About the Social Travel Forum
As you may have seen we recently held the first Social Travel Forum, a selected gathering of travel content publishers, DMO representatives and the iambassador team in Graz, Austria. Here is our recent summary of what took place at the Social Travel Forum including some more information about why it was originally devised and organised.
Following on from the success of five years of Social Travel Summits, including the Think Tank discussions they host, it became apparent that there was a cross-industry interest in creating a set of visionary principles that will help guide future relationships between content creators and DMOs/travel brands. In view of this, we created a new discussion platform, called the Social Travel Forum.
Attended by just nine people and moderated by Peter Jordan who has led previous STS Think Tank discussions, the first Social Travel Forum (STF) was held in the Austrian city of Graz on Wednesday, May 22nd 2019, hosted by Graz Tourismus, a testament to the DMOs progressive approach to destination marketing and management.
A programme consisting of brainstorming sessions, debates and role play was also used to enhance debates and knowledge-sharing when considering the future of destination marketing. Among the subjects debated were:
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The growth of staged content and how it influences the way people travel
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‘How to influence the influencers’ with the goal of promoting responsible traveller behaviour
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The present and future of DMOs and how they can best serve the destinations around them
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The role of travel bloggers and content creators in the future of destination management and marketing.
The Social Travel Forum Report
The discussions were carefully documented, analysed and collated into a report which is now available to download here.
In this report you will read about the delegates’ personal and professional experiences, and you will be able to see some emerging and predicted trends that will help you identify what is working well right now while also preparing for future challenges whatever your role in destination marketing.
We will also be using the Social Travel Forum Report as a launchpad to devise the programme of discussions that will be part of the Think Tank at #STSRavenna this year. If you want to be part of these discussions and actively have your say on the challenges and experiences you are most concerned with, please do come and join us in Emilia Romagna in September; there are still a limited number of tickets available.
