Destinations will thrive when tourism's about more than just travelers

welcome to the future of Tourism podcast I'm David peacock stop owning your own contents young leaders are stepping up bring everyone to the table and imagine they're wild anew [Music] his destination organizations we are good at getting the usual suspects in a room our hotel Partners our attractions some level of government but what about the unusual suspects what about our sustainability Partners the youth voices the citizen historians our social justice peers how do we cut through the Clutter and really demonstrate that something different is going on at the DMO that Halt and Catch Fire moment always seems to start with a spark that literally ignites a long conversation those Sparks have to be bright and Powerful if they're going to get things going they have to move and inspire a critical mass of people to consider creating a whole new path and that's as good a place as any to introduce my next two guests Rob Holmes founder and chief strategist at glp films and Casey carnivari business development manager at glp films good morning Rob how are you where are you what's it like hey David I'm good thanks for uh having us here uh I'm up in Maine and uh today's a nice day out fall as fall has arrived changing colors yet or not yet oh not yet we got a little bit of time Amen to that all right Casey how are you where are you I'm doing wonderful uh and David thank you for having us on today um I'm actually a little bit south of Rob in Massachusetts uh North of Boston well it's super to see you both um I have you here to talk about tlps but I have you here to talk about glp in the context of that idea of igniting movements and Sparks you've done some exceptional work around the world over the last three years and a lot of it in the middle of covet as well um that really has been catalytic at getting destinations to see themselves differently and that's often the difference in whether or not a new movement starts or whether something stays the way it is so Rob um fill us in a little bit of on glp what does it mean and where where are you coming from sure well GOP was founded 14 years ago which seems well hell it is a long time ago uh the original uh name was Green living project and really the concept was producing content short digital content that was around green or Eco topics that had a real positive story tied to it so today glp we're a full-service content marketing agency we specialize in sustainable tourism regenerative tourism and you know really uh just excited to give people a glimpse of the work we're doing today with destinations all around the world Casey Casey you joined uh when um I joined back in May um just after I finished up my masters very good give us your take on glp yeah um so glp um you know for me is is a company that uh and I had been following Rob he doesn't actually know this I don't think I've told him the story for a while um but I had been following Rob for um you know about a year or two um when I really really embraced sustainability and was studying it um so I was drawn to the company because of its authenticity um and like-minded individuals that were working there that truly believe in sustainability and using sustainability as a Force for good um and you know I've seen a lot of their videos um that were there and I was like wow these are really wonderful and authentic and several learned destinations that um you know I didn't think were were embracing sustainability um and and I took the opportunity to to come on board and join the team so it it during the pandemic it seems like sustainability really jumped in order of magnitude and importance isn't it interesting that when everything stopped uh there are a number of forces in play and and not all of them to do entirely with the environment but sustainability took on a whole new meaning it's now it's now social economic and environmental environmental sustainability all the time um you can see that this industry was moving towards an awareness of that concept for almost a decade but the truth be told pre-pandemic it was outliers and early adopters who were really starting to Grapple with it in the past two years I've been to more sustainability events been involved in more really meaningful sustainability conversations places like impact in Victoria uh just out of goyang literally just a week ago they added a sustainability conference to their goyang destination week for all of Korea there's the Athens conference in a month it's become a central tenant of destinations Internationals discussions and and European city marketing but you guys started on this journey quite a while ago and so many people we meet in this space have Rob tell me a little bit about the journey towards um glp and it's and and it's real sort of zero eight I mean you're a great filmmaker you could go in any any which direction but tell us about the Genesis of this yeah well I I I'll I'll go into my educational background actually I've got a undergraduate degree in Wildlife Management so a lot big part of my career actually and I came into content storytelling production from a totally different perspective and I think that actually is a really good sort of overall approach for glp and our team and our approach is we look at things totally differently you know um but but on the environmental side I mean that was really one of the episode one of the reasons why I started dealing with simply looking at tourism had a tremendous impact on destinations around the world and it has a tremendous impact on the environment and I know for me during covid I dealt firsthand with situations that a lot of people were you got your kids at home they're pounding away at the computers all day they're pounding away on you as an adult and so every day at four o'clock I would take the kids out basically to walk the dog so to