Blog #4 Assignment

List of Tourism Related Videos Reviewed:

1. Scottsdale CVB
2. Knoxville Tourism and Sports Corporation
3. Niagara USA
4. Philippines
5. Sandals Montego Bay Jamaica
6. Celebrity Cruises: Elegant Nights and Days of Discovery
7. Scotland
8. Brussels
9. Disney Dream Cruise-2011
10. Cedar Point
11. Egypt
12. Shanti Ananda Destination Spa and Resort in Maurice
13. Luna Lodge in Costa Rica
14. Welcome to South Carolina
15. Wanaka Transport and Toy Museum in New Zealand
16. SS Great Britain Ship in Bristol
17. Whistler Peak to Peak Skiing in British Columbia, Canada
18. Amsterdam Airport Hotel-Hotel Sheraton


Five Top Videos:

1. Niagara USA- http://www.niagara-usa.com/youtube_video.html
2. Philippines- http://www.tourism.gov.ph/SitePages/VideoContainer.aspx?id=Wow_Philippines
3. Brussels- http://www.visitbelgium.com/
4. Luna Lodge in Costa Rica- http://www.lunalodge.com/index-en.html
5. Welcome to South Carolina- http://www.discoversouthcarolina.com/plan-your-trip/video-gallery.aspx


The Top Video: Luna Lodge in Costa Rica- http://www.lunalodge.com/index-en.html

It was difficult to choose a number one winner out of the top five videos I selected because they all had their own unique aspects that were interesting. However, in the end I chose the Costa Rica Luna Lodge video as the one that I believe is the most likely to proportionately improve tourism spending to the entity featured for several reasons.

First of all, I really liked how their video had a number of brief customer testimonials, which was a feature that none of the other top five videos had. Customer testimonials are a key ingredient in sales if a large ROI is wanted. “If you say you are good, people ignore your self-serving back-patting. When others say you are good...it's credible. This goes to the very heart of why testimonials are so powerful...they give us credibility and believability. When you deliver a good compelling offer that is both credible and believable, your sales and profits will increase” (Reece, 2001). On another note, the customer testimonials are also a great way to add a personal touch to their video.

Another reason I chose the Luna Lodge video is because of the increasing popularity of ecotourism along with sustainability and how that is the main focus of this destination. In fact, “Ecotourism is considered the fastest growing market in the tourism industry, according to the World Tourism Organization with an annual growth rate of 5% worldwide and representing 6% of the world gross domestic product, 11.4% of all consumer spending” (“Defining Eco-Tourism”, n.d.). There is a huge market for this type of tourism right now ever since the buzzword of being “Green” became a focal point in the last few years for many industries and for a majority of people in general. Due to the immense growth and attractiveness of ecotourism, this will cause more interest in Luna Lodge as a destination to visit, intern creating more profit for the lodge. In comparison to the other top five videos, the Brussels video was the only other video to mention a “Green” aspect.

The Luna Lodge video had some other great characteristics, which included calming, relaxing music in the background, a narrator during parts of the video (who is actually the founder of the lodge), and contact information at the end of the video (their website) so that people could find out more information if they are interested. Several of the other top five videos had these features as well, but some were lacking in one area or the other. Additionally, the Luna Lodge video showed people in action enjoying themselves at the lodge. We talked in class a few times about how important it is to actually show people doing an activity and enjoying themselves at a destination because that makes it more convincing. Three of the other top five videos had this aspect too, except for the South Carolina video which was composed of about 95% of still pictures, making it more of a slide show rather than a video.

Today’s world is extremely fast passed and people do not get much time to rest and enjoy life. If people are longing for a relaxing escape, which most are, then it is obvious (after watching the video) that Luna Lodge is the place to go. I believe that is a perfect way to market to people because that will get more business for the destination. All in all, the video was charming, peaceful, unique, showed a variety of activities and amenities that Luna Lodge has to offer, showed the beauty of Costa Rica, showed friendly staff members, and will initiate and improve tourism spending at Luna Lodge.


Sources:
Defining Eco-Tourism. (n.d.). Retrieved November 17, 2009, from The Sustainable Tourism Gateway website: http://www.gdrc.org/uem/eco-tour/etour-define.html

Reece, T. (2000, January 1). Using Testimonials to Increase Sales. Retrieved November 17, 2009, from Site Point website: http://articles.sitepoint.com/article/testimonials-increase-sales/1