Tourism is currently one of the most affected sectors and UNWTO has revised its 2020 forecast for international arrivals and receipts. The coronavirus pandemic is putting up to 75 million jobs and $2.1 trillion in revenue in the global travel and tourism sector at risk, with travel likely to slump by a quarter this year and Asia being the most affected continent. The tourism industry accounts for 10% of the world’s GDP and jobs and the equivalent to a loss of three months of global travel in 2020 could lead to a corresponding reduction in jobs of between 12% and 14% globally. With this as a backdrop, we discuss the revival of the travel sector and the road ahead with global travel experts.

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The world of travel moved ahead rapidly in 2017. To keep up, the travel industry was also constantly on the move, with mobile dominating the purchasing behaviour of today’s connected traveller. A host of events and conferences helped the industry stay up to speed with the latest developments and hear from industry leaders on how best to deal with these changes.

The new year is expected to be no different. So, whether you are a small business owner, a travel blogger, a marketing team, or anyone else in the travel industry, events and conferences like these will give you the opportunity to learn from, and network with the best in the domain.

Image source: SEE Business Travel Magazine

We’ve pulled together a list of the very best travel and tourism conferences throughout 2018 to help you plan your year.

EU-China Tourism Year 2018, Venice (19 January):
The EU-China Tourism Year 2018, with its focus on the EU-China cooperation, will launch in Venice in January 2018 with an Institutional Event and Business Summit.

Travel Technology Track, Mumbai (18-20 January):
An initiative by OTM & TravHQ, this event will celebrate the growth of travel-tech industry in India. The knowledge platform at OTM Mumbai will showcase innovative travel solutions, panel discussions with industry thought-leaders and digital skill development workshops for travel trade industry.

ACE of M.I.C.E. Exhibition by Turkish Airlines 2018, Istanbul (21-23 February):
Recognized as Turkey’s most extensive B2B event, it aims to increase the perception and awareness of Turkey MICE sector globally. The exhibition’s professional hosted buyer program helps gain new clients and markets and the network and “AMEzing” parties within the exhibition aims to provide togetherness and motivation within the sector.

Guangzhou International Travel Fair, Guangzhou (1-3 March):This travel fair represents one of the most important international exhibition for Souvenirs, Tourism, Travel, Travel Organizer from across the world.

ITB, Berlin (7-11 March):
ITB Berlin is the world’s largest tourism trade fair. It has a busy programme of digital marketing, & social media events including expert industry and influencer panels and presentations.

Routes Asia, Brisbane (18-20 March):
Routes Asia provides the most efficient platform to meet and negotiate with senior decision makers from Asia’s route development community. Over the course of three concentrated business days, more than 2,000 meetings will take place between the region’s leading and fastest-growing aviation organisations.

Asian Business Aviation Conference & Exhibition, Shanghai (17-19 April):

Thousands of top business aviation leaders, entrepreneurs, and other purchase decision-makers will come together for this exhibition. This is the perfect venue for investors considering aviation as a business opportunity; companies thinking of using an aircraft for business; and flight departments who have long used aircraft as a valuable business tool.

IBTM Africa, Cape Town (19-20 April):

This event is where meetings, events and incentives industry decision makers meet for business adventures across Africa.

International Conference on Marketing, Tourism & Hospitality, Zurich (13-15 July):
As the name suggests, the international conference aims to host industry leaders across the globe on panels and discussions over social media and marketing in the tourism and hospitality sector.

ILTM Asia Pacific, Singapore (21-24 May):
This invitation-only, global event is where the suppliers of the world’s best luxury travel experiences get to meet the buyers representing the Asia Pacific region.

World Travel Market, London (5-7 November):

This is the leading global event for the travel industry to meet industry professionals and conduct business deals. Through its industry networks, unrivaled global reach, WTM London creates great opportunities.

Which ones do you plan to attend? Let us know if we’ve missed out on any event.

The post The unmissable travel conferences and events to watch out for in 2018 appeared first on TravHQ.

There is not a single industry that has remained unaffected by the dawn of social media, and the travel and tourism industry is no different. Before social media came into the picture, peer reviews and photos of your dream destination weren’t as easy to access. Today, the ease of accessibility to destination information has put the spotlight on why the industry must leverage new media tools to benefit themselves.

During the recently concluded Beijing International Travel Mart (BITM) 2017, Daksh Sharma, Founding Partner at TravHQ, conducted a workshop on ‘Going Global Instantly – Leveraging New Media Tools’ and how the travel industry can adapt to the rapidly changing needs of its audience.

