Neel's paper on Lessons Learned in Tourism Market Access Mechanisms is quite timely.
What has been funded by the development agencies in the past decade are mostly stand-alone efforts that create 'one stop' shops. I'd argue that what's needed ASAP are training programs for government officials and tourism operators alike so that they can make effective use of non-proprietary channels, including Facebook, Flickr, Twitter,YouTube and other Web 2.0 channels, to connect directly with potential visitors and build long-term interest in place and product. Some history. 15 years ago I launched Planeta.com. In 1997 I first wrote Marketing Ecotourism on the Web -- http://www.planeta.com/ecotravel/tour/web.html -- and basically had to nag individual operators to go online. It was still the glory days of the fax, afterall! In the past few years I've become more keen on the Web 2.0 revolution as it plays out in the world of green travel and I'm using the wiki to keep track of advances -- http://planeta.wikispaces.com/web2 In my experience hosting the World Travel Directory -- http://www.planeta.com/worldtravel.html -- on Planeta.com, one of the key challenges in the industry is that operators are content to keep whatever website they developed five years ago. Few have embraced Facebook, Flickr, Twitter,YouTube, though I suspect this will change quickly as the channels become more popular in older age brackets. My challenge as the host of the site and self-styled coach for these operators is to provide the information without nagging. Many operators are content with their Web 1.0 sites just the way they were pleased with their fax machines a decade ago. And let's be clear -- these are all just tools at our disposal. If they work, great. That said, shouldn't we exploring a bit at what new tools are available (and are often free!)? We're on the cutting edge of yet another revolution when it comes to connecting locals and travel providers. I'll be discussing this in depth when I give my presentation on storytelling options at the upcoming responsible tourism conference in Belize -- http://www.slideshare.net/planeta/storytelling-now Kind regards, Ron Mader >> http://www.planeta.com
