Travel Megatrends 2018: Latin America Will Take Nation Branding to New Extremes
Photo Credit: Expect destinations throughout Latin America to spend more on marketing and pursue more sophisticated strategies. Skift / Bett Norris
Skift Take
Latin America’s tourist destinations have excelled at nation branding by creating vibrant and colorful content to entice travelers. In 2018, the region’s tourism offices will get more savvy with their digital marketing efforts as the visitor economy grows in importance.
Skift Megatrends 2018
In January 2018 released our annual travel industry trends forecast, Skift Megatrends 2018. You can read about each of the trends on Skift, or download a copy of our magazine here.
These days, it takes more than pretty palm trees and beaches on paper pamphlets to entice an increasingly sophisticated consumer. People want more out of their travels. They want more local culture and experiences, transformation and authenticity, and unique gastronomy with high-touch amenities.
For the most part, tourism bureaus have wised up to these trends. The quality and tone of their ads reflect this. They also know that attracting the right kind of visitor now requires a personalized and digital touch. Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Google have made it easier to set the right ads with the right emotional triggers. Hotel and retail brands and others in the private sector have gotten quite good at this process. Arguably, government agencies have been slower to adapt. This is starting to change, however.
In 2018, we will see an overall broad improvement in the level of sophistication in digital destination marketing strategy. In Latin America, we also expect
