Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Bill Clinton

On Tuesday the entire staff went to hear President William Jefferson Clinton speak in Moncton (Thank you Management !).

While his talk mainly focusing on economics - you can be sure I found several relevant tourism technology references !

1. There were 5000 attendees, and since it was general admission seating we all arrived early. I couldn't help but notice how many of us were on the phone, or "blackberrying". In fact the person behind us was giving his colleague a lesson on his new Samsung Instinct. I wondered how many were surfing the internet ...perhaps looking for a place to have lunch after the speech.

2. President Clinton mentioned the recent election campaign several times. He eventually referred to the amount of money that both candidates raised over the internet. Perhaps this is the first time that large amounts of campaign funds have been raised over the internet - not sure. This year the internet did contribute to the change in voter demographic. US residents from all over America felt like they were a part of the election, even though they didn't live in an urban centre and were no where near a rally site. Blogs, websites, chat rooms, and internet sponsorship allows Joe Public to feel a sense of ownership in the process.

3. He focused mainly on the economic crisis in the US and the interdependent world we live in. Whether good or bad, this is how our world has evolved and we have to live in it. So my advice to you is to be positive, and start using the cheapest and broadest based advertising available to you - your website !

Friday, November 21, 2008

Clever thoughts

No, I didn't think of these BUT they did make me think ...

The old approach to websites where we leave them hangin' for more information so that the customer will pick up the phone and call you, no longer applies. The customer will simply move on.

Your website is your full time dedicated sales person. It talks to more potential customers then you do in a day and all night !

If a potential traveller is sending you an email you can bet that all your competitors got the same email. Who will respond first? Who will respond best? The location that resolves the inquiry quickly and accurately will end up with the sale.

Just like your voice on the phone when talking to a customer, your website needs to be fresh, easy to understand, and provide timely information.


If you have timely advice that you would like to share, drop me a line at beth@@tianb.com




There's another tip for you, faking out your email address on the Internet avoids spam crawlers

beth (@)tianb.com
beth [@] tianb.com
beth at tianb.com

Friday, November 14, 2008

Commonalities

What do Australia and Atlantic Canada have in common ?

Besides the obvious - coastal lands, culture, diversity, and a cloudy British heritage.

We are both desperately trying to educate our Tourism Operators about the benefits of being online !!

The National Online Strategy Committee funded by the the Australian State and Territory Tourism Office offers the same program as Tourism Technology.com funded by the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency.

So ask yourself - Why am I not taking advantage of this program?

We're not on the leading edge of this issue, we're in the running with all the other nations of the world.

And so you say to me - Well I'm not trying to lure tourists from Australia?

Correct. You're not. But imagine I went to Australia, I live in Nova Scotia and I went to Australia. I booked my entire trip online. It was great, and easy.

Now I want to spend the Labour Day weekend in New Brunswick.

Since I could book Australia online - surely I can book my "backyard" online.

Only I can't. I can't even find your website. And when I do, I can tell it's outdated.

How do I feel about that? I feel the stereotype that Atlantic Canada is behind the times creeping up on me. I feel that whomever I do find on the Internet deserves my business.


How do you feel ??

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

What's in a name?

What do the following have in common?

Road Runner
Copper
Bluehome
Earthlink


Probably the last one gave it away - they are all American internet providers.

There are thousands of internet providers out there, each with their own proprietary email domains.

When you receive an email from a prospective tourist, you don't need to know their email to reply to them, the computer does it for you. I bet you don't even glance at it.

However for them to send you that email, especially if they type it manually, there's plenty of room for errors.

Just because you know how to spell "sympatico" doesn't mean you're average tourist does.
Just because you know that "nb.aibn.ca" is a common extension for Aliant business clients doesn't mean they know that.

Sign up for a hotmail.com email and forward it to your Outlook client.
Get a gmail.com account too.
Get a yahoo.ca and a yahoo.com

They are all free, and all easier to remember then the one you have now.

Even my mom knows Gmail :)