Managing impacts of tourism when authentic storytelling is not enough
Hilary Lewkowitz | May 21, 2019
Authentic storytelling and strategic distribution can play a critical role in targeting travelers who want to spend more and also minimize their impacts. However, a responsible travel narrative is not always enough to combat the potential impacts of tourism. In order to ensure sustainable tourism development, a marketing strategy needs to be balanced with destination management policies and best ethical practices.
Be careful what you wish for in sustainable tourism
At GLP, we strive to improve our storytelling and marketing strategies to push the travel industry forward. When we launched the Raja Ampat video on Youtube, set in the diving paradise of Indonesia’s 1,500-island archipelago, it quickly gained traction with over 370,000 organic video views. It also sparked an engaging discussion with over 350 comments.
Some audience members voiced their legitimate concerns over the growing popularity and vulnerability of this region, and their desire to protect it. When concerns surfaced such as “this video is contributing to the demise of this beautiful area…” or “please keep it expensive…it will be flooded with garbage,” we took these comments seriously.
We have endeavored to include this issue of how we can protect sensitive areas in our content creation while still supporting a sustainable tourism movement. For the Raja Ampat video, we worked with SeaTrek Sailing Adventures to target the responsible traveler and focus on authentic low-impact experiences. After hearing this dialogue, we realized we can do better by including strategic messaging in our campaigns - messaging that educates and encourages responsible travel. Here’s our revamped content creation strategy to ensure our marketing supports sustainable tourism development:
1. Partner with destinations, tour operators and accommodations that are committed to sustainable tourism development
In the case of Raja Ampat, we worked with a tour operator and destination with existing sustainable tourism policies and best practices. SeaTrek Sailing Adventures specializes in small ship cruises on traditional pinisi rigged sailing boats,with immersive educational experiences and an extensive list of sustainability initiatives. Raja Ampat is a Marine Protected Area and operators/visitors are charged an entry fee to access Raja Ampat Marine Park. There is also extensive policing of illegal fishing practices. Thankfully. large cruise ships were recently banned from the fragile island port of Amborek.
2. Identify marketing strategies and strategic messaging based on the destination
Every travel destination has its own unique challenges. Raja Ampat is an emerging destination where tourism revolves around the archipelago’s fragile marine ecosystem. In this case, strategic messaging should educate and equip travelers with sustainable travel resources, and contain a statement similar to this one below integrated into the video and campaign content.
“ Do your research and travel responsibly. Please make sure you choose tour operators and accommodations that minimize their environmental impact, give back to local communities and respect local culture.”
3. Target travel markets that trend towards responsible travel behavior
In this sustainable tourism campaign with SeaTrek Sailing Adventures, we targeted the North America adventure tourism market. According to the Adventure Travel Trade Association, 67% of adventure travelers’ trip costs remain in the region. Also, adventure travelers are not only high-value travelers, but they also tend to be more interested in authentic local experiences and traveling responsibly.
4. Create community-led storytelling content about minimal impact experiences experiences
Research into the science of storytelling shows that storytelling elicits an emotional response that is more likely to influence consumer behavior. So, authentic storytelling can be used as a tool to attract responsible travelers, by using compelling stories. This storytelling should also tap into the responsible traveler’s desire to emulate such an experience. Our award-winning film, shown below, about a community-based tourism organization in Baan Talae Nok was a fine example of this. This small community, on Thailand’s Andaman Coast, has been foraging for seafood in their mangrove forests for generations and continues to do so in a sustainable way. Their story not only led to high engagement from travelers but also went on to win an major travel industry award.
It takes creativity and innovation from the entire industry to keep the sustainable tourism movement dynamic and proactive. GLP is committed to adapting content marketing strategies to ensure we are doing our part to move the industry forward. We are constantly inspired by the forward thinking of industry leaders and our recent signing up with Future of Tourism demonstrates this. What is your commitment to improve sustainable tourism?