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Friday Finds #3 — the Long Tail of Tourism

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Now I get it … thanks to the school March break, Barefoot Beach and old technology (a book).

A Google search of “the long tail of tourism” returns about 149,000 results, so I am not exactly finding something new or exploring new territory — just adding my take from the perspective of how regional/local destination marketing organizations (DMOs) can work with the concept.

First, from the oracle of Long Tail himself, Chris Anderson, the elevator pitch about what it is:

“The Theory of the Long Tail can be boiled down to this: Our culture and economy are increasingly shifting away from a focus on a relatively small number of hits (mainstream products and markets) at the head of the demand curve, and moving toward a huge number of niches in the tail.”

Now, keeping with the concept of Friday Finds, the 3 “finds” are the 3 powerful forces that are creating Long Tail demand curves:

1. Democratizing the tools of production — in the tourism world, think about how it is getting easier for anyone with an idea to start a small or medium size tourism business, like a festival or event, a bed & breakfast, tour guide service, canoe/kayak/bicycle rentals, gift/souvenir/craft shop, etc.
2. Democratizing distribution (cutting costs of consumption) — in the tourism world, distribution means moving the customer to the destination. No frills discount airlines, fuel efficient (including hybrid) autos, and for the human powered crowd, networks of bicycle trails are examples of declining distribution costs.
3. Connecting supply and demand — in the tourism world, think web marketing in all its forms.

If you are a regional/local DMO, the Long Tail of tourism means you don’t have to be big or a “hit” to attract visitors. In fact, being off the beaten path, so to speak, is exactly where you want to be. Again, from the oracle:

“However, most of us want more than just hits. Everyone’s taste departs from the mainstream somewhere. The more we explore alternatives, the more we are drawn to them.“

So, here is what you need to do to capitalize on your position in the Long Tail.

First, encourage and support the tourism entrepreneurs in your destination to develop new and different experiences. In tourism speak, this is product development, and you have an important role to play. (More about this in a future blog post.)

Secondly, master the web. Connect supply and demand. Use all of its tools — search engine optimized websites, blogs, e-newsletters, Google maps, Wikipedia and Wikitravel, YouTube, Flickr, Facebook and Twitter — to make information about your destination and its experiences readily accessible to your ideal visitors.

Thirdly (and this is more difficult), do what you can to ensure that your ideal visitors can get to your destination as quickly and inexpensively as possible — both time and money are costs of distribution for your visitors. What you can do about transportation services may be no more or less than being a strong voice when transportation issues arise. But also remember in your web marketing communications to provide good information about how to get to your destination.

Although I was visiting a hit destination last week, it’s the ever expanding opportunities for niche destinations in the Long Tail of tourism that excite me as a consultant to regional and local DMOs.