Here are some key highlights from the session:

Pictures speak a thousand words
Social media is the best way to show off any destination, and also boost engagement on your profile at the same time.When choosing a destination, visitors want to take a visual tour of their potential destination; images give guests the liberty to interpret the destination, and social media gives them the opportunity to share their travel itinerary visually. Social media platforms like Instagram, allow people to do exactly that and with travel brands promoting their destinations through peppy contests, the trend helps them engage their followers by encouraging them to share their opinions. Hence, many hotel and homestay owners are tapping into the pool of travellers via Instagram. Take a cue from Eco Habitat in Coorg:

Video testimonials are like 22 carat gold

Video content is booming in China, with 41.5% of the country forecast to be digital video watchers. The most popular apps include Miaopai, Toutiao Video, Kuaishou and Meipai, and even the posts from the most popular destination marketing organizations have visually pleasing, photo-rich content, alongside practical travel information. From boutique hotels to homestays in far-flung areas of the world, everyone is jumping on the video bandwagon.

For instance, the Mount Lavinia Hotel in Sri Lanka made a promotional video for its hotel in the Mandarin language to be able to attract Chinese audience through its video content. Watch the video here:

The Travel Influencer connect

Close to a quarter of Chinese travellers are independent travellers, aged between 20 and 25. This Millennial group looks for inspiration for their next travel by visiting their favourite bloggers, Instagrammers and YouTubers, rather than relying on traditional advertising mediums such as TV, newspapers and banners. This is where travel influencers step in. With followers running into hundreds of thousands (and even millions sometimes), they enable travel brands to reach audiences worldwide. With their unique storytelling through visual content and first-hand experiences of travelling, they are able to influence people in a way like no other. Today, a brand recommendation from an influencer carries more weight than any other endorsement, and many travel properties are vying for the attention of top influencers to boost their destinations’ allure.

Responsibility towards responses

According to travel site TripAdvisor, as much as 93 percent of executives consider the improvement and management of their online reviews as the most important factor to the future of their business. By taking out time to listen to, and respond to guest feedback, travel brands can strengthen their reputation, improve social media performance, and even boost financial outcomes. On the other hand, failure to respond to reviews, especially the negative ones, can cost companies dearly, in the form of lower review scores and overall ratings.

Top DIY tools for social media marketing

While the Internet is awash with new social media management tools, the right ones can definitely make social media content easy to create, curate, manage, schedule and finally, analyze the effectiveness of campaigns. From the most popular image editing app Snapseed, to Canva, the free, graphic-design tool website that lets you create beautiful social media content, and video editor app Quik, these new media tools are beneficial to brands in more ways than one.

Image source: Android Community

The post Highlights from workshop on leveraging new media tools – BITM 2017 appeared first on TravHQ.

Drones are gaining popularity among filmmakers and enthusiasts alike and are going to be the future of photography. Some international travel brands are already using drones to shoot stunning promotional videos and image content. Accounts such as @dronestagram have become big on Instagram, clearly indicating that the trend is catching up well across all social media platforms.

Using drones for filmmaking can yield amazing results and travel brands can leverage them very well for promotion. Earlier Tourism New Zealand organised the NZDronie campaign. During the campaign, they offered drone mounted cameras at some tourist spots across New Zealand for travellers to shoot Dronies or Drone Selfies. This activity attracted a good number of tourists and they were being talked about all over. Other brands are also taking note and have started using drones as a part of their promotional activities. St. Regis recently shared a promotional video for their property in Doha and it largely comprises of aerial footage of the property and fun activities.

The St. Regis video is just one of the many stunning aerial videos being shared all over the internet.

We have researched & curated a list of 10 of the best travel & destination videos captured using drone cameras all over the world.

1- Keukenhof- World’s largest flower garden in Lisse, Netherlands

The Keukenhof is one of the world’s largest flower gardens with around 7 million flowers planted every year over an area of 79 acres. Every year it attracts more than 800,000 tourists from all around the globe. This video features various flower beds, lakes, fountains and a drawbridge. Posted by Wiebe de Jager, the video has already generated over 44K views. A DJI Phantom 2 was used to shoot this video with GoPro Hero 4 mounted on with Zenmuse H4-3D Gimble.

2- Naxos Island in Aegean Sea, Greece

Naxos is the largest island in the Cyclades island group near Greece and has an approximate area of 429 sq. km. With many ruins and large number of beaches, the island is a popular tourist destination. This video features stunning aerial views of many beaches on the island. The video was shared by Vimeo user Picorna and has been captured using GoPro Hero 3 Black Edition mounted on Zenmuse H3-3D on DJI Phantom 2.

