Our stories from Bol - locals as best destination promotors

Every crisis and opportunity, and they are well recognized in the  Bol Tourist Board which launched an interesting name project at the time of the first lock-down Our stories from Bol. It was an opportunity for a new tourist paradigm, new sustainable and healthy foundations, redefinition of the tourist product, rebranding and repositioning, a kind of reset. In order to emphasize the togetherness, support and importance of local residents, whose DNA includes tourism, the tourist community gathered local people living for and from their country or sea, to send to their guests, but also to all future visitors to this picturesque place. south of the island of Brac, a simple message - See you in Bol!

 

- Project 'Our stories from Bol' started in a pandemic, during the first closure, at a time when we wanted to arouse optimism among the local population who did not know if the season would be and in what form. We turned the story 180 degrees and involved the local community in promoting their place - because who will better to promote the place from its locals? In this way, we wanted to be primarily original, original and authentic, he explained Markito Marinkovic, director of the Bol Tourist Board.

 

The material was recorded in 2020 in two stages: in the first stage, in which 12 stories were recorded, the employees of the Tourist board themselves recorded with mobile phones. It was during the first lock-down, when on Bol they could not bring in professionals. In the second stage, the professional team recorded ten more stories. Thus, the Bol Tourist Board got quality production, quality small films with whom they applied to international tourist film festivals.

 

- That's how our story about windsurfing won an award in Berlin. This year, too, we competed with one film for the Golden City Gate Award, which is awarded as part of the ITB in Berlin. It's about a movie Bol and Culture, which shows that we are not just a destination of the sea, sun and active sports, but that people know that we have a rich cultural heritage that we promote and present to the guest, Marinkovic added.

 

The project initially focused on local caterers, small producers, renters and small hoteliers, but the stories have evolved over the years. In the first stage, the project involved locals, and in the second, during 2021, it involved foreigners who are family related to Bol - sons-in-law, brides and children from mixed marriages who all live abroad. In their own language, they invite their compatriots to visit Bol. It is interesting how some of them, inspired by the first