ITB Asia News 2018 - Day 1 Edition

6
CONFERENCES
Falling in love with
the world
BBC Travel and BBC StoryWorks tap into the heart of the
motivations of the new traveller
Nicola Eliot
Director, BBC StoryWorks APAC,
BBC Global News
TELLING A
STORY WORKS
AND IT WILL
DRAW PEOPLE
TO YOUR PAGE
AND MAKE
THEM STAY
Nicola Eliot, Director, BBC StoryWorks APAC, BBC
Global News will be speaking at the Presentation Hub
today, addressing the transformation in the reasons
people travel. We asked her to tell us more about her
work.
BBC Travel and BBC StoryWorks
look to tap into the heart of
the motivations of the new
traveller, to move past lists
and itineraries into creating
truly memorable moments and
experiences that will shape the
way they feel about the world.
In our presentation at ITB Asia,
we will share with you our
insight into how we talk to our
audiences, and how we seek
to make them fall in love with
the world through our stories
by amazing them, immersing
them, and inspiring them to
connect into their next travel
adventure.
Can you explain the theme of
your presentation, “Fall in love
with the world”?
Every day, the world gets a little
smaller, making it easier and
easier for all kinds of people
to travel. The reasons people
travel, the way people travel
and the people that travel have
changed out of all recognition.
These factors will all continue
to evolve in line with the world
around us, and the way we
market to this audience must
evolve with them or risk being
left behind.
according to data from Google.
How is adventure tourism
evolving?
Even our definition of
adventure is changing, with
risky adrenaline activities
being favoured half as much as
“experiencing a new culture”,
according to a recent study by
the Adventure Travel Trade
Association and our concept of a
holiday destination is changing
along with it. The Middle East
is the fastest-growing travel
region in the world, according
to the United Nations World
Tourism Organisation’s Travel
Barometer, and as social media
brings remote destinations
and unique cultures into view,
tourist numbers are growing
in places like Ethiopia, Bhutan,
Paraguay and Kazakhstan –
which recently gained both a
Hyatt and a Hilton.
To be able to capture attention
in this new diverse travel
landscape requires so much
more than just the facts or the
‘to do list’ of a destination; it
requires a story that will amaze,
connect, inspire and immerse
people in a truly unique and
personal experience.
the myriad opportunities for
travel marketing out there and
this means a completely new
approach for many. BBC Travel
has drastically changed its
approach since April 2017 and
as a result the site has grown
30% overall in terms of traffic
(unique browsers and page
views) and now has an average
dwell time of 13 minutes and 18
seconds so we know that this
advice works. Telling a story
works and it will draw people
to your page and make them
stay.
How do you advise others to
tell this story?
My advice is to go beyond the
beaten path and try to tell stories
with unexpected angles, try to
make a connection to cultures
around the world. Then try to
focus your storytelling on just
one or two leading characters
and create a narrative in which
their perspectives paint the most
vivid picture of the place they call
home
We no longer need someone to
tell us the top 10 places to visit,
and we don’t want to go where
everyone else is going. We are
spending more on travelling
when our busy schedules allow,
and even booking on the spur of
the moment, with mobile travelrelated
searches for “tonight”
and “today” growing over
150% over the past two years,
At BBC StoryWorks, we work
closely with BBC Travel
throughout the year and
are continually moved by
their mission to inspire BBC
audiences to fall in love with
the world by telling them about
places they’ve never been and
showing them a new side to
places they think they know.
It’s time to take advantage of
FALL IN LOVE
WITH THE WORLD
Wednesday,
October 17, 2018
4:00 pm - 4:30 pm
Location:
Presentation Hub
ITB ASIA NEWS • Wednesday 17 October 2018
www.itb-asia-news.com