PORTLAND – Electronic word-of-mouth is rapidly replacing the old-fashioned kind.

Tourism-related businesses were encouraged Thursday at the Governor’s Conference on Tourism to embrace social media as a way to reach customers, about two-thirds of whom rely on the Internet as a primary source for information when they plan trips.

“Philadelphia is a very old city and we need young tourists,” Meryl Levitz, president and CEO of the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corp., said in describing her organization’s use of Facebook, Twitter and the like to reach potential visitors. “We decided this is one way to get them.”

Levitz, who noted that tourism in Philadelphia has tripled since the marketing company was formed in 1997, said social and traditional media are so intertwined these days that businesses that don’t use both are missing the boat.

As an example, she noted that thousands of tweets were sent out after free agent pitcher Cliff Lee signed with the Philadelphia Phillies late one night in December. So Levitz’s organization, which is funded by a hotel tax in Philadelphia County, immediately saw it as another way to promote the city, particularly since Lee chose Philadelphia after turning down a more lucrative offer from the New York Yankees.

“Dear Cliff,” read the billboard the organization hastily put up. “You are … This is … I promised myself I wouldn’t get choked up. Welcome home.”

That billboard, in turn, prompted Internet chatter, and photos of it were shared on Facebook.

Communicating that way can be as powerful as word-of-mouth was back when “people actually talked to each other, face-to-face,” Levitz said.

Philadelphia’s approach is exactly how social media should be used to promote tourism, said Amanda O’Brien of Portland-based Hall Internet Marketing, who has advised tourism-related businesses on how to use social media in marketing.

O’Brien said traditional hard-sell approaches don’t work in social media. Instead, a business that caters to tourists must foster a community, with people offering information on how they enjoyed their stay at a campground or hotel, and on interesting things to do in the area.

“People love that insider tip, like the place with the best egg sandwich in the morning,” she said. “It’s a soft sell, but people trust you more.”

That’s the approach the Maine Office of Tourism is using with its Facebook page, said Carolann Ouellette, deputy director of the office. The page includes photos of interesting spots in Maine, trivia questions, a weekly “shout-out” to a Maine town, and sometimes totally random items, such as a recent post musing about how snow-covered bales of hay look like frosted Shredded Wheat cereal.

“What’s great is how viral it is,” Ouellette said. “It’s more engagement, being part of a conversation, which is different from the traditional advertising (approach) of ‘Sending a message.’ “

Ouellette said the office hopes to build on its forays into new-media channels with the upcoming launch of a lobster app for smart phones.

The app will have lobster facts, information on Maine restaurants having specials on lobster, and recipes, with more information added regularly, she said.

Also at Thursday’s conference, tourism officials said visits to Maine rebounded last summer from 2009, which was probably the state’s worst year for tourism.

Steve Lyons, the tourism office’s director of marketing, said state surveys indicate about 9.5 million people visited Maine last summer, “a marked improvement over 2009, which we really don’t like to talk about.”

In 2009, the depths of the recession and unusually cool and rainy weather depressed visits to the state.

Official estimates are that 8.3 million people visited in the summer of 2009, a 16.8 percent drop from 2008.

Staff Writer Edward D. Murphy can be contacted at 791-6465 or at:

emurphy@pressherald.com

 

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