Travel PSA: Don't catfish your visitors

Dear Destination Marketing Organizations, Travel and Hospitality brands,

You most likely invest a ton on photography and making your brand look as amazing as possible. But, do you "FaceTune", crop or alter the reality of the destination/experience/photo so as to make it unrecognizable IRL?

Catfish: Someone who pretends to be  someone they're not using Facebook or other social media to create false identities, particularly to pursue deceptive online romances.

My team just sent me dozens of examples of DMOs over filtering or otherwise altering their social media photos all. to. hell. *Photos not included to protect the guilty.*

Here's why this hurts you. Your brand should be an authentic and fluid experience from Instagram love to stepping foot at your location.

• If you are just showing your beautiful beach, while your hotel properties are outdated motels, you are a catfish.
• If you over-filter that restaurant front, and the front wall is really orange and not red, you are a catfish.
• If you never show weather and only take perfect day pics, you are a catfish.
• If you use only stock photography and models vs actual visitors, you are a catfish.
• etc...

You want any visitor, meeting planner, influencer, etc to have fully vetted a visit before they actually visit or you risk bad reviews, negative chatter and lost loyalty.

Post your truth and find your tribe.