Greek capital Athens is looking to boost its presence across social networks as part of wider event and attraction deal with destination site Joobili.
Athens Tourism and Economic Development Company, through its BreathtakingAthens brand, is working with Joobili as a distribution partner to promote its reams of festivals and other tourist-related events across the city.
In return Joobili is helping the DMO to improve the presence of its content across YouTube, Twitter and Facebook but also by enhancing the quality of interaction it has with potential visitors.
BreathtakingAthens had the obligatory presence on Twitter and Facebook but as part of the deal Joobili will train a dedicated person with the organisation to handle the social aspect of its online presence.
This is the second time Joobili has had a similar online partnership with a DMO having worked in 2009 with HungaryTourism.
It currently works with around a third of European national tourism offices.
The push by the Athens board illustrates how organisations are accepting that social media is becoming a major part of their overall marketing, distribution and engagement strategy.
Until now the idea of using such channels – especially by organisations often known for their desire to stick to a rigid marketing formula – was never included in their annual budget, especially as maintaining a presence was handed to an intern or automated.
Nice work, Jared.