Curiosity, that was mainly why I joined the conference. It was the first time I attended The Social Travel Summit from 23rd September until 25th September 2019 in Ravenna, Italy organised by iambassador. To be honest, I was not sure what to expect, despite the fact I have studied tourism and worked in the industry for almost 10 years. In the meetings & events industry we are still at a very early stage of employing influencer marketing. Travel influencers have been around for quite a few years and their numbers keep growing. My aim is to bolster the community of MICE influencers, but to do so there are still some huge challenges we need to tackle.
Let me share the following takeaways from the conference with you:
Meeting Professionals International: A strong community in the MICE industry
I have attended conferences in the past where people regard each other as competitors (or ‘concullega’ as we say in Dutch). Here, I had the opposite feeling. It was like attending a conference of MPI (Meeting Professionals International). Despite being an odd duck in the pond, I was welcomed with open arms. The majority of the bloggers were, on average, active for 8 years or more, and the majority have known each other for quite some time. The community is strong, connected, and very committed.
What was the conference about?
The focus of the conference was not on the practical side of the job, like how to get more likes on your post or how to get started on Instagram. These influencers have been around for quite some years and know their job. Instead the conference focussed on strategy, inspiration, and the future of travel. Speakers from different industries came to share their expertise and how we can implement their insights and knowledge in our daily job as an influencer or DMO (Destination Management Organisation). The opening keynote from Dave Cornthwaite, “Say Yes More”, was incredibly engaging. He talked about how he became an influencer, and showed the reality of being an influencer. He started skating at the age of 25, and after 2 weeks declared he was going to skate across Australia, abandoning his life in the UK. Eventually, he started his community with Say Yes More (the personal slogan being ‘dare to say yes’).
The closing session was “Spot the Future of Travel and Shape It” by the lovely Liselotte Lyngsø, Future Navigator about how we can spot trends in the future. One of the many tips she shared was, ‘look at our frustrations’. What’s blocking us from moving forward? And how can we learn from the behaviour of others?
The travel influencers I have met during the conference have a clear long term vision, they are not just visiting lovely destinations and posting about it, they want more. They want to create a positive impact and sustainability is part of that mission.
On the most interesting parts of the conference was the Social Travel Summit Think Tank. Since 2014, iambassador creates a report about the trends in the travel industry. It’s a leading platform where professional travel bloggers and content creators, together with marketing executives from the travel industry, can discuss issues related to digital destination marketing and publishing. The results of these discussions, including recommendations, are published in the annual STS Think Tank Report.
The entire group was divided into 8 smaller groups to discuss different topics, like ‘influencing the influencers’, ‘diversity and inclusion’, and more. Truly inspiring to see that every group was very engaged and willing to share their insights on how we can move forward in a way that is sustainable for all parties involved. The outcome of all the sessions will be entered in the yearly report, published in November.
What is the real value of an influencer campaign?
Calculating the real monetary value, the Return of Investment (ROI) is challenging! How to interpret the campaign data? Data coming from different platforms usually does not give the same results, interesting (or frustrating). These are issues we need to work on. And also how do you translate the data for your clients; what do they want to know? What is important for them? And how do you present these data to your client in a way that they see and understand the impact and ROI of the campaign.
I thought our industry was struggling with this issue, but even in the travel industry it remains a huge challenge. A part of the problem is that the people who need to value the campaign are not always able to read the data, education on all levels is needed; and a good, transparent communication.
iAmbassador shared a case about BlogVille an initiative between iambassador and the Emilia-Romagna region. The initiative started in 2015 where bloggers from around the world could stay in a house in exchange for publishing content about the region. Now, after 3 to 4 years later, the numbers are growing explosively! So for all those who want to have results in the short term, patience is the word. You have to sow first in order to be able to harvest.
The gap between destinations and travel influencers
The biggest eye-opener for me was that one Destination Management Organization admitted on stage that they have no clue what they are doing… Setting up a campaign does require a lot of work and a clear strategy. Wow, her honesty was mind-blowing, I wish that convention bureaus could say the same. She said, we need to take a step back in order to move forward. At least they were working on a plan to train the team and to get everybody informed about social media.
This is a big issue for influencers, because how can you do business if your client doesn’t really understand what you are doing, or what value you bring to the table? The gap between destinations and influencers is huge! It was clear we need each other’s support but in practice, the DMO’s have 1000 things on their to do lists and influencers are just a very small part of their list. The influencers see that the destinations struggle and need their support but they have the feeling not always being understood and taken as seriously.
Here we have a long way to go! But at least we are aware of the challenges on both sides and hopefully with good communication and exchange of knowledge and experience, we can move forward together. If you want to go fast, go alone, if you want to go far you need to go together.
Thoughts about Ravenna, Italy as a destination
Ravenna is a pearl, a beautiful village. Not an obvious choice to hold a conference because it has no airport. The majority arrived at Bologna airport and took the train to arrive at the destination.
You don’t book via Booking but via the local tourist organisation! Excellent solution to support the local economy, this is something we could implement in the meetings & events industry. And yes, I received a better price than on Booking.com Another interesting point about transport: the venue was outside the city limits and we all took the local bus to the venue. This of course due to an excellent collaboration between the destination and Iambassador. If you’re working on a low budget, this could be a perfect solution.
