The world of travel has changed. Remember what happens next in travel and the market that emerges will be very different from the one COVID left behind. Yes, we can stop saying we “will leave the lights on” until “the sun rises” or whatever as other such platitudes should focus on what things would be like in the future (not like what they were in the past). Sadly, travel journalism will be dramatically different as many respected publications have fallen on very hard times from which they’re unlikely to recover. Travel professionals have been decimated without much business to book, while meetings and conventions have been upended and will likely never be the same.
This has been an opportunity to build a brand for the future. One such client is doing just that. The Alentejo makes up 30% of Portugal but with less than six hundred thousand inhabitants. With oceans, forests, beaches, history, food, wine and horses, the Alentejo pretty much has it all. In our new campaign we will pursue the traditional effort of reaching out to the media and reaching out to professionals but we’re trying something new, and untested-which I love.
As travel publications have cut back dramatically, people are looking for new gigs, and new opportunities have arrived.
So what we did was work with the client to build a blog. Yes, a blog at https://www.visitalentejo.pt/en/blog/ — and this is nothing new. But what is new is the use of professional travel writers to create unique posts-written like a magazine. The new travel blogs are written on a magazine level, and optimized. The idea is to reach new audiences with strong content that will reach them not on a level of content and not designation. What this means is that with our content we are fishing for new travelers who want a specific experience but don’t know the destination. So, someone who is looking for horses, wine, cycling or hiking but may not know the Alentejo will find our content via SEO. That can be a game changer — as the idea is not simply to recommend and share, but to connect.
We made the bold move of getting all of our posts translated into Quebec French, aiming at the 8 million plus market of French speaking Canadians.
This is one of the first international travel blogs to get a makeover with professionally written, highly targeted posts-helping to build the reputation and scope of a destination in the time of dramatic change. We will put updates as we go, but we are very excited by the early metrics and the possibilities!
This is one of the first international travel blogs to get a makeover with professionally written, highly targeted posts-helping to build the reputation and scope of a destination in the time of dramatic change. We will put updates as we go, but we are very excited by the early metrics and the possibilities!