the power of storytelling
TRANSCRIPT
The Power of a Great Story
11 April 2011Travel Manitoba Conference
Keynote Address by:Dr. Nancy Arsenault
Every town has a story and special characters that brings out the
magic for travellers
Stories create connections with people and places
Stories can be powerful, compelling, exciting, informative, educational,
personal, and memorable.
What stories are at the heart of your visitor
experience?
Are you using them to create a competitive advantage?
What’s your story?
Introduce yourself and tell your table-mate!
Think of a story that brings back a fond memory.
Stories, like a great visitor experience are:
• Personal• Meaningful
Your stories belong to you, they:
• Come from the heart• Are delivered with honesty and passion• Make connections
Building Manitoba’s Story: Think About ...
• What stories/episodes will resonate, for which ideal guests.
• Decide the emotional response you want to create.
• Write the script
✦ Where
✦ What ‘stuff’ do you need?
• Decide who is best to tell the story (e.g.: local gems)
• How to engage the visitor in the story
General Admission, gift shop
(Goods)
Tours, docents
(Visitor services)
Putting the guest INTO
the story(An experience)
GreaterDifferentiation
Higher Yield
Land, artefacts(Commodity)
Undifferentiated
Lower Yield
Value of Economic Progression
Royal BC Museum
Framework: Pine & Gilmore (1999) Tourism Context: Tourism Cafe (2011)
RESULTS: THE 2007 ROYAL BC TITANIC MUSEUM
• 451,120 visitors, 1/3 said this was the reason to visit Victoria
• $30M economic impact• Fabulous exhibit but the passenger manifest and the
‘ticket’ … were the ticket, to a terrific guest experience.• I received my boarding pass and entered …I saw, I
sampled, I tried on, I touched, then … Discovered my fate on April 15th, 1912.
Let’s look around the world
For destinations
For communities
For attractions
Where’s stories are working
63 kilometers, started $6.3M in debt
And the CEO insisted on being paid 10 cents a month until he
brought the island out of debt, then he would get half the profits
Investing in stories over infrastructure is:
... less expensive
... more engaging
... quicker to market
... attracts interest and new visitors
... builds HR capacity
... flexible/dynamic
Attractions have Stories
Why Stories Work
• Trigger emotion and intrigue
• Engage people, bring understanding
• Have a theme, plot, characters, action
• They can evolve, have chapters-episodes
• Storytelling is a natural human impulse
• When meaningful, they are memorable
The Keys to Building Tourism Experiences through Storytelling
• Audience: What stories do you want guest to be sharing? What memories?
• Product: Engage your visitor in the story!
• Promotions: Think like a publisher or media writer and communicate like a storyteller.
Tell stories to sell travel
• Ignite interests• Connect with visitors• Sell tourism• Learn from ... when you listen
Once you have a story ...
Social Social
Idea Source: Todd Lucier
Social (what)
Audience(who)
Media(how)
TheStory
Facebook, Trip Advisor, TwitterYouTube, Flickr, Blogs ...
PrintPhotosVideoAudio
TraditionalInternet
Handheld
Make Stories Work for You!
Stories are compelling and can be an excellent foundation for:
• Connecting with travellers
• Reaching new markets
• Crafting tourism experiences
• Conducting research
• Creating meaningful engagement.
Thank you!
[email protected]@tourismcafe.ca
Twitter & Facebook: nancyarsenaultLinkedin: Nancy Arsenault
Tel: 250.391.6077