Example of a Content Management Strategy for a tourist destination website.
Wish I Was There – Bruce Peninsula is a Wish I Was There affiliate site aimed at young people who enjoy travel to wilderness retreats. It provides site visitors with an insider’s guide on how to make the most of their stay at this destination.
The site has an edgy, contemporary look and feel, in keeping with the Wish I Was There brand. It is a multimedia site that includes text, illustrations, photos, video and audio content. It is intended to boost business and improve the lives of this remote, one industry, tourism-based community.
Members of the community will generate the site’s content. Our community liaison will work with content contributors to build and promote content that is engaging and optimized for online retrieval.
The site’s content manager will position themselves as an influencer rather than an expert on all things “Bruce”. The experts will be drawn from the local community. We anticipate drawing on the expertise of park staff from the Bruce Peninsula and from Fathom Five.
We will also work with the Bruce County Tourism association to identify local experts for content creation. Stories posted at the site will fall into three primary categories, trails/hiking, shipwrecks/diving and beaches/swimming. Content created to support these categories would cover specific attractions or recreational activities that fall under these activities.
For example, the Grotto would be a story within the category of trails/hiking. The Sweepstakes wreck site would fall under the category of shipwrecks/diving and Singing Sands would fall under the category of beaches/swimming.
The site will include a reserved space for local operators. In this space, there will be a discussion forum for operators to share ideas about boosting local tourism. This reserved space is also where local operators can submit copy for stories and arrange to place advertising on the site. Ads will be discreet and tasteful and will blend into the site content.
For example, a story about diving on the Sweepstakes could include sidebar ads promoting the Divers Den dive shop. A story about Singing Sands could include an ad for swimwear at Verna’s clothing shop. A story about the Grotto could include an ad for hiking gear at Thorncrest Outfitters.
Ads will include a photo link in the sidebar of the story’s page and will also include text links woven into the body of the story itself by our blogging specialist.
The site will take advantage of link technology. There will be links out from the site to every business that advertises with us. All local websites in both the public and private sectors will be strongly encouraged to link to our site. There will also be internal links within the site tying related stories together and connecting advertising to relevant blog stories.
This site will be unique because it will be based on expert opinion from local insiders. Everyone in the community will be encouraged to come up with story ideas and to write their own copy. If writing isn’t their thing, our blogging specialist will interview those with story ideas, create a draft, get feedback and publish a professionally written story promoting their business or attraction.
The key to success for the tourism industry of the future is international ecotourism. By partnering with the Wish I Was There team, we can tap into a global demographic of young backpacking travel enthusiasts. The ingredients for the site’s success include local expertise, effective community liaison, professional blogging and a recognized global web presence.
We look forward to working with the investors and are available to answer any further questions they may have about this exciting new business opportunity.
David Morton Rintoul Freelance Writer 