FastenYourSeatbelts.at Karin Schmollgruber

Back from South Tyrol

Thanks to everybody who has already sent their contribution for the Web Open in Berlin. I am still collecting them and have yet to look at them. Sorry, but clients have kept me busy. Went to South Tyrol of behalf of Südtirol Marketing (DMO) this week to hold a speech about Travel 2.0. It was wonderful to speak to that group of  very interested and motivated hotel managers. Why? Because they immediately understood how implementing Web 2.0 into their online strategy would be positive. Instead of getting into the whole fake review rant, I usually encounter when talking to hotel managers.

The Dolomites are breath-taking. And the place I stayed at - Hotel Schönblick Belvedere in St. Genesio/ Jenesien - served the very best food. Bozen /Bolzano was also a treat. I usually do not care about shopping and fashion and shoes and all. But Bozen was a mighty revelation. For more pictures watch my slide show.

Also met with fellow bloggers Wolfgang Töchterle and Hubert Rienzner from the Marketing Factory. What a wonderful evening.

Travel 2.0 at Web2Open in Berlin - Deadline for your slides

Thanks to everybody who wants to contribute to the Travel 2.0 presentation at the Web2Open during O'Reilly's Web 2 Expo in Berlin (more information see this post).

Date of the presentation is Tuesday, November 6.
Please make sure to mail me your input by Wednesday, Ocotber 31.

What I am looking for: Your angle on the deployment of Web 2.0 in tourism in your country. For example: statements, figures, good or bad examples of adoption, etc. No need for formatting. Just keep in mind, that big tables will not work.

Please send me a picture of yourself, your full name, website URL, your professional "title", etc. since I would like to pay credit to each contributor.

Any questions left? Don't hesitate to ask.

Tourism & Web 2.0: Improve your Web 1.0 first

Never have I enjoyed a job as much as teaching "Web publishing" at the Salzburg University of Applied Sciences. The more I teach how to write for the (tourism) Web, the more I realize that most tourism websites are really bad. Yes, I confess, this has been more of a surprise that I had expected. I have seen: awful writing, broken links, poor readability, bad navigation and most often no content scope nor real object. I cannot believe the poor status of writing for the web. Good online copy is important. Much more important than flashy screen design and beautiful pictures. Even more so in the area of Web 2.0.

This is what I tell my students:

• Tourism websites are essentially marketing websites.
• The way you present information has to sell. That is the main goal!
• It is not an information website about your hotel, destination or service.
• Keep the potential customer in mind.

Make your tourism website a marketing conversation!

I have asked them to always remember this drawing by Hugh McLeod:

Always keep in mind, what “is in it” for your reader?
Remember: "I am the most important person in my life!"
That holds true for everybody.  So provide value to your reader.

What kind of value? Think about these questions?

• What is his or her pain?
• What is she/he trying to achieve while visiting your site?
• Address him/her directly. Do not talk about your guests, since your site visitor is your potential guest.

Here is a slide show of the campus and my very motivated students. They are wonderful! I had them scan tourism websites for worst and best practices. Some were so bad, I thought they made them up to pull my leg (see for yourself). The only one I liked - from the point of view of a lecturer for Web publishing - is this one by the Danish Hotel Fox.

Find all my English posts about the Social Web and its implications on the tourism industry here.

Schlechte Bewertungen & mutige Hotelblogger

"Wir beißen nicht!" Schreibt Manuela Nigischer vom Hotel zur Hammerschmiede im Waldviertler Drosendorf in ihrem Hotel-Blog. Was war geschehen? Gäste hatten sich nach ihrem Aufenthalt online beschwert. Diese Bewertung wurde bei Tiscover abgegeben, wo die Gäste gebucht hatten.

There was plenty of room for us in our double room. Unfortunately the TV did not work and there was no obvious place to plug in the lamp.

Zur Überraschung der Wirte haben die Gäste nicht vor Ort darauf hingewiesen. Diese Probleme hätten sie sofort gelöst. Wenn sie davon gewusst hätten. Ich kenne die engagierte Touristikerin von meiner Zusammenarbeit mit meinem Kunden Weinviertel Tourismus. Ihre Conclusio:

Für uns heißt das nun, dass wir offensiver auf die Gäste zugehen müssen um herausfinden ob alles zu ihrer Zufriedenheit ist. Und zusätzlich rufe ich dazu auf, den Gastgebern mitzuteilen wenn etwas nicht funktioniert bzw. etwas den Aufenthalt beeinträchtigt. Wir Wirte beißen nur in den seltensten Fällen.

