St. Lucia or Turks & Caicos?
Many destinations present generic photos on their websites – or even use stock photos that aren’t even their destination (remember the Caribbean island that had photos of palm trees only found in Hawaii?).
You can ‘market’ a destination name with a generic photo – but the consumer’s attention can easily be diverted to any other destination with a generic beach, sunset or wedding.
Why spend your marketing budget to promote the competition?
If you present Unique Experiences that can only take place in your destination – you’ve merchandised your destination rather than marketing generic tropical travel.
Could this be Central Park, NYC?
Tahiti has hills t00!
Think of a wedding party on the beach with the pitons in the background. That can’t be duplicated anywhere else on earth.
If you go to the St. Lucia Tourism website, you’ll find a link for Weddings and a rotating image that does include some shots with the Pitons (great start!).
However, you’ll then find three wedding photos that could have been taken in any tropical destination.
This approach might work in a brochure where you’d have control of the format and flow of information – people would read and put the images in context.
On the internet – people don’t read in a linear format like they do with brochures. You have to stuff the images with as much destination-specific info as possible to get an ‘I’ve gotta go there’ response that will command users to read the text and take one more step toward a sale. And you have to do this in about 3 seconds!
You can certainly get attention with the three images we’ve grabbed from the St. Lucia website – but it might also help sell a wedding to another destination – perhaps your competition.
When the user types ‘Wedding on the Beach’ – they might find a great deal in Tahiti.
Users who Google ‘Weddings with Horse Drawn Carriages’ might end up with a wedding in New York City.
Every hotel on Grace Bay Beach will be fighting you for wedding planners who type in ‘Beach Weddings’.
However, if it is an exclusive St. Lucia image and experience – there is a better chance that they will Google ‘St. Lucia Weddings’.
Turn the generic Hill into the Pitons!
Turn the generic park into the Volcano!
Frame the beach with some of the quaintest fishing villages in the world…
By doing this, you’ll accumulate a series of unique ‘Signature Photos’ and ‘Signature Experiences’ and you’ll get more business fast! If you’re going to market your destination – you might as well merchandise it as well – you’ll get better bookings and add to your destination’s Gross National Product with a destination wedding booking that will add thousands of dollars to your local economy!