I just got this in the mail from Aruba’s Minister of Tourism, Otma Oduber. It includes an impersonal letter and two big stickers (see photo above). Not sure how I made into their database… Certainly an effective way to introduce a new logo, but not sure if I’d use a direct mailing campaign these days.
By the way, do you like the logo and tagline? I think I had already seen both in the NYC subway.
According to the Economist, the answer is yes! France seems to be on the top list of Chinese travelers visiting Europe, but the Grand Tour of the continent covers also some unusual stops such as Cambridge, Benelux, Verona… They spend a third of the travel budget on shopping rather than accommodation and/or fine dining, but are not cheap.
This is definitely an interesting guide to tap a market that is still in its infancy: the rewards might be tangible on a long term.
While waiting for my train…
I have not written in a long time. I have been wrapped up in the daily routine of my many tasks at work. No excuse, but this is what happened.
A few days ago I was at brunch with my friends. We were talking about many different topics and one of them was travel. Most of them are seasoned travelers and have visited different continents. I could not help to ask them a professional question to see how DMOs (Destination Marketing Organizations) really help with the decision making process. To my surprise (but not so much), none of them ever goes to a DMO for information or anything else when they pick a destination for their next trip.
I know that just a few of my friends do not represent a solid statistical number, but I could not help from asking the question: “are DMOs still relevant?”. Is our job still justified? Some of them do an egregious job out there, but the vast majority look like a bureaucratic and dusty governmental entity that pays its employees’ salary and keep the boat floating. Are we moving fast enough with the changes that the new technologies offer and younger audience expect us to use? How can DMOs succeed in a highly competitive market arena? What is their real role? Shall DMOs be privatized and work as advertising agencies? Is it ethical to spend taxpayers’ money the way some DMOs do?
Are all these good ideas for a book or just a waste of time?
An article on the Economist got my attention last week, but I did not have much time to post anything. You can judge for yourself (see photo on the left). Apparently the new Romania’s logo was plagiarized.
KICKING off a promotional campaign with a plagiarism scandal is not the most orthodox way to attract clients. But in Romania, it may work. On the day Romania’s “explore the Carpathian garden” tourism campaign was launched at the Shanghai World Expo, a blogger revealed that its logo—a green leaf—resembled that of a British clean-transport company. A Belgian designer then claimed to have produced the image and marketed the rights through an online library. The logo can be bought for $250 and has been used by several other companies throughout Europe.
