from Stratford International) - as a great place to train and to stay during 2012. And with some success: Chad, Senegal and Uzbekistan are said to be planning to hold their training camps in the area. And presumably the idea of staying there may well appeal to some less-adventurous spectators from Francophone countries, attracted by (according to "tourist officials") cheaper hotels, better food, and fewer English people!

It's not purely a publicity stunt. The regional council is investing nearly £90 million in improving the tourism and sports infrastructure in preparation for 2012. So Dupilet may have put the backs up of his fellow countrymen and women by his tongue-in-cheek 'rebranding' of Calais as part of Britain (historically a sore point), but he's certainly grabbed the initiative ... as well as the headlines.

Delicious marketing

2010-01-27T18:18:00.009Z

Here's a simple and fun way of presenting a range of options and products, courtesy of Lincolnshire Events Centre. Because we advise conference destinations, as well as running workshop events ourselves, we're on quite a few venues' marketing databases. This super-sized pic of a variety of luxury chox (click on the pic to see it full size) jumped out of the screen at me when I opened LEC's email today, standing out from the competition and getting their message across about range and quality in an amusing and creative way.

Making the most of the snow

2010-01-22T17:28:00.004Z

VisitScotland are continuing their lovely campaign 'Winter White' this year. Offering memorable white experiences, white excites, white sights and white luxury, this is a fantastic example of a very different kind of thematic campaign. Supported by e-comms driving visits to a dedicated and beautifully presented web site, special deals, wildlife watching and city breaks are on offer.

So if you fancy seeing white whooper swans, salmon leaping in white water or the seriously cute snow bunting, check out what Scotland is up to.

Degrees of separation

2010-01-10T17:04:00.005Z

I like spotting examples of good marketing partners. Take the January e-news from the National Gallery - it includes a plug for Six Degrees of Separation, the award-winning play at the Old Vic.

Why? Well, of course we know it's really because these are two top-class cultural brands with shared values and target markets. But a topical or thematic link can help to sweeten the cross-sell (as well as making marketers smile). So, according to the National, it's there because the play "features a Cezanne painting". Nice one!

Local lad makes good

2010-01-03T15:21:00.022Z

For me, Sting's Winter Songbook concert in the magnificent setting of Durham Cathedral - complete with Kathryn Tickell on Northumbrian Pipes, of course - was just perfect TV-viewing for a wintry evening.

For Durham (which is bidding to be City of Culture 2013), Newcastle and the North East, it was surely a superb publicity coup. It was shown in the US at Thanksgiving, in the UK this week, and will air in more than a dozen other countries across the globe. No wonder Melanie Sensicle, CEO of Visit County Durham, describes it as giving "a tantalising glimpse of what we have to offer to a global audience of quite breathtaking proportions."

New Year break

2009-12-30T14:29:00.007Z

Thinking about a break in the New Year - and then, very timely, into my inbox pinged the latest e-news from Wolsey Lodges.

Whenever I get these, I browse online among the old rectories and 17th century manor houses, imagining a perfect retreat.

So why have I never booked? Well, presumably I'm not the only person who is everso slightly put off by the recurring references to the enthusiastic and ebullient hosts who "welcome guests into their homes as friends"? I don't know about you, but I rather enjoy being treated as a paying guest when I am one ...

Still, there are some wonderful properties, and the prices are relatively low. Time to reconsider?

We have no standards

2009-12-30T14:06:00.015Z

I like the way Event Connections market themselves with the headline "We have no standards. Guaranteed."

It's eye-catching and thought-provoking. After all, do clients (in this case - event organisers) really want standard products, or do they want refreshing, creative solutions?

I guess it depends on the sector: I'd say when it comes to cleaning fluids, it's "yes" to standard products. But if we're talking about events, and for that matter destination consultancy, then "definitely not!" (Although try telling that to procurement departments ...)

Not sure I understand the significance of the rocket-powered turtle in their ads though - unless it's an oblique reference to the company's "refreshing events" strapline?

Beyond Staycation

2009-12-21T12:37:00.003Z

The fashion to blend words to predict whole new trends took off this year with staycations. And you'll recall the Blue Sail blog has been at the forefront with our hands-on experience of glamping. But we are very taken with 'flashpacking' (having the right gear such as this lovely Cath Kidston tent) and 'toff-roading'(no explanation required). So that's 2010's holidays sorted then.

'Cut-through' marketing

2009-12-16T11:06:00.006Z

We loved this tongue-in-cheek video, marketing a small gem of a hotel in Cornwall - it's called How Not to Run a Hotel.

See what you think!

The future according to Google

2009-12-10T12:09:00.004Z

It is customary to have a few predictions as the old year comes to a close. Here are five for five years hence from Google CEO Eric Schmidt.
1.The internet will be dominated by Chinese language content.
2.Today's teenagers are the model of how the web will work in five years; they jump from one subject to another seamlessly.
3.There will be broadband well above 100MB in performance, and distribution distinctions between TV, radio and the web will disappear.
4.Web content will move more and more towards video.
5.The fundamental shift towards user-generated information means people will listen more to other people than to traditional sources.

Are we prepared?

Darlington calling

2009-12-04T09:29:00.006Z

Darlington now has a 'Tweeter in Residence' to tweet about news and events in the town. The Darlington Partnership appointed teacher Mike McTimoney, a local college lecturer, to become TheDarloBard receiving £140 a year for his efforts.

Tourism in 2023

2009-11-27T13:46:00.005Z

The Forum for the Future have been doing some scenario planning on the sustainability of tourism. The report Tourism 2023 is available on their web site and the 4 scenarios brought to life through animations by students at Goldsmiths College.

The scenarios - Boom & Burst, Divided Disquiet, Price & Privilege and Carbon Clampdown - give food for thought on how our industry might look in the very near future.

How will our destinations respond?