Gamification In Tourism: Breaking It Down To Answer Your Questions
According to , the mobile gaming industry is projected to experience explosive growth, reaching a colossal $153.5 billion worldwide by 2027. We get it, because we all know someone (perhaps our kids, our significant others鈥攐r even ourselves?) glued to their smartphone looking to advance just鈥ne鈥ore鈥EVEL! There鈥檚 definite appeal in the challenge of these mobile apps鈥攁nd the undeniably human thrill of victory. (Go ahead鈥攁sk me what chef level I鈥檝e achieved on Word Cookies.) So it鈥檚 no surprise that marketers across every industry are leveraging gamification to win big for their brands.
What is gamification in tourism?
At Dana, we define it as harnessing playable activities (think: puzzles, trivia challenges, scavenger hunts, favorite picks, etc.) paired with game design elements (such as established rules, point systems and reward levels) to entice interaction with your tourism brand in a manner that is simultaneously entertaining for your audience and impactful in achieving your goals.
Why should I use it?
Gamification in tourism ticks off the boxes for top marketing objectives鈥攊ncluding generating awareness for your destination, building engagement with your target audiences at any (or every!) stage of their trip planning and, ultimately, increasing visitation鈥攖he true brass ring for DMOs.
When, where and how can I incorporate it?
There鈥檚 a lot to unpack with this question because there are so many factors at play鈥攁nd multiple when, where and how answers. So we鈥檒l frame our response through a real world effort we executed for a tourism client.
It was spring 2021 and the Covid-19 pandemic was still impacting leisure travel everywhere. To keep wannabe wanderlusters engaged with the New Jersey Travel & Tourism brand, we designed a March Madness鈥搃nspired bracket game promoting the state鈥檚 unique offerings and attractions through Instagram Stories (see below). This effort boosted audience engagement on the platform by 20% over the previous month as well as racking up an additional 500 followers.
Who (else) is doing it well?
While no destination has enjoyed the global obsession and viral success of a Pok茅mon GO (yet!), some offer broadly engaging gamified content. Below are winning examples from two tourism boards鈥攐ne promoting a bustling city and another an entire (albeit small) country:
We love Yo Toronto鈥檚 kid-centric visuals and fun, content-rich , which showcases several scavenger hunt-style activities designed to increase visitation to attractions and sites throughout the city.
You don鈥檛 have to be a Lord of the Rings fan to appreciate the immersive experience delivered by the Middle Earth on the New Zealand Tourism website, which lands the quiz-taker on a trip itinerary based upon the interests unveiled by their responses to questions.
As more and more DMOs embrace the concept of gamifying their marketing, we鈥檙e confident that this list of audience-engaging (and visitation-boosting) examples will continue to grow.
If you鈥檙e interested in exploring what gamification in tourism can mean for your destination, Dana is here to help you level up. Contact Lynn Kaniper today at 609.466.9187 ext. 771 or lkaniper@danacommunications.com to start the conversation.