9 Sep
Roaming Tribes in Access Tourism
Guest article by Mike Prescott, former manager of 2010 Legacies Now in British Columbia, Canada, and Principal, everyoneincluded
Social media is all the rage in 2010. Almost everyone in the tourism industry is aware of this phenomenon. Unlike many “tech fads”, however, social media is not going away. In fact, social media has always existed, it ‘s just that current technologies (known collectively as Web 2.0) exist to make it easy to reach far and wide almost instantaneously. I get excited about the possibilities this has for access tourism. I’m not just talking about work like I did at 2010 Legacies Now to promote accessible tourism in BC prior to the Winter Games. It takes information collecting and awareness building projects like this and many others and breathes life into them. Conversely, there may be no better vessel than access tourism for the promise of social media to make a substantive impact.
Many businesses have jumped into the fray head first. Who doesn’t have a blog, Twitter feed or facebook group? This is just the first step. Mobile applications for the iPhone and Android that can tap into geo-location features are already flourishing (not for accessibility and inclusion purposes, however). Having a good website, well managed social network site and constantly updating your microblog is nice but can I take it with me when I leave the house? Can it guide me to my next stop? Oh, and if your head isn’t spinning enough, consider how you are going to leverage games-based models to compete.
At the heart of this are dynamic human networks – not the technologies we’re more aware of. In access tourism, these networks become even more important. I think the recent literature on social networks and social capital provides us with the language of discourse.
The close bonds of community influence many of our local decisions. Bridges to weak ties alert us to novel opportunities and provide us access to global resources. It is the flexible bands of tribes that offer the greatest return on investment for access tourism. These tribes are roaming the earth, looking for that special destination that exceeds their expectations to tell others in their tribe and community about. These tribes aren’t just people with disabilities or seniors but heterogeneous packs that defy demographic labels. What it is they’re looking for and how to meet that demand will differentiate winners from losers. The answers to these questions lie in engaging the tribe in authentic discussion. Great companies will know how to leverage social media as part their emerging strategies.
