Petra Stolba, managing director of the Austrian National Tourist Board, has a glint in her eyes as she speaks at the opening ceremony of this year’s National Tourism Day (#oett14) about “common formation flying” of all partners in the Austrian national tourism marketing (Yes, that’s talking ornithology terms here 😉 ). Martina Jamnig, spokesperson of the Austrian National Tourist Office in London, speaks of the enormous potential of good “blogger relations“ thanks to her many years of experience and expertise in the field. Ulrike Rauch-Keschmann, Head of Corporate Communications of the Austrian National Tourist Board, proudly presents “her” topic: “Online PR“. All share a common passion and enthusiasm: For the purpose of the nation’s annual Tourism Day #oett14, the Austrian National Tourist Board has put together a wealth of experience, know-how, market research, digital strategies, online communication and best practice PR examples for their marketing partners to learn from here in Austria. From all over the country, we have therefore gathered here in Southern Burgenland to listen to (inter)national case studies being presented as well as the clever and really rather brilliant key note speaker Klemens Skibicki from Germany.
Rather brilliant? From pure transmission to managing dialogue and peer group / community relations: Direct communication as a principle.
“I have just shared with my Facebook friends that I am right here in Bad Tatzmannsdorf with you, talking about Social Media marketing, the ‘Garden Party’ principle as well as the revolution of the digital age. Simply because I can. And because our communication patterns in Social Media really are not that different from a garden party: It is (still) all about self-representation, boasting, knowledge exchange and advice from the community – with the difference that these patterns are now easily displayed online and accessible around the world from any possible user or source … “, Klemens Skibicki lets his message rest for a few seconds. Then again, a murmur goes through the crowd, followed by smiles and the realization: This man’s just right! “But, dear listeners : Our DNA is still stuck ahead of the revolution of the digital age. One of the biggest challenges we face is that we have to adjust our corporate culture as a whole. We need to (learn again how to) listen! If the community likes to talk about Burgenland, our goal has to be that they do that here, on our Social Media channels and on our online platforms about the Burgenland. And this dialogue, dear listeners, is important to moderate in the best way possible, encouraging engagement and feedback! ” Hear, hear. How fortunate we are here in Burgenland to have worked for several years now encouraging this particular dialogue!
“Holistic capitalization of Social Media” it is, then. Clear so far!?
Petra Stolba offers her warmth and enthusiasm at the opening of this year’s national Tourism Day #oett14 in Bad Tatzmannsdorf, Southern Burgenland.
We are all challenged in our traditional ways of thinking and (gently) forced to look at things from a different angle, as expressed by this clever strategy drawing.
Klemens Skibicki is a rather congenial speaker who knows how to get his audience completely hooked. Here he is, contrasting the change from left side to right side driving in Sweden way back in 1967 to what we currently experience in terms of “Social Media confusion”: Some are still driving on the left, while others have taken to the right.
“Immer und überall!” – always and everywhere? The Digital Age challenges our traditional way of thinking.
The principle of dialogue is inherent in our modern-day media relations.
During the following panel discussion, we listen to Michael Scheuch of the Austrian National Tourist Board, Gerlinde Hinterleitner of the StandardOnline Austrian newspaper online edition, Klemens Skibicki himself as well as Daniela Doege, who has a family and travel blog on ButterFlyFish.de.
What I take from this panel discussion, among others, is a comment made by Michael Scheuch of the Austrian National Tourist Board, who argues that we as communicators in Social Media have to move away from self-representation to creating more “Engagement Value” with & from the community. Summing up, we can say:
Opinion Leaders drive enthusiasm. Authenticity is key. (Good) work requires time and effort. Transparency is needed. And – women!
Interesting? Yes. New? Not necessarily: For who is it – and an approving smile goes around at the Austrian National Tourism Day #oett14 in Bad Tatzmannsdorf – that is responsible for most of the household’s purchasing decisions ? Who likes to communicates in a committed and passionate way, for the benefit of the whole family? “80 % … well, exactly 82% of my readers are female”, family travel blogger Daniela Doege of ButterFlyFish.de from Berlin adds. “Especially for women, practical tips for planning their holiday and travel experiences from the community are immensely valuable, important & sought-after. We are here to moderate and lead this type of interaction and have learned to listen to and respond to the needs of our readers. As bloggers, this is our capital in the hour of the digital revolution!”
Finally, I have had the great pleasure of attending a co-moderated workshop by Ulrike Rauch- Keschmann (the Head of Corporate Communications of the Austrian National Tourist Board) and Martina Jamnig (the press officer of the Austrian National Tourist Board in London), talking about “Online PR“. Pinterest, YouTube, viral video and clever photo campaigns are being laid out, directed at the international trade press and especially bloggers and online opinion leaders. Thank you, dear Ulli, for your special effort here and the positive mention of us travel bloggers as a first point of contact for professional cooperation and dialogue management of travel bloggers and the tourism industry! All of us are really dedicated to achieving this form of sustained dialogue with our partners, and are committed to openness, transparency and quality at all times. Because quality, and reliability, are some of the most important things here, I think. This is a way for all of us to move forward and get on. : D
Ulrike Rauch-Keschmann and I are to meet again in Vienna soon. Thank you for your positive and inspirational talk on the occasion of the Austrian National Tourism Day #oett14, dear Ulli!
The “Online-PR” workshop has a lot of interested attendees …
… “What’s new?” A good question. The Austrian National Tourist Board team demonstrates best practice examples for their tourism partners around the country.
So which are the “Online-PR-Channels” that the Austrian National Tourist Board uses? Here, visitors of the workshop learn for example about the importance of “blogs” and “blogger relations”.
Even back in 2011, the Austrian National Tourist Board had a campaign together with Travel Bloggers Unite hosting one of the first international travel blogger conferences in the city of Innsbruck – I remember attending with great enthusiasm back then.!
Looking ahead and into 2015 also sounds promising …
… thank you for a great national Tourism Day here in Bad Tatzmannsdorf, dear team at the Austrian National Tourist Board!
Fancy learning more about the luxury, creative & culinary destination of Burgenland? Check out my travel blog for more. I look forward to your feedback: See you on “the sunny side of Austria”! 😉