This past August, I attended the Travel Industry Association of America's ESTO (Educational Seminars for Tourism Organizations) Conference in Minneapolis, where speakers addressed cutting-edge technology and how it can be used to target a new generation of travelers.

Particularly enlightening was a panel discussion entitled “Download What?! Targeting Younger Travelers,” featuring representatives from organizations like VFM Interactive Inc. and Lonely Planet. Since the target market for travel tends to skew older, 18-34 year-olds (Generations X and Y) can often be overlooked. The key to interacting with this demographic is to stay ahead of the curve on new communications technologies, as this can sometimes be the only way to reach younger travelers who engage with traditional media sources less frequently than other consumers.

As a follow-up to this presentation, we asked our colleagues at our public relations firm Edelman, to look more closely at how to appeal to this younger demographic and how to work within this new world of technology. Rick Murray is the executive vice president and general manager of an Edelman division that identifies new forms of communication that get consumers talking across new platforms and channels. The global practice, called Me2Revolution, is focused on helping Edelman’s account teams (including the IBOT team) incorporate emerging technologies and communications platforms into client programs.

Murray and his colleagues shared some fascinating findings. For instance, when seeking advice, 68 percent of Gen Xers responded that they would sooner trust “a person like themselves or their peer” than any sort of authority figure. Brand loyalty is nearly extinct, and media consumption has become more specialized and personalized than ever. Consumers can now get their information whenever they want, however they want and wherever they want.

This attitude has led to the dominance of such Web sites as MySpace, Friendster, Feed Burner and YouTube. These and other sites serve multiple functions. They’re social networks as well as sources of citizen journalism and user-generated content. MySpace, for instance, dominates the field and is best known as a social network, but also is home to many commercial and promotional ventures. YouTube focuses more as an outlet for films from the homemade to the professional.

New and creative sites and processes are constantly being developed. Many existing pages feature an RSS (Really Simple Syndication) option that allows the user to receive updates regularly for whatever information source piques their interest. The Second Life Web site (www.secondlife.com) is a 3D online economy where users can establish imaginary identities and participate in such activities as going to real concerts broadcast online (Duran Duran recently performed!). Some individuals and businesses even purchase virtual Second Life “islands” for personal expression or promotions.

Then, of course, there’s blogging. What started as online diaries has blossomed into a multimedia phenomenon. Blogs have literally changed the way people communicate with each other and the way brands communicate with their constituencies. By July 2006, more than 50 million blogs had been tracked – and they’re doubling in number every six months.

So how will all of this affect tourism in Illinois? I believe we need to embrace these changes or they may pass us by. Whether that entails blogging, acquiring space on cutting-edge Web sites or other creative outreach methods, we should look at this as an opportunity to get our message out to those who might otherwise never see it.
 
In the next few months, we will explore how to use these tools to spread the word about Illinois tourism. In the meantime, I urge you to spend some time on these and other related sites to help you understand how better to use these tools. Stay tuned for more information on how we will move forward in this exciting new communications landscape.

Sincerely,