How Drones Contribute to Tourism Marketing
There has been an unparalleled shift in marketing techniques over the last decade, because of how new technology has changed the way people consume content. Potential clients are looking for experiences, they want to be impressed, and feel like they know exactly what they’re getting into. Today, the best way for a marketing firm to visually “hook” potential clients is by using drones , or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), to capture breathtaking aerial views of the promoted property.
Travel Marketers
Resorts, hotels, amusement parks, and international locales are all vying for a way to secure more visitors more frequently. Helicopters are very expensive, and smartphone photos don’t often do the spaces justice. These companies needed a way to get across just how remarkable their property is. If that can be conveyed, potential clients will turn into visitors.
With the advent and obsession with social media and the constant consumption of photos and videos, travel marketers have multiple platforms by which to engage clients. And by using a drone, these enterprises are now able to show photos and videos of their properties like never before. 4K video, and high resolution photos of expansive, mountains, courtyard views, and tropical panoramic sunsets are now things that can be viewed online. Travelers are looking for a beautiful retreat or adventure and no longer need to make decisions by recommendations. Having the ability to show your amenities and property, inexpensively from a moving bird’s eye view has enabled hospitality companies to reach more people and in turn convert them into repeat customers.
Access to the Inaccessible
The sprawling retreat, and the foreign cityscape are both videos that are intriguing to travelers. But drones offer an even better photo and video opportunity. Drones are able to access and capture places that planes and helicopters and even people can’t access. This provides a unique visual experience that people have literally never experienced. A video of the top of a waterfall, flying directly above the trees in the Amazon, the aerial experience of a roller coaster or soaring down a mountainside. All of these, and many other incredible visual landscapes are only visible by using drones.
Amateur Do It Yourself
Drones have also enabled a new kind of tourist marketer, the DIYer. Because drones are reasonably affordable, and significantly less expensive than renting a helicopter, boat, or plane. There are new kinds of entrepreneurs being born. Typically on Youtube, but on many other video platforms, as well as personal websites, you’ll find regular people capitalizing on the convenience of drones. Whether they’re trying to sell a property, or show their viewers the new farm they bought, there are many ways drone technology fits into small business videography. It isn’t just large companies and exotic resorts using drones to capture hard to access, expansive landscapes. For a local small businesses, drone photos and videos play an integral role in building, maintaining or expanding business.
Drones have helped shape the ever changing tourism marketing landscape, and it seems everyone is benefiting from that. Hospitality and larger travel marketers are able to shoot incredible photo and video at a much cheaper cost. And we the consumer, and potential client, now get to see countless videos of gorgeous vacation options.
Article Written by Amanda Shaffer:
Amanda Shaffer is a freelance blogger and outreach specialist. She enjoys slow-paced travel to the distant corners of the galaxy, always bringing along her trusty pooch, Bond. Amanda enjoys snapping super-professional photos with her phone or - when she's lucky - exploring with a friend's drone for a bird's-eye-view of new adventures. For inquiries, you can find her on LinkedIn here.