Boosting the appeal of a French tourist destination after Covid19: Calvi Balagne tourist office

The Calvi Balagne Intercommunal Tourist Office manages the promotion of 14 communes, and does its utmost to advise and help visitors organize and spend successful vacations in Balagne.
Since the start of 2020, we’ve been working with the region on its digital strategy to improve and increase Calvi Balagne’s presence on social networks.
In view of current circumstances, the communication axes have had to be reviewed and adapted.
The communication we have put in place is working, and the results have never been as positive in terms of the organic reach of posts as they were during the period of confinement.

However, one question remains.
As we emerge from the crisis and face competition from numerous French destinations, how can we maintain Calvi-Balagne’s appeal and continue to attract travelers?
What can we do to differentiate ourselves?
Let’s take a look at the strategy needed to boost the appeal of a French destination in the wake of Covid-19, in the case of Calvi Balagne.

So today, let’s meet Natacha Plaza, Executive Assistant, to find out more about Calvi-Balagne’s social media strategy after Covid-19.

• Could you introduce yourself and tell us more about your position at the Calvi Balagne Intercommunal Tourist Office (OTICB)?

My background is a bit cosmopolitan, with a year at Cambridge, 3 years at Màlaga, a year at the University of Corsica and finally a year at the Université du Littoral Côte d’Opale, where I obtained a DESS in Tourism and Planning.
I’ve been working with director Anne Marie Piazzoli since April 2009.
It’s a fairly versatile position that we’ve refined over the years.
Today, one of my main missions is to promote Calvi-Balagne as a destination.

The Calvi-Balagne Tourist Office has been open since 1986.
Since 2017, it has brought together the 14 communes of the Calvi-Balagne community.
There are 5 reception points (Calvi, Calvi-Citadelle, Calvi-accueil croisières, Galeria and Algajola), with a total of 217,222 visitors registered in 2019.
The OTI CB’s main missions are: reception, promotion, communication, marketing and engineering.

• Do you think that social networks play an important role during the confinement period for the destination?

We can even say thank you!!! With containment, the use of social networks has increased considerably. And as a result, our publications have benefited from greater visibility. Here are some figures for the month of March for the Facebook social network: number of fans + 7%, total page audience + 300%, engagement rate + 65%, number of interactions + 560%. Our best publications are the Monday get-togethers with videos presenting our tourist region. We must continue to take our followers on a journey and provide them with a moment of escape during this confinement. And, of course, to ensure that the destination is not forgotten ;-).

• What actions are you planning to take to stand out from your competitors once the crisis is over?

We’re perfectly aware that all French destinations are going to want to stand out, and so will we! We can’t do it alone. It’s up to Corsica as a destination to stand out. That’s why we’re working closely with the Fédération des Offices de Tourisme de Corse (FROTSI Corse, and I’d like to take this opportunity to salute their coordination work) and our counterparts in the region’s tourist offices, with whom we’ve begun work on post-crisis actions that we’ll be submitting to the Agence du Tourisme de la Corse (in progress). At our level, we are going to reinforce Hosting bloggers and influencers to share their experiences of the destination. to their large community of subscribers, in order to generate interest in their products.
We will relay all the good initiatives of our socio-professionals and support them in marketing their products.
Above all, we need to reassure tourists about health precautions.
We are currently working on a health charter.
But as far as Corsica is concerned, nothing will be efficient without a real strategy applied to our transport fares.
Our island needs to work on its accessibility, and make it known.

• Do you think this crisis will change some of the habits of travelers to your destination?

I think this crisis will have an impact on our lives in general.
I’m convinced that it will change many habits and behaviors.
Slow tourism”, a more authentic form of tourism, will become more widespread.
In other words, we’ll certainly be doing less, but better, to savor fully enriching experiences.
We’ll also need to mobilize our local resources and consider islanders as tourists like any others, who we need to reach out to.

• Travel Insight now supports you in your social media communications.
  What’s in it for you?

At first, we were looking for an agency to help us manage our relationships with bloggers and influencers.
Then, very quickly, we made the choice to also be monitored and advised on the management of our social networks.
Within our structure, we have Marie, sorry Super Marie ;-), webmaster and community manager, who is dedicated to these missions and in particular to social media communication.
Marie manages the social networks almost single-handedly, and the fact that we’re able to talk to professionals with experience and a fresh, outside viewpoint brings us fresh ideas and reassures us, whether or not we’re making the right choices.
There’s a great deal of interaction and complementarity between the teams, and the results are there for all to see!