Not wanting to stand on the fence here, sadly there is no winning formula to marketing every tourism business. All tourism businesses need to remember that travel is personal and target markets are markedly different in their behaviors. So not everybody uses the internet, not everybody takes a guidebook, not everybody uses a travel agent.

Don’t be closed minded in your approach just because you have your own preference. Your marketing mix should be organic and rarely rely solely on one form of marketing.

Look at the HAPNZ research this week. 56% of domestic visitors plan a holiday with a printed guide and 26% will not use the internet – tough to ignore that audience because it is not measurable.

It is always about smart marketing and working with businesses that take genuine ownership of putting your message in front of your target audience. Perhaps too we need to recognise that most of our industry never ask a person on the end of a phone where they found the number.

AA is the biggest tourism publisher, the biggest provider of GPS mapping and beyond TNZ have the most viewed tourism content online. It is about having the right media and, as I have to reprint another 500,000 visitor guides this year, I can assure you that consumers find printed product convenient, informative and often easier to use and make a decision than the internet.

Back in reality it may take time, but it’s up to you folks, (or a consultant) to do the donkey work and decide the best way to spend your marketing dollar.

By the way, the closest I’ve ever seen to your Utopia was the monopolistic billionaires at Google Adwords, offering a $75 credit to new signups, not bad! But I guess even with their whizz-bang measurement tools, how many “conversions” do you get per dollar spent?

I get approached daily by these organisations – but what I’m really waiting for is a company to say “I’ll give you half a page this month, if it works for you then I hope we can do business.”

And I would…if it worked.

This will only work for the magazines if they do their homework & only approach companies that fit well with their demographic – oh yea, and they have to have a good mag to start with.

Ideally you consider a comprehensive approach using all elements of the marketing mix, including the dreaded advertising and advertorial, it will pay off and you can see that in your stats, whether from your website or in feedback.

Ive found that the longer an operator is involved in the tourism industry the less likely they are to fall for these approaches – so make sure that the colleague you ask has been in business for a while. Also be sure to ask your RTO they have had plenty of experience at this!

Here’s my point: if you’re going to be a whore, be an honest one! Advertorials that require chicanery or untruths of any sort are not the sort of thing ethical travel (or other) writers will touch.