Social Media and the Low Carbon Tourism Project

Robin Hamman

Social Media &Engagement Consultant

robin@stradigal.com

So Why Am I Here?

“The explosive adoption of social media in tourism is driven by the inspirationalvalue of holidays for content creation, and the intrinsic satisfaction it brings tonourishing individuals’ need for “belonging” and “sharing”. (Adriana Budeanu,2013)

Does the increasing role of social media during all stages of tourism - pre,during and post visit - create opportunities to increase the breadth and depthof awareness and engagement with the project “Towards Carbon NeutralTourism in Montenegro” across some or all key stakeholder audiences?

Part One:Quick Dose of Theory

Who Do We Trust?

Source: Edelman Trust Barometer 2015

The Authenticity Gap

Source: FleishmanHillard Authenticity Gap 2014

Authenticity Drivers

Source: FleishmanHillard Authenticity Gap 2014

The OK News…

Source: FleishmanHillard Authenticity Gap 2014

Part Two:Sustainable Tourism + Social Media = ?

Sustainable Tourism

Definition

“According to the World Tourism Organisation, sustainable means ‘tourism that meets the needs ofpresent tourists and host regions while protecting and enhancing opportunities for the future”

“… Particularly for tourism, sustainable management involves raising efficiency and effectiveness ofservice provision, through recycling, energy efficiency, the optimisation of value creation processes(such as closed loop management) and a redefinition of tourist consumption at levels that createmeaningful experiences within the limits of available resources.”

Adriana Budeanu, 2013

Public Engagement 2.0

Definition

“The creation of meaning participatory frameworks that bring people andbusinesses/governments/organisations closer together around initiatives from which shared valuecan be achieved.”

Me, building upon Robert Philip’s Public Engagement Framework, 2010

“Sustainability” in the Social Conversation of Tourists

“Searches on TripAdvisor show that posts about sustainable tourism are rare and addresspredominantly tourism products rather than destinations, with no mentions of policy. Frequentsubjects are hotels and restaurants labeled as “sustainable”, while sustainable transport, touroperators and attractions are less popular… the majority of TripAdvisor reviews reproduce eco-claims made by tourism organisations, without questioning them, and eventual exchanges ofopinions die off after 3-4 messages.”

BUT

In response to a Twitter campaign promoting the Maldives became the focus of a public backlashthat “revealed the hypocrisy of the campaign, mentioning the social realities of the country, humanrights violations, corruption, and social unrest.”

Adriana Budeanu, 2013

Research

Part Three:So What’s the Plan for .ME?(Mozes li mi pokazati na karti?)

Some Principles

To Guide Our Social Interactions

Authenticity concerns the truthfulness of origins, attributes, commitments, sincerity, devotion, andintentions. We must be authentic in our social interactions.

Trust is defined as a reliance on the integrity, strength, ability, surety etc of a person or thing to act,behave or perform in a particular way. We must be trustworthy.

Reputation of a social entity (a person, social group or organisation) is an opinion about that entity,typically a result of social evaluation on a set of criteria. We must be mindful of shifts andprospective threats to our reputation.

Brand is the make, kind or grade of a product or service, often used for differentiation vis-a-vis othersimilar products or services. We must create a brand that others can understand and “see in us”.

PresenceWe have to be wherever audiences might start, progress or end their own journeys

Non-Experts

Experts

General Tourists

Eco-Tourists

Adventurous Tourists

ME Tourism & Travel Industry

External TravelIndustry

ME Citizens (?)

Industry, Gov’t and

NGO Partnersin ME

Int’lPartners

Getting the Pitch RightBy understanding audiences

Non-Experts

Experts

General Tourists

Eco-Tourists

Adventurous Tourists

ME Tourism & Travel Industry

External TravelIndustry

ME Citizens (?)

Industry, Gov’t and

NGO Partnersin ME

Int’lPartners

“I’d like new opportunities to grow my business…”

“I’d like greater opportunityfor my family, but without

tourists taking overthe place…”

“I want a great holidaythat won’t cost the earth…”

“I want to be the 1st personI know to really explore ME…”

“I want a great holiday ata price I find reasonable.”

“We need to make sure we achieve maximum ROI…”

“We’ll pack ‘em in planeslike sardines when this place

becomes the next…”

“We’re committed to balancing…”

Image (CC) Jonathan Powell: https://www.flickr.com/photos/metrojp/92038203

…how do we get all those people to hear what we have to say about Low CarbonTourism in Montenegro, much less get them involved?

SocialPyramid

Reach

Awareness

Engagement

Involvement

Ambassador

Lead

Empowerment

Ownership

Shared Meaning &Mutual Benefit

Simple Mechanic

Compelling Content

Channels

Channels

Channel Core Audiences Objective

Instagram Tourists considering destinations;visitors to ME; Citizens; TourismIndustry

Build awareness of ME as a prospective holidaydestination (with green credentials); Help citizensfeel pride; Support marketing of industry

Facebook Citizens; Tourism Industry;Tourists considering destinations

Build awareness and engagement ofsustainability/development activities; nurtureambassadors

Twitter Partner organisations;Sustainability community; media

Build awareness and engagement with programmeand it’s objectives

Blogger Engagement

Tourists considering destinations Build awareness of ME as a prospective holidaydestination (with green credentials)

WhatsApp Visitors to ME Build awareness and engagement ofsustainability/development activities tourists canbenefit from

Making Montenegro’s Ambitions SocialOur Approach

• Identify and prioritise key audiences

• Define measurable objectives for social• Identify and prioritise key audiences• Understand audience “use case scenarios”• Establish branded social channels• Determine “service levels” of each channel• Develop content planning, production and sign off procedures• Identify, train and schedule resource• Establish “long view” content calendar• Engage (and prepare) partners for amplification• Plan and produce content• Publish content• Evaluate, learn and adapt

Treba mi tvoja pomoc…

• Identify and prioritise key audiences

http://instagram.com/SustDevMe

https://www.facebook.com/SustDevMe

http://twitter.com/SustDevMe

#MonteGreen

#LowCO2me

(You might also wish to add your own signposts based on the conversation -

e.g. #Sustainability #Montenegro or #Tourism )