speak I'm getting the kids out of the house so they don't kill us and but we went Outdoors you know I explored where I am in Maine over the past over that year and a half I got to know that area better uh in that year and a half period than the five years I was living in Maine so it was just that real realization firsthand of the importance of the outdoors the importance of nature getting outside getting off your screen and that to me is what I think a lot of us went through just getting fresh air having distance you know dispersal getting out you know out away from other people due to covid but it was that sort of appreciation on an individual level the importance of community the importance of family the importance of the environment that's really I think why sustainability has now popped up on the radar screen to all these destinations when in the past they took a blind eye but now we've all gone through a two-year incubation period due to covid and realize hey this stuff's important well and we also realized something else I think at the same time that really that really contributed that which is and as our destinations will be in five or ten years is up to us and us being all of us so here we are on our parks and trails here we are in our not shopping malls that aren't opened here we are looking at how we order and consume food and goods we're saying wow these are our communities we actually have a heck of a lot more control here than we thought and that's that's the part that I get excited about is is again the outliers around the world in some sense we've been following them around looking at the Bay of Plenty for example and it's sustainable program or the prompt or Panama program but they were happening in Pockets now everybody's saying wow we actually are part of our own fabric and I think your films have done a really good job of reflecting communities back to themselves and I think to the Copenhagen example and and I love the work that they did there um you know the end of Tourism was no but I think the most important thing in there when you hear it was Sin City Unger said talk about it is when they reflected those findings back to the people in their Market Casey what's your what's your favorite glp project the one that just makes you say wow that's that's this is just a great encapsulation of what we're trying to do and and show and be here yeah um and actually at first I want to say that you brought up Copenhagen I was actually in Copenhagen um in in March of this year and um it's true the destination itself is just a it's a wonderful destination representation of how tourism is done right um and that's an ethos within the community that's there um you know we didn't actually shoot a film there but I I just wanted to say that was a really good example um if for me David my favorite film truthfully is the Sedona film that was put together and it really speaks to the authenticity that go pre GOP brings forward um as a company um and if you haven't seen the video you'll see it when you go through it um it's shot in in real time and speaking to people about what's important to them about their destination and why it's important for preservation of that destination because it it does matter to them um you know Sedona as we all know is it over touristed um you know Community um and and um without actually having a hearing a voice of people that are there um and an education of the tourists that are brought in there's really not that much that's going to change um you know if you think about yourself you know you go to a place and um somebody's telling you something about what's important to them you think twice um before you go ahead and make your next decision and you bring that on with you and and you pass it along to the next person that's there so that film to me is actually one of those ones that kind of impacts you um and makes you think a little bit so I I that's a that's a great observation and I mean sudana you know to people who haven't been there it's it's mystical and fantastic people have been there it's like that that plus plus I I remember my first time getting to to mountain bike around Cathedral it's just like wow and and yeah to to be fair to Sedona it's it's exactly in the crosshairs of that difficult time when it's got to decide it's towards the future and there's a real balance that's so hard to strike between residents and visitors and and this and we you know we we could kind of gloss over and say well it's gone swimmingly it's not it's going really hard it's been a hard decision I love the film I love the film's ability to tell the story I I hope it's shared more widely um not because it's pretty film or because it you know but because it does tell the story from the resident's point of view in in a really good way the other one I loved was 120 seconds with some name rough what's her name she's from Republican Democratic Republic of Congo Rosemary ruff yeah it wasn't what an incredible film why did you make 120 second film with rosemary Ruff from the Democratic Republic of Congo who went back to look after flora and fauna after her husband passed away why Rob well we um the 120 seconds was actually a whole series that we did um celebrating our 10th anniversary a number of years ago um so that was the series that we produced but Rosemary was awesome she was a champion she was a warrior you know she was a woman going into a man's destination if I had to say that um the Dr Congo was probably one of the most I won't say challenging but interesting places that we've ever gone filming wise I mean I went to school in Kenya so I know Africa very well I travel all around Africa but going there film crew Landing in the Dr Congo with U.N planes Vehicles tents everywhere I mean it's like no other um and and you know Rosemary really just this is a story of I mean it's very symbolic of the work we've done it's