Social media can take us to places we can’t normally go. These days, it really has to because none of us can go anywhere.
As spring arrives in the U.S., a mix of hearty hikers, mountain bikers and golfers would be heading to Colorado. With ski season coming to an end amidst the countrywide lockdown caused by the Coronavirus, those outdoorsy folk can’t make it out to the Rocky Mountain wilds unless they’re already local.
The Maroon Bells outside Aspen would be Colorado's most popular photo spot in a year not hampered by ... [+]
To keep potential tourists engaged, the Colorado Tourism Office turns to its social media accounts and its Colorado Calm program. The series of videos are intended to provide a moment where viewers can sit back and transport to the mountainous west. According to the posted explanation of #Colorod0Calm, the videos include “no branding, no links, no hidden agenda — just an honest moment of escape from their newsfeed.”
The videos appear on the tourism office’s YouTube page, with supportive announcements going out on Twitter. According to Dave Fluegge, Social Media Contractor for the Colorado Tourism Office, #ColorodoCalm was the state’s answer to an unprecedented problem.
“Even during past crises like a wildfire or flood, we were able to talk about traveling to other areas of Colorado that were unaffected,” Fluegge explains. “We could exclude target audiences that were going through a crisis in their own area, but we could adapt and continue the messaging for the most part and refocus on other audiences and messages.”
With everyone in the world affected by the Coronavirus pandemic, Colorado’s tourism officials had to stop and truly ask what stranded travelers might want.
“On social media, we have always tried to (ask those questions), but we found a way to give tourists as close to that ideal content while still trying to move the business forward,” Fluegge says. “We took a minute to look at the online sentiment. We understandably saw fear and apprehension about the current situation and things to come."
Fluegge adds the Colorado Tourism philosophy holds that the state makes people feel alive.
“We think it helps them breathe deeper and step away from their daily lives, relax in nature. We decided that since people cannot travel to Colorado, we would try to bring that feeling of aliveness and the calming effect of our state to them.”
The spectacular golf course at TPC Colorado has to wait until the Coronavirus crisis passes.
Beyond just throwing out random images of Colorado, the team looked to provide the themes would-be travelers would want.
“We have consistently seen comments thanking us for these videos, saying that the world needs more of this, or even that this is why a particular social media network was created,” Fluegge says. “Users have let us know that this is what they need during these times, so much so that we have consistently beaten the average reach and engagement over the time period since our resorts closed and we moved to Colorado Calm.”
In addition to giving homebound Americans something pretty to see while social distancing, Colorado Calm is intended to put the state on tourists’ minds when the current travel ban lifts.
