What is it? Publishing.

Who knows your destination better than you? Whether you are a winery, winery association, tour operator, or business tied to the success of wine related tourism in your area, you are in the best position to become the source of information for your destination. Free or inexpensive online tools are available and make it possible for your organization’s content to become a must-read publication.

Becoming a publisher and creator of content related to information that assists potential visitors with their travel decisions – both generally and specifically – will propel your organization forward as a go-to source for online information related to your region.

How does online publishing of content do this?

• It establishes your website and/or blog, and therefore your organization, as an authority and source of information
• It helps you build and engage with social media followers (and email subscribers)
• It improves your search visibility.

What sort of content are potential visitors needing to help inform them on visiting your winery and/or wine region? Here are just a few examples of the type of content visitors are looking for:

• History of your wine region and AVA
• Geological information as it relates to area terroir
• General points of interest (what to do/see when not visiting wineries)
• Guides on local lodging and restaurants
• Calendar of local events
• Stories, including video diaries, of local vintners and vineyards
• Testimonials from previous visitors
• Weather information

And if time is a concern for you, there are several things you can do to still publish quality content without having to write it all yourself:

• Connect with local bloggers, journalists, and authors. Share their content, and repost their writings (with permission)
• Curate content from the local newspaper or any of the businesses or residents in the area that would be relevant
• Outsource content creation to Serv.io. They have a network of writers with local expertise.
• Accept story submissions from PR professionals working with your local businesses.

Now that you know the power generating quality content, and what sort of content can help market your destination, it is time to address how you’re going to get this content published and shared.

If you do not already have a blog (either as your site or linked to it), you can create one for free using a blogging platform like WordPress. Sign up for Google Analytics to measure your site performance, and set up a few Google Alerts on several of your destination’s top keywords, which will help you generate content ideas.

Once you have your platform set up, and once you start generating content, the key to success is then distributing your content across the internet. Manually distributing your content to outposts (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google+, etc) is an option, but can be time consuming and limiting in how well you can manage and measure your content’s success.

dlvr.it, a sponsor of this year’s Wine Tourism Conference, offers a way for publishers and brands to instantly syndicate content and expand their reach on the social web and in new channels. dlvr.it tools make it easy to manage and measure the flow of your content everywhere your audience is. dlvr.it publishes your media, your blogs, and all your content to your social channels, ensuring your audience sees it instantly.

Wine Tourism Conference, Wine Bloggers’ Conference, and Beer Bloggers’ Conference are all using dlvr.it to syndicate content and share it across the social web. It’s increasing our reach and efficiency, making it a simple addition to our publishing toolbox.