it's her journey it's her experience going into a a destination like the Congo but Falling in Love within uh you know an endemic species like the Okapi that was endangered that was under threat and they built up a really amazing you know conservation program there again tapping into my background and Wildlife Conservation Wildlife managements so but Rosemary was great and she was she's a I think at the end of the day the success of our videos our stories the campaigns that we produce all comes down to people and they're Journeys and their stories and rosemary is a great example of that of you know her her journey it's real it's it's an authentic story that that people really connect with so and I think that's the important part I think that's really really the important part is that is authenticity right there's no there's no smoke there's no anything there it's it's real people real destinations real voices yeah and and that's the part that really resonates um you know with the people that we work with and and with myself um and why I'm proud to to be a part of um you know a company like glp so let's talk about how that message is getting out there these days because you know we've got content and we've got channels but interestingly you know it's in a clue in a sense the medium is the message boy oh boy there's so many different mediums this goes after now um when you look at the successful distribution of content like this which is a for all intents and purposes nowadays 120 seconds is long-term long form film right you know so in terms in terms of distribution of some of your projects what's tell me some of the distribution models that you like best because again it's it's great content it's compelling now it has to reach an audience the audience isn't being pushed to nowadays as much as they're finding you how do audiences find great content like this well it's in my opinion it's all about being targeted you know we've got a five-step model that we walk destinations through the latter part of that the fourth and fifth step of our model one is on consumer so really looking you know working with you know super targeted Partners we work with travel writers or journalists we work with influencers but more micro influencers so for us it's always been about quality not quantity so you look at tourism a lot of the destinations that are struggling with over tourism well they've been doing a lot of cases a mass-market approach and now finally the light bulb has gone off that okay yeah maybe we don't want the whole world coming to our destination we want that targeted audience you know the high value consumer someone who's going to stay longer and spend more money it's a very idealistic approach but it's working in a number of destinations so um you know so we'll Target consumers a very targeted you know we did a great campaign in the country of Georgia and Eastern Europe where we targeted five destinations across Europe we weren't targeting North America North America is not a long-haul destination for Georgia it's Europe it's Poland it's Italy it's France the UK Etc so um the other half of our distribution is trade so working with great trade Partners connecting again targeted travel advisors with operators uh resellers so again a really important part on our end to show that one this content is going to engage with the media engage with editors for earned media placement but it's also going to engage with the trade and that's really the result of producing high quality content it'll appeal to to so many people in an authentic engaging way and if you're a buyer or planner and you see this content it's like hey I want my clients to experience that so the distribution I'm glad you asked is a really important part of the work we do and we've been really strategic on that to really tailor or each campaign you know Sedona is not a bunch of videos It's a full-on campaign you know that we targeted local citizens local residents but then also people that have already booked their trip to Sedona not new customers and this wasn't okay and here here's what I love about that though too because so often we have two sets of messaging our internal message and our external message and in tourism for so long the external message is is the kind of films you created then the internal messages and here's our metrics on that tax and here's our metrics on this exactly guess what for once there's a Unity these messages the message is to the world this is who we are and the world either wants to come and share this is who we are or they don't they become a self-selecting sample talk to me a little bit more about targeting internal residents Casey your thoughts on it I I think I think this might be the secret sauce and glp for me my work over the past 10 years when you try and get a group of people in a room to do something different there's got to be something that really motivates them and we've done some Great Lengths at the regional office to to do exceptional Inception events that that move and inspire people and get them geared I see your films in the same way tell me what you're working on to move and Inspire internal publics and and and things like that because I think that's one of the real powers of your project yeah and I I you know and Rob certainly chime in here but you know the bigger part David is actually finding that that voice finding the the person uh the one or two persons in that destination that is willing to speak up um that truly cares and giving them a voice giving that opportunity to go ahead and be that Catalyst for change um you know those that are willing to stand up to the dmos the industry in itself and say hey we need to make some changes this isn't working this is we're not happy and and giving them an opportunity to to come forward um and really really kind of help them unite the rest of the people in the community it's