Blogaction Day 2007 - Blog about the evironment

Today is Blog Action Day. Bloggers are encouraged to write about the environment. Well, that is a tough one. Let's face it, tourism is often guilty of destroying the environment. But, there are positive examples. I will feature three.

Black Sheep Inn in the Ecuadorian Highlands
:Two Amercian idealists have put a small Andean village on the map with ecotourism - creating many jobs, pushing the community and, yes, attracting competitors.

Werfenweng in the Alpine region of Salzburger Land
: A whole village offers its guests "soft mobility" - leave your car at home and enjoy.

Austrian Railways ÖBB
:They make it possible to visit (my beloved) Weinviertel, THE winemaking region of Austria, by bus and/or train. They are currently offering special one-day trips by bus including wine-tasting, excursions and sightseeing. Drinking without driving and going easy on the environment. Great!

German savvy readers, please check out Jan's post regarding the environment and cooking.

English: Social networks & tourism

Please check out these wonderful posts by Vicky Brock from Highland Business Research.

Vicky on social platforms & tourism
Vicky on social media & tourism

Find all my English posts about the Social Web and its implications on the tourism industry here.

English: Web 2.0 Open in Berlin - thanks for your collaboration

Thanks so much to everybody who has contacted me or commented about my call to come to the Web2Open/ Web 2.0 Expo in Berlin. No one seems to be able to make it. But, let's copy the model of E-Canada instead.

Web 2.0 Expo & Open in Berlin - Come & join me

Dear English-language readers of FastenYourSeatbelts, as some of you might know, Web 2.0 Pope Tim O'Reilly himself is hosting the first Web 2.0 Expo in Europe this November, 5-8 in Berlin. Hopefully, all of Europe's (aspiring) web elite will reunite in Berlin. Especially since Barcamp & Podcamp Berlin are going to take place the weekend before, aspiring to attract many international attendees. For those of you, who do not want to afford the hefty entrance fee, check out the Web2Open in the same building, which is almost free. Apart from featuring some pre-chosen speakers, the Web2Open is build on the Barcamp spirit of unconferencing for best results.

I will speak about our favourite subject tourism and web 2.0 and I would love to meet and listen to you. I have already asked my Spanish co-bloggers, who seem to be the keenest travel industry blogger I know. Edu has already offered to provide his input, because he is not able to travel. How about you? Do you want to joing me in Berlin? If enough of us attend, we can organize a travel 2.0 conference-in-unconference. That would be wonderful. If you cannot come to Berlin, how about matching up virtually? For more information please check out the English site of Nicole Simon.

Travel 2.0 in Berlin / Turismo 2.0 en Berlin

Para mis colegas espanoles como Albert, Juan, MeGustaelTurismo, EduWilliam, Alberto Gonzalez y Rumorismo (que tuvo la gentilez de traducir mis 7 teses sobre travel 2.0):

Como tal vez saben (soy chilena, asi que utilizare esta forma ;-) toda la elite web 2.0 se reunira en la Web 2.0 Expo Berlin de Tim O'Reilly del 5-8 de noviembre. Ademas se organizara la Web 2.0 Open, es decir una conferencia del tipo Barcamp en el mismo sitio. Y el fin de semana antes (3-4 de noviembre) tambien tendra plazo el segundo Barcamp Berlin que aspira atraer participantes internacionales. Todavia hay cupo y el wiki esta en ingles enteramente.

Yo partire de Viena para ir al Barcamp y me quedo hasta el martes. Solicite hablar sobre nustro tema preferido: el Web 2.0 y su influencia sobre en turismo.

Que les parece que Uds vengan? Seria una gran oportunidad de hablar con una sola voz en un ambiente pleno de espiritu. Podriamos organizar una especia de mini congreso Travel 2.0

La Web 2.0 Expo cuesta bastante. Sin embargo la Web 2.0 open es libre. Mas informacion en el blog ingles de una de las coordinadoras Nicole Simon.

Web 2.0 mit Digitalks bei den Hörnern packen

Morgen startet Digitalks im Wiener MuseumsQuartier. Diese Initiative wurde von der ehemaligen SAP-Beraterin Meral Akin-Hecke mit dem Ziel gegründet, Web 2.0 für mehr Menschen verständlich zu machen. Der erste Abend befasst sich mit dem Thema Blogs. Die Vortragenden sind Michael Schuster und ich.

Anmelden kann man sich hier, allerdings wurde die Warteliste bereits eröffnet. Kleiner Trost: In meinem Intensiv-Workshop am 22. Oktober erfahren TeilnehmerInnen alles über Web 2.0 und die Entwicklung der eigenen Strategie. Jetzt anmelden!