The latest WTO Regional Conference on Tourism Communications (TOURCOM) highlighted the need for both 'new' and established destinations in Europe to adapt their media relations to a changing scenario in which the East is gaining tourism market share at the expense of the West and to the use of new information technology.

The conference, organised by the World Tourism Organization in cooperation with the Government of the Republic of Latvia, attracted some 180 participants from 18 countries to the Latvian capital of Riga on October 12-13.

At the opening ceremony, both the President of Latvia, Vaira Vike-Freiberga, and WTO Secretary-General Francesco Frangialli stressed the need for the tourism industry to forge a closer relationship with the media, given its important role in the image building of destinations.

Among the main issues addressed at the conference were crisis and risk communications, image building and cross-cultural communications, with strong emphasis on branding, advertising, new information technology and development of the airline sector.

Several speakers argued that the 'new' destinations of Central and Eastern Europe needed to create and strengthen communication units at national, regional and local level; to be more dynamic in the development of communications know-how, respond faster and be more pro-active in their relations with the press.

But traditional destinations such as Spain, Italy, France, Greece also need to adapt their communications to the new scenario "if they do not want to lose more tourists to new destinations in the East that are becoming increasingly more attractive to the media and an ever growing number of travellers," said Rok Klancnik, WTO Chief of Communications.

"The case of the 'Polish plumber' advertising campaign in France" - based on the character at the centre of the 'no vote' campaign in the French referendum on the EU constitution - "showed, that a country needn't be very rich to get a witty, inviting and successful message through to an attractive source market," said Polish Tourist Organization representative Kryzstof Turowski.

Journalists John Bell and Nick Easen recommended 'new' destinations not to try to copy others in advertising and media relations, but "be original, creative and distinct, show novelty and to focus on what is special.
Otherwise they face extinction from the tourist map." The President of the World Travel Awards, Graham Cooke, said destinations should try to provide web-information in as many languages as possible, including Spanish and Chinese.

Answering questions from delegates who argued that some, mainly western media try to impose unethical methods of promoting their destinations, Richard Baerug, marketing director of the Riga Convention Bureau said that "Companies and destinations should only deal with media that make a clear border line between advertising and journalism."

With several major terrorist attacks in the last two years and avian flu now threatening the tourism sector in Europe, destinations need to create response teams to handle crisis management and action plans. They should also "be cautious about using words such as 'safety' as a selling point or issuing categorical reassurances on safety," said WTO consultant Deborah Luhrman.

Several speakers underscored the need for communications with the media and consumers to be increasingly based on "emotions and experiences", looking beyond traditional tourism attractions to areas such as fashion and sport to promote destinations.

The Riga event concluded the WTO TOURCOM programme for 2005, following one held in Amman in September for the Middle East and North Africa. Further communications conferences are scheduled for Africa, in Abuja, Nigeria, and for the Americas in Rosario, Argentina in 2006.