TECHNOLOGY TIPS

Hop Aboard the Blogging Bandwagon

With an estimated 12 million online diarists providing their opinions on everything from politics to fashion, blogging is an arena that cannot be ignored. The travel industry has taken notice of this phenom and has begun to leverage this opportunity as a resource to provide "real experiences" to potential visitors.

Visit Milwaukee, the city's tourism office, employed a 23-year old waitress/aspiring journalist, Erin Leffelman, to conduct a two-month blog discussing the city's outdoor recreation scene in her twice-a-week postings.

In a similar vein, Pennsylvania's tourism site, visitpa.com, has launched six blogs written by "real people" taking trips around the state. Touching on a diverse array of subjects ranging from antique shopping and mountain biking to attending a NASCAR event and cultural road trips, the authors each made three journeys which they chronicled for the site's audience over the course of the summer. VisitPA.com has reported double-digit increases in activity through the first two quarters of the year, and is crediting the site's Road Trippers for the soaring number of user sessions.

Hoping to capitalize on this popular trend, Minneapolis' visitor and convention bureau is currently soliciting applications for three culturally diverse "online tour guides" - a heterosexual couple, a family with children and a gay male couple or group of gay male friends - to post entries on the bureau's web site weekly for the next six months.

But how successful are these blogs in reaching the desired audience? There are a couple of key components essential for creating a blog appealing to your target audiences and of great relevance in the travel industry.

• Create a sense of transparency. You need to be honest in order to truly be able to gain the trust of your readers. If the blogs read too much like a travel brochure, your readers will notice.

• Relinquish control of your blogs. It's easy to want to police a project like this to ensure your message gets out there. This goes back to being transparent. You need to offer your blogger(s) autonomy to be honest with your readers. Visit Milwaukee spokesperson David Fantle recently told USA Today the Milwaukee blog was a "hands-off relationship, and if Erin has a negative experience, we expect her to record that." It's not easy, but in order for it to truly work, you have let the attraction stand on its own two feet.

• Offer the inside scoop. Don't be afraid to provide some insider's info about some of the attractions. Remember that there are countless avenues for your readers to discover more about attractions in your area. If you are able to provide them with something they can't find somewhere else, not only will they be back, but next time they'll bring their friends and the buzz will just build from there.

• May change how you reach the public. Your readers know what they're going to get when they open the paper, flip on the television or turn on the radio. This is a great medium to provide insight and entertaining information about your attraction beyond the corporate main line.

It can be a risky proposition, but the upside of utilizing a blog to promote your property, attraction, destination, etc. can far outweigh any negative components. The virtual universe can be an exciting and rewarding arena. Plan appropriately and ideally you too will be able to reap the benefits.

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