In recognition of the value of social media to promoting business, the Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA) hosted a workshop to teach stakeholders how to use social and other emerging media to generate interest and excitement about their tourism product and destination Guyana.
The workshop, held on Wednesday, brought together about 30 stakeholders from companies such as Jerries, Roraima Group, Evergreen Adventures, and GTA staff, a press release from the Government Information Agency (GINA) said. It was one of several activities the entity organised to observe Tourism Awareness Month 2012.
GTA Director Indranauth Haralsingh said the agency recognises the value of using social and emerging media to attract travellers to a destination. “Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, blogs and other similar tools are the marketing way of the future.”
In fact, the workshop was convened to sharpen the skills of persons who use social media tools, after they expressed an interest in learning more about the strategies behind the social media marketing techniques.
In order to flourish in today’s competitive marketplace tourism providers must make social media an integral part of their marketing strategy. “Your marketing effectiveness is very important for Guyana as a destination and it will help to improve our visibility, our image, our branding abroad, and it will also help to definitely drive more traffic to Guyana and bring more visitors,” Haralsingh said.
The workshop taught participants how to develop an effective Facebook campaign for their business and to effectively engage their prospective and current customers, among other strategies.
Speaking of the advantages of marketing through the social media, and benefits that can accrue from interacting through this medium, Dos-Santos-Rahaman said, “Social networking sites also include a vast amount of information about what products and services prospective clients might be interested in. You can detect buying signals, such as content shared by people and questions posted online. Understanding of buying signals can help sales people target relevant prospects and marketers run micro-targeted campaigns.”
The GTA has also organised the garden enhancement project, city tour guide training and birding for Tourism Month 2012.
