Having worked in Florida destination marketing for more than a decade, I know disasters can cause more than physical damage to a tourism area. Misconceptions can economically hurt a region because potential visitors aren’t properly educated about available services.
My most recent experience dealing with this was last year’s Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. Although no oil reached the beaches in my area, vacationers canceled their reservations and phones stopped ringing because of the misconception all of Florida was covered in oil.
Having dealt with negative perceptions in my tourism region, I felt it was my duty to dedicate blog space to another tourism destination, Christchurch, New Zealand, to build positive awareness.
We’re in the midst of a 72-hour social media blitz (March 21 – 23) to raise awareness about Christchurch after the Feb. 22, 2011, earthquake. Yes, the 6.3 magnitude quake was devastating and sadly, many lost their lives, homes and businesses, yet, the region is open for business. According to the Christchurch & Canterbury Tourism website, the wider Christchurch and Canterbury region is ready to welcome visitors. All airports in New Zealand, including Christchurch International Airport, are open, too.
The social media blitz called #Blog4NZ is the brain-child of New Zealand travel bloggers Jim McIntosh and John Reese.
“We want a total black-out of travel content across the world, we want Twitter dominated by Tweets about travelling to New Zealand, we hope that all travel bloggers rally behind this cause and publish as many articles as possible throughout this period about travelling to New Zealand,” said event organiser Craig Martin of Indie Travel Media.
If you see Twitter tweets with the hashtag #Blog4NZ, now you know what it means. Visit the designated Facebook page where participating bloggers are uploading their content including blog posts, photos and video. To learn more about this global cooperative effort to rally behind a beloved tourism destination, visit the Blog4NZ website.
Craig Martin of Indie Travel Media will be providing a guest post for this blog, stay tuned!
For the latest information on visiting Christchurch, New Zealand, visit their website www.christchurchnz.com.
Jennifer,
Very good posting. Many of us at one time or another have lived in an area struck by disaster and everyone thinks it is the whole area. Living in Raleigh North Carolina when a tornado went through the area where the destruction was a couple miles wide but most hit the poor and jumped over the rich homes. Worked with many of the people effected. The Rest of Raleigh was up and running.
Eileen