Destinations have always been in the content marketing business, but they are now getting more creative in both how content is produced and distributed. Learn how top brands are making engaging, high-quality articles and videos, where they’re placing the content for maximum views, and how they’re measuring the impact of their efforts.

1. Content Marketing Trends for Innovative Tourism Boards
Destinations have always been in the content marketing business, but they are now getting more creative in both how content is produced and distributed. Learn how top brands are making engaging, high- quality articles and videos, where they’re placing the content for maximum views, and how they’re measuring the impact of their efforts.
SKIFT REPORT #26 2014
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By Samantha Shankman + Skift Staff
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3. How do destinations consistently create engaging content, at an
affordable cost, that reaches the broadest set of potential visitors
while still speaking to their most important tourist markets? Which
media brands deliver the highest
return on investment per sponsored
media buy? Where are consumers
looking for inspirational content and
how does that translate into room
nights and meals in destinations?
Through interviews with major U.S. destination marketing
organizations such as Visit California and Visit Florida as well as
case studies on recent campaigns from Switzerland to Oregon, this
Skift Trends Report traces the state of content marketing as well
as developments and trends that are reshaping the business and
editorial goals of tourism boards and their media partners.
In this report, destinations weigh in on what kind of content works
best for each traveler set, who they trust to create and distribute the
content, and how they’ve adjusted budget priorities to reflect the
growing importance of high-quality, consistently shared content.
The report will detail best practices for destinations as they build
content marketing strategies, form partnerships with freelancers
and media outlets, and invest in new ways to stay ahead of the
competition.
Executive summary
Where are consumers
looking for inspirational
content and how does that
translate into room nights
and meals in destinations?
Content Marketing Trends for Innovative Tourism Boards SKIFT REPORT #26 2014
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4. Table of contents
About Skift
Skift is the largest industry intelligence and marketing platform in travel, providing
news, information, data and services to all sectors of the world’s largest industry.
Based in New York City, Skift has deep experience in identifying and synthesizing
existing and emerging trends, in its daily coverage of the global travel industry, through its Skift Trends Reports and its data insight from SkiftIQ competitive intelligence service.Skift is the business of travel.
Visit skift.com for more.
Executive summary 3
Introduction 4
Content marketing by type 7
Strategizing a marketing budget 9
Producing the content 10
Agencies’ indisputable role 11
Looking outside of travel 12
Differentiation 12
Marketing the content 13
Self-hosted 13
Social Media 13
Ad buys 14
Partnerships 14
Adapting content to social media platforms 17
Q&A with Martin Stoll, CEO of Sparkloft
Case studies 19
Destination boards and Monocle magazine 19
New Orleans finds its digital voice 20
Travel Oregon’s path from print to promoted tweets 21
Visit Holland tells travelers why it is so cool 22
Florida paves the way for smart content creators 23
Five key strategies for destinations’ content marketing efforts 24
Endnotes and further reading 25
Content Marketing Trends for Innovative Tourism Boards SKIFT REPORT #26 2014
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