The Digital Traveler

The Digital Traveler — 5 Comments
25
Apr 10

Why I LIKE NEW YORK is better than I LOVE NEW YORK.

This post is part of Marc-Oliver’s Digital Traveler post series – Digital Brand Experiences and Ideas for the Tourism Industry. Subscribe or see all Post Series

Travel destinations, holiday resorts and destination marketing organization (DMO) should provide free wifi access and partner up with telcos. An open plea for the digital, mobile age – from a traveler perspective.

“People travel along data streams and highways, built by a social and mobile web. Help them keep traveling by providing a wireless infrastructure. Offer intersections when useful and necessary.”

We all know that the profile of a traveler, also described as ‘tourist’, is changing. Today, an increasing number of travelers use mobile devices to plan and book their trip online – in real time. Intelligent and useful social media apps give rise to new ways of discovering adventures and travel opportunities on the go – something that can be very beneficial to travel destinations. But while there is much to gain from this, destinations can really benefit only if they provide actual and potential travelers with a free (affordable) way to connect to the Internet. Free Internet access for travelers and tourists is no longer an option – it’s a MUST for staying relevant in a digitally connected world.

In what follows you will find a collection of random thoughts, ideas and opinions on why this is the case (please share your thoughts and comment below). Continue reading →

PREVIEW: The ME Tourism and the Future of Travelling.

This post is part of Marc-Oliver’s Digital Marketing Toolbox series – useful presentations and helpful strategy papers for marketers. Subscribe or see all Post Series

Click to look inside!

If you’re wondering why my posts to Flip Digital Blog (aka Curious Digitalus) have been a little infrequent of late here’s the reason why. I’m writing/illustrating an ebook/trendreport tentatively titled, “The ‘ME Tourism’ – Redefing Travelling” It will be available June 2010. This report represents an ambitious rethinking of how we use smart phones and the web while travelling. It outlines the process of ‘connected travelling’ and illustrates digital ideas in a new, fun and inspiring way. I’m in the last throes of writing it with barely two or three chapters left go now. As I get closer to the launch of the ebook, I’ll publish more about it. For now you can check out some randomly taken screenshots, sketches and a draft of the content page. Feel free to leave a comment with your name and a contact/link. I will notify you once its ready. Enjoy (… feedback and some inspiring words are welcome

“The ME Tourism and the Future of Travelling.”Marc-Oliver Gern is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 Canada License. Based on a work at flip-digital. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at flip-digital.

Digital Marketing Toolbox / The Digital Traveler — No Comments
28
Mar 10

The Adventurer 2.0 – Top Social Media Options for Tour Operators.

This post is part of Marc-Oliver’s Digital Marketing Toolbox series – useful documents, interesting presentations and helpful strategy papers for marketers. Subscribe or see all Post Series

View more presentations from Marc-Oliver.

In holiday resorts all over the world, social media is introducing powerful new potential for outdoor tour companies. For those able to engage it best, social media will bring a bright future! Following research, monitoring of process and analysis of the adventure tourism industry – its digital potential and best practices, this strategy paper outlines a sample of top opportunities now available.

I will soon share more of my strategy papers and documents I’m currently using to develop creative social media ideas for small businesses and large organization. Feel free to visit my blog from time to time. You can also connect with me on Linked In or Twitter. See details on the ABOUT page. Thanks for sharing

The presentation “The Adventurer 2.0″Marc-Oliver Gern is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 Canada License. Based on a work at flip-digital. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at flip-digital.