Snapchat crush

I can’t help it. I’m totally hooked to Snapchat. Why? Simply, i’m a millennial, it’s entertaining and makes communication more impulsive and relaxed, compared to i.e. Instagram (which is also great, but for different reasons).

Generation Y and Z are now becoming accustomed to communicating mainly in photos and videos, quickly and instantly. And with the Our Story feature, they are watching live events from the perspective of the attendees—not mass media

– Michelle Grant, Skift / Euromonitor November 13th 2014

Snapchat is certainly the first really influential virtual travel application out there. If and when I would need want to showcase and raise awareness of my brand, be it myself, my destination, company, happening or whatever right now, Snapchat would my choice.

In example, following the advice written down by John Freeeman from DestinationThink!, DMO’s could use Snapchat as a mobile visitors centre, as a narrative, as a game, as a means to engage younger generation (important note: I was persuaded to the app by a bunch of 40+ people, so it’s not all about millennials..) and as a reward. It can be easily adjusted to your personal or organizational needs, with little effort.

Snapchat’s stories entice Millennials to see what locals experience, and the least travel brands can do on this platform is watch, learn, and iterate.
— Joyce Manalo, Skift July 16th, 2015

Personally, I have been virtually following Bagpipe World Champs, wandering the charming streets of Ghent and celebrating the Pakistani Independence Day, without leaving my bed (physically).  How great is that!? Moreover, I am more than ready to use the app in those official, professional occasions (public administration, when do you catch up with the digital era!?). Right now, suffering from serious homesickness, I would also welcome i.e. Lapland and National Park Stories in Snapchat.

The storytelling arc of “City Life” makes it surprisingly inspiring to perhaps consider it as a future travel destination.

–

City Life and events are a window into how the younger Millennials are communicating what excites them the most about their lives. Travel brands should pay attention and figure out how to greet them with snaps of fun places to eat, drink, see, and stay.

So if you’d ask me what’s the hottest thing in alternative travel, media and communications right now, I’d say it’s Snapchat. There’s even some statistics to it.

---

Muutama vuosi sitten yliopistolla kiersi huhu, jonka mukaan opiskelijan graduaihetta ei hyväksytty, koska professorimme ei ymmärtänyt mitä sillä tarkoitetaan tai varsinkaan sen potentiaalia matkailuympäristössä. Viime aikoina olen miettinyt tätä usein, sekä Instagramin kohdalla että vaeltaessani virtuaalisesti Gentin katuja, seuratessani Pakistanin itsenäisyyspäiväjuhlintaa tai säkkipillinsoiton MM-kisoja, poistumatta mihinkään omasta sängystäni. Snapchat on osoittanut olevansa se virtuaalimatkailupalvelu, jollaisista kirjoitettiin lyhyin lausein kurssikirjojemme “matkailun tulevaisuus” kappaleissa.

Snapchat on sosiaalinen media ja kommunikaatiokanava aplikaatioon sisäänrakennettuna, mutta myös paljon muuta. Snapchatin avulla kuka tahansa tai mikä tahansa, yritys, virasto (terkkuja Verohallinto, peukku rohkeudesta!), matkailukohde jne. voi luoda itselleen oman multimediakanavan monine käyttötarkoituksineen ja -tapoineen. Se mahdollistaa markkinointikampanjat, brändin rakennuksen ja tietoisuuden kasvattamisen, sekä yksinkertaisimmillaan viihdyttävien ja/tai puhtaan informatiivisten viestien välittämisen, vaivattomasti ja spontaanisti.

Tällä hetkellä seuraisin mielelläni sekä matkailijana että koti-ikävästä kärsivänä nostalgikkona Snapchat- tarinoita Lapista ja kansallispuistoista,  kasvattaen samalla valmiutta ja motivaatiota sijoittaa tarvittavat suuret summat rahaa ruskaretkeen kotiseuduille (välähdys pulahduksesta tunturilampeen keskiyön auringossa saisi minut mitä luultavimmin heittämään puhelimen pikimiten laukkuun ja suuntaamaan kiireen vilkkaa äkkilähtötiskille). Valitettavasti näyttää kuitenkin siltä, että myös Snapchatin käytössä suomalaiset matkailutoimijat ovat valovuosia jäljessä ulkomaisia kilpailijoitaan. Mutta onneksi minulla on ystäviä, jotka pro bono tarjoavat henkilökohtaisia virtuaalikierroksia mm. Kalifornian hienoimmille surffirannoille. Lappilaisten aktivoitumista odotellessa…

On airports, once more

“In my view, we’re heading in the wrong direction,” Griffiths says. “With bigger and bigger airports we get bigger walking distances, less intimate experiences and greater difficulties in customers making connections.” He suggests that no performance statistic is more important to airports than ensuring passengers can “very conveniently and easily connect between flights.

–

Systems like pre-checking for flights, mobile-checking, kiosks, baggage drop systems, improved digital passport and border controls, advanced security systems and biometrics, when properly applied, Griffiths suggests, will let airports use space more efficiently.

“When you take all of those processes out of the airport environment you create space,”

© Paul Griffiths Dubai Airports CEO | Skift

My feelings exactly.

Note

Learn from the great:

we have to be present on the platforms where the tourists are, and that’s 24/7, of course

Digital development is dictating where we need to be as a destination if we wish to influence a travel decision

Skift: If you had 10 times more funding, what would you do with it?

Olsen: We would use that on branding Denmark abroad and increasing knowledge and visitor preference for Denmark. Then there is the whole business events sector, which is big business for our destination as well, and where we are world-leading in developing and using strategic meeting design concepts and sustainable meetings management. I would definitely boost that part of business, especially toward our main markets in the U.S., Europe and Russia, but that’s entirely a separate story in itself.

© Skift / VisitDenmark CEO Jan Olsen

Interview: VisitDenmark CEO on Local Travel in Copenhagen and Beyond

1

“Some of the biggest consumer and tech changes that are playing out in the larger world can best be observed by looking at habits in travel and its sub-sectors.

Add to that travel’s larger role reflecting the geopolitical realities of the world, and what emerges is a heady mix that continues to make the world’s largest industry among the most exciting sectors on the planet right now.

“

© Skift Megatrends 2015