Eco-tourism on a human scale, an approach to travel that promotes the quality of the tourist experience. A slow profile that disregards the contingency of the product dictated by necessity but that is settling down as a philosophy of life, a movement towards the territory that in recent years has characterised the attention to nature, space and privacy. These are all elements that, especially today, make a difference in the post-pandemic era, satisfying the primary demand for security.
“Reassuring, attractive, loyalty-enhancing – explains Fausto Faggioli, president of Earth Academy – these are the key words of the 2021 territorial offer. Reassuring because we need to show that the company, whatever it is, has focused on the health safety of guests and staff. Attractive because in a globalised world we need to stand out. Fidelifying because you need to be willing to leave your comfort zone and actively identify what the visitor really wants and anticipate their needs. If a particular offer is no longer welcome, it must be removed. Times have changed, needs have changed even more. And not all travellers are the same. You have to be proactive: what worked well yesterday may not necessarily meet today’s demands.
Going to the markets with the destination rather than the vertical product is always more advantageous.
Identity is everything when it comes to promoting a region,” he confirms. Competition on vertical products is fratricidal, harmful and without results. The neighbouring company is not the competitor but the partner. This is the philosophy that must be changed. The key to overcoming this crisis lies in no longer identifying tourism as a product chain but through a horizontal system approach”.
In other words, according to the territorial marketing experts, the travel industry wins if the system has ‘everyone in it’.
“Italy is the most desired destination but not the most sold. We are not good enough at selling,” continues Faggioli. The entire communication system dedicated to incoming tourism must be strengthened. It is not enough to have stylistically perfect sites, we need to add the algorithm of feelings and senses. At the moment we are forced to go digital, but this tool must leave something in the soul, that desire to expect to live the experience in person as soon as possible”.
Forced to see and talk to each other via monitor or mobile, but not resigned to the fact that this is the future. And it is precisely on the desire to be able to perceive again through the five senses that the most advanced phygital experiences are based, even in the field of territorial marketing.
There is an obligation to change language; those who have not done so will suffer even more. Just think of the messages conveyed through images. Nobody, until last year, would have ever published on a channel the cleaning operations of their own structure, while today it is a way to communicate sanitation and safety.
“Let’s not keep August waiting,” concludes Faggioli. “The skill lies in making the interested traveller understand – and with foreigners in the vicinity, if possible, it will be easier – the great luck they could have in visiting the area during the shoulder period, with the many local traditions linked to the agricultural cycle.
