When we talk to tourism organizations about social media we point out the usual advantages social media provides. The key ones are obviously the opportunity to listen to, talk with and engage visitors – before, while and after they are in a city or region.

This sometimes creates an interesting reaction, usually from the convention side of the business. They phrase it nicer but it comes down to this: “We do not care that much about visitors once they have made the decision to come to our city”. Really? Did I just hear you say that?

Well, not so fast.

Have you had a more detailed look at your budget lately, Mr. VP of Convention Sales? Chances are a good chunk of money is spent on something called a “Visitors Center”. It is a place where visitors can go to get information during their trip – way after they have made their decision to come to your beautiful town.

Probably you will now say that that money is well spent. After all the visitors will have a much better time because they get guided to the right places. And then they can write in one of the books that are lying around at the visitors center and share with everybody how much fun they had. Everybody who reads the book that is.

You see, you do not need a “Visitors Center” – you need a “Twisitors Center”. A way for visitors to get the advice and recommendations they are looking for – no matter where they are. A place to share stories, photos and experiences with millions of people all over the world – before, during and after the trip. Tools like Twitter are cheap, offer great ways to measure success and are what more and more visitors are using to get – and share – their travel information.

So, what are you doing for your Twisitors?

This entry was posted on Sunday, November 23rd, 2008 at 11:00 pm and is filed under Industry Observations, Tourism, Twitter, Web 2.0. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.