From choosing a place to eat to seeking medical advice, more and more people worldwide turn to the internet to find answers. The internet is both accessible and up-to-date, making it the prime source of information for users.
As such, the World Wide Web provides an unrivaled platform for countries to promote their holiday destinations in an effort to increase inbound tourists. But the Web is filled with professionally-designed travel brochures published by travel agencies and national tourism authorities that at times provide exaggerated descriptions of vacation spots.
That is why many countries, including Japan and Australia, are turning to bloggers to promote hot destinations, and some in Iran do not want the country to miss out on this opportunity.
“I’ve asked Morteza Rahmani Movahed (tourism deputy at Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization) to pave the way for 100 foreign bloggers to come to Iran, tour the country and write about it,” Arash Nour-Aqaei, head of Iran’s Federation of Tourist Guide Associations, told Mehr News Agency.
Professionals Meet in Qeshm
A blogging competition was held in Qeshm Island in the Persian Gulf on April 25-29 where professional bloggers were given key information on different attractions on the island and each blogger was asked to write an engaging blog post about one site.
“Within a couple of days we had a massive amount of well-written, engaging articles about various things — from local marriage customs to the attractions of Salakh village — that will forever be stored online, accessible to everyone,” Nour-Aqaei said.
However, the articles are only useful to Persian speakers.
“Foreign tourists search for information on a destination in their native tongue, or even English. That’s why we need foreign bloggers to write blog posts in their own language,” he noted. “There is a lack of English travel guides and travelogues on Iran, but a well-managed blogging campaign can fill that void and become a strong promotional tool.”
Travel bloggers have an authentic voice. They tell things as they see them, and are more real to their readers; more so than a marketing brochure or tourist board website.
Professional bloggers go a step further and shoot videos that are not produced in a studio and take pictures that do not have models in them. There is a sort of personal touch that makes it easier for the audience to relate to the blogger and their experience.
Travel bloggers are not really obligated to anyone except their readers to be true to their message and their passion for what they are writing about — and that is the key selling point of travel blogs.