not an easy process so what you're really talking about there are those beyond what actually shows up on film then you have to build networks with people who have different interests you're in Market which is a great which is a great segue to talk about that and then something we hadn't mentioned so you're in Market you've got a multiplicity of voices we're not talking about recording dissenters but we're talking about getting their thoughts on how the story could be better that's a really good point Rob you guys are generally in market for quite a while too we're not talking about a storyboard you know a production schedule hit and run we're talking about research here too aren't we yeah and again that's where we come from a very different perspective and coming back you know there's not a lot of corporate speak and you know just the typical if I again the production side is one smaller part of what we do across the board with these destinations um but talking about that you know again we had a different approach you know in using Sedona Arizona as that example you know I went there a year before we launched almost a year before we launched the films doing really a scouting trip I wanted to get to know all the key stakeholders in town you know most folks don't do that I went in spent the time brought our head of production he went and shot just because seasonality it made sense just to get some footage just in case because you never know when the rain or clouds might creep in but uh for me it was about of getting a first-hand experience of Sedona I'd never been there before and so we went in and this is something we did on our own we went in and and met all the trade met the you know the typical um you know uh Hospitality hotels uh but also the nonprofits the local organizations that are involved all the key stakeholder players and that was really important for us to get the different voices and the different opinions on what is tourism here what works what doesn't work you know ask those difficult questions and so one of the takeaways I had right away was okay there's clearly a divide no disrespect to Sedona and and all the folks there it's a wonderful community and they're working extremely hard to to really improve things uh there both for locals and tourists but I but I will say that Collective voice you know talking to a broad range of different people getting their opinion you know the key here is and all the work we do globally we filmed in 46 countries around the world is you have to make the local community the citizens whatever you want to call them part of the solution put them a seat at the table make sure their voice is heard especially now coming out of covid with everything going on just on the on the Dei side on the environmental justice side I mean you really want all voices there and so we did that and I was there three different times before we actually went into filming which again is a big investment on our end but it was really important to do that research do that due diligence get to know the key people and and then also we took it upon ourselves to do community get-togethers so the second time I came back we brought people together it wasn't just the uh you know the sustainability committee for the town which is a known group it was bring the trade together bring citizens and and also too because we had heard these sort of War Stories of you know citizens that had a really loud voice that were kind of pissed off um we said let's bring them you know get them to you know we want to hear your thoughts because we see ourselves uh you know as storytellers I want to be aware of everything because at the end of the day if we're going to tell a really good true honest story we need to have that filter and be able to really look at it holistically saying what's best for Sedona in this area sure at the end of the day we're going to tell a great story but this was a unique story and we wanted to make sure all voices were heard and everyone was part of it okay so those Sparks have to be bright and powerful and they have to get things going and they have to be a big deal in a very short time yeah yeah I think you did that that's great you can tell I love I love the approach um that kind of credibility has led to a whole bunch of great work and in fact internationally you've been doing a lot of work um you've landed some International accounts do you want to talk about them some you've been at and Rob when you articulate your understanding of sudo that's kind of fun because the depth is is so obvious and I can imagine why some of your International clients have said to you literally wow you seem to really understand who we are which is which is probably the highest compliment any client can pay anybody who's supplying them you know you seem to have invested in understanding us what's what's going on internationally you talk about I mean there's a lot internationally I will say just looking at our sort of resume and and the work we've done you know we've we filmed across Asia across Africa Latin America Europe um a lot of a lot of destinations but I think what what really gets us excited is just looking where tourism is Shifting that more destinations are coming on board seeing the importance of sustainability but also though in my opinion everyone sees sustainability in different ways it's not just the environment it's also culture it's also Heritage it's Community it's social issues you know so I really look at a sustainability means different things to different people and so what we're excited about are destinations that are really seriously looking at sustainability saying this is fundamental to us you know so we just um it we have a multi-year campaign with the country of Armenia and um that's probably one of the most exciting campaigns we've ever had really just simply because of the multi-stakeholders involved