Digital Insights

Fly-Baden offers new experiences through the discovery of destinations. Using social media platforms to promote journeys into new landscapes, the destination looks towards the future of digitalised worlds in the realm of travel.

A: With classical museums and a centre for contemporary Art and Media – what does the Baden region have to offer in terms of cultural engagement?
FB: The Baden area is located at the foothills of the Black Forest, a beautiful area in the heart of Europe which is naturally full of culture. Whether you want to visit the centre for contemporary art and media, museums and places of historical interest, special exhibitions, unique architecture, or one of the many outdoor museums in the Black Forest. With the vibrant cities Karlsruhe and Baden-Baden as well as cultural highlights throughout the Black Forest, the Baden area caters for visitors of all ages and with all kinds of interests.

A: What was #FlyBaden’s #SummerSeries about, and what was it trying to achieve?
FB: The #FlyBaden #SummerSeries was developed to really reveal this beautiful area, that offers such a vast range of activities and topics, to UK travellers. Over six weeks we introduced six key highlights of the Baden area: food and drink, culture, family fun, hiking, biking and the outdoors, education and careers, and wellness. A great way to show UK travellers that, whatever their interests, the Baden area is the perfect destination – offering the perfect setting for a holiday, where even families of three generations, for example, will find something to do for everyone.

A: How does the initiative engage with digital worlds through social media platforms, and why do you think this is important?
FB: Social media is a great way to connect with people and give real insight into an area and what it has to offer via storytelling, imagery, and conversation. As part of the #SummerSeries we invited social media influencers on a trip to the region, which enabled a new audience, their social media channel followers, to get a glimpse of what they experienced in real-time whilst on the trip.

Each influencer then took over the fly-baden social channels for a week during the summer holidays, where they really focussed on their specialist topics, sharing new content and shining a unique light on the Baden area and its variety of possibilities. This further broadened fly-baden’s reach amongst UK travellers whilst simultaneously driving fly-baden’s social media channels – the influencer’s followers had already been teased with content, so many followed the #SummerSeries to discover more. It is so important to be visible digitally now. When planning a trip or a holiday, digital searches and referrals play a huge role in the decision making process of global travellers. There are so many beautiful destinations, you have to stick out. And one way to do that is to create unique, insightful, and user inspired content.

A: What do you think is the link between social experience and geography?
FB: Travel in itself is a very social thing to do. In most cases we travel with people who are close to us, family or friends for example, and with the fast developments across social media channels we now have the opportunity to share our experiences with a far wider group of people than the ones physically there with us. Whether it’s posting photos of our adventures or asking for recommendations for the areas we visit – social media plays an integral part of the journey. It is, however, still incredibly important for travellers to actually experience the culture of the different places they visit.

Social media is an incredible way for us to share experiences and access masses of information but it can’t replace the actual experience. That’s why as a destination, we use digital channels to inspire travellers and to provide information and insights, in the hope that we whet their wanderlust appetite to come and visit the Baden area and experience it all for themselves!

Follow @fly_baden to see the full #SummerSeries on this destination. For further information on the area visit www.fly-baden.com.

Credits:
1. Courtesy of Collab-ed.