3- Serengeti National park, Africa

The Serengeti National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is famous for the annual migration of 1.5 million brindled wildebeest. This video perfectly showcases the scope of drones in wildlife photography. It starts with beautiful shots of the park and goes on to showcase the diversity of animals there. This stunning video uploaded by wildlife photographer Will Burrard Lucas has already generated more than 325K views. He develops his own equipment for photography (found here) and likes to call his drone, a BeetleCopter

4- Dolphin Stampede in Dana Point, California

This has to be one of the most stunning drone videos and easily the first iconic drone videos people would have come across. The video shows a huge pod of dolphins stampeding off Dana point California and some whales playing together. The aerial view surely adds a different dimension to it. Captain Dave Anderson filmed this off a tiny inflatable boat. He has been whale watching for decades and is also the author of Lily, A Gray Whale’s Odyssey. The video has been captured using GoPro Hero3 Black Edition mounted on DJI Phantom 2.

5- Koh Yao Noi Islands, Thailand

Koh Yao Noi or Little Yao Island is part of island group in Phang Nga Bay in Thailand. Unlike other drone videos that are captured from insane heights for most parts, this one uses the mobility of drone to provide smooth transitions. It travels across beaches and flies close to the ground for some parts giving a very interesting perspective. The video has been captured using GoPro Hero 4 mounted on DJI Phantom by moviemaker Philip Bloom.

6- Altez in Tanjong Pagar, Singapore

This video proves that you don’t always need to shoot beautiful landscapes for stunning drone videos. This one promotes a real estate in cityscapes by showcasing it from a different angle.  The video starts with a top view of the region and then the drone moves to the property in question for a better view. Something like this could be very well done for tourist attractions. As this was a promotional video, we don’t have many details on the equipment used for this job.

7- Flying over Binjiang Avenue, Longsheng, Guangxi China

This video comes from the beautiful city of Longsheng that is a few hundred miles away from the DJI factory. The city is a mix of modern architecture and traditional structures. The place is popular among tourists and is famous for its rice terraces, hot springs and numerous waterfalls. The video shows the city with the beautiful landscapes that surround it. It has been uploaded by YouTube channel of Helipal which is an online RC helicopter store. This one has also been captured using GoPro Hero 3+ on DJI Phantom 2.

8- Hovering over Cornwall Coast, England

The setting for an aerial video doesn’t get better than this. Beautiful landscape, right amount of wind, sun on the horizon and a drone mounted camera. It starts with the beautiful landscape of the coast and as the drone hovers over the water, it captures the amazing visuals created by the sea foam. The video hasn’t been edited apart from the cuts and transitions. This video by Clym Montgomery has been viewed over 590,000 times. The video has been captured on a GoPro Hero 3+ mounted on a TBS Discovery Pro.

9- Bouldering at Bulamsan in Seoul, South Korea

Bulamsan, also known as Buddha Rock Mountain is a popular destination among people who love hiking and bouldering. It features steep sections as well as simpler tracking routes so it is good for both experts and beginners. The video shows some amazing views from around the mountain and group of hikers making their way up. Such videos can be used to promote activities around a destination. It has been captured using GoPro Hero 3+ on a DJI Phantom 2.

10- Kovalam Beach, Kerala, India

Yes Indian destinations are also on the drone map This video from Kovalam Beach shows you an entirely different view of the waves rolling in on the beach. It then goes on to show a large number of fishermen trying to pull their net out of the water while others heading into the water in a fishing boat. The video isn’t professionally edited like some others on the list but it is surely is a great effort by the videographer. Shot by Dmitry Sumin, this video has been captured using DJI Phantom drone.

Indian brands should also explore the possibilities with drones. Luxury hotels at exotic locations can do something like St. Regis and give their marketing videos a very different perspective. Instead of inviting guests to check-in and post selfies, they can offer them drones which can then be spun to create video content for the property. Destinations can find similar uses and with states like Kerala & Goa Tourism who are really active on Social Media, we would love to see them raising the bar of their video content.

NZDronies was an interesting campaign and could be a good inspiration for other destination marketers. Virtual first person tours are also gaining popularity. Drones can be used to offer even better experience for such tours.

Bonus Update: Inspired by these videos and feel like grabbing a drone for yourself? Here’s some good news DJI has just released a budget drone, DJI Phantom 3 which is perfect for noobs and comes at under $800 USD. Visit the DJI website for more info on the product & purchase details. Happy droning!

Feature Image Credit: B Ystebo on Flickr.

The post 10 Jaw-Dropping Travel Drone Videos you would have ever seen appeared first on TravHQ.