we've got multiple people organizations agencies that we've hired to be strategic partners for us working with an international Aid group that's funding it working with the ministry so again a lot of moving parts and it's it's a challenge but I love it because at the end of the day there's this wonderful opportunity to take the rich history and Heritage of Armenia where they've got a global diaspora people living all around the world an amazing Rich destination but it that is also going through an exciting transformation of what is Armenia today you know just looking at wine you know the wine story there you know they're under Soviet rule when they were forced to to grow you know or to to sell burgundy and and non-wine and and uh Georgia actually ironically their next door neighbor got all the wine um and so but Armenia has been growing wine for over 6 000 years 6 100 years so you have this Rich history now but that was broken off due due to the Soviet era and now it's suddenly popped up after all the you know Soviet Union the USSR broke apart um you have this new generation these young kids you know that are that are living the new spirit so I get a big smile on my face Rob because I love talking to you about things and destinations because the authenticity of your intense desire to understand and unpack them let's be clear about what he gets fired up you get totally fired up your um The Armenian project actually did very much come through glp too I mean all of this stuff's been added by you guys not you weren't added to join this you were they were so impressed with your understanding of their ethos in the films that you represented they started talking to you guys about bran didn't they yep yeah no they came to us they saw us speak at an event ITB a couple years ago and then the conversations just continued so it just took time all right so Casey that's that's the great that's the greatest example you could think of someone loves The credibility of your process so much that they want to talk to you about being that spark that's a really exciting uh position to be in as you look to Mark the glp forward in the future isn't it that's exactly right and and we'd be foolish to say David that this is going to be that Dynamic shift for for destinations you know in moving forward um you know it's it's uh you know I can't look into a crystal ball and say you know what's going to work for the future but you know with authenticity being at the centerfold for so many destinations and moving forward you know embracing it now and you know working with people and in that understand that and do get fired up um you know when you're talking about it and want to help you tell your story and in the right way um you know not bringing in the math masses to two destinations anymore and that's what's great about the company um it's like-minded individuals we all feel the same way right in what we do I think he nailed it there too and and no not every destination in the world is going to use a glp as their spark but the great news is the great news is there's plenty of them out there that can now see wow that could be the spark I mean I will tell you as a destination development specialist you go around looking for these Sparks not just the spark but where the spark fits with that community so I'm excited about what you guys are doing I'm following a lot of your projects with with real Earnest I hope we continue these conversations keep us in the loop um your your stuff on the African continents uh great uh I've had a bit of back and forth with some peers there we should talk about that sometime but you guys do amazing work um come back and talk to us in six months we'll update on Armenia okay just uh closing thoughts our our audience is primarily um senior leadership in destinations uh just one closing thought to each of you Casey first and then I'll let you round it out uh uh what anything you want to share with our partners yeah I mean uh not at least I've listened to this podcast for a long time David um and and you know closing thoughts out there is that that change is happening um and it's time to embrace it um you know Embrace sustainability and you know it may seem like a daunting process um it's not going to be a quick process but you know that first step is is you know just putting on one foot in front of the other um and don't be afraid to be authentic you know within your destination that that's the the really the the important part um and embrace those hard conversations because you know sometimes you gotta get beaten up by the community um you know to move things forward yeah so I would say that that's my my closing thoughts there Robert uh yeah I think um when when looking at destinations um it can be a daunting task to reposition to uh you know to Target a new audience Market um and and keep it simple you know at the end of the day you don't have to create 50 videos to to and a full-on campaign you know you can do something you know you can just produce whatever content's possible at that time uh that's the beauty of digital that's the beauty of social these days is is um you can see the market show what's coming down the line produce some initial content and uh and then just wait six 12 months and then come back and and do some more so um I agree with Casey's Point sustainability regenerative that really is the future that's where Travelers are going that's that new travel audience Millennials gen Z they're all looking at it everyone Mo traveler of the future wants to make a difference they want to go to destinations that care they want to really have a unique and authentic experience and all of that revolves around sustain ability and and that's what's been an honor for us is to pull out those great stories great experiences and share them to the Right audience

2022-09-30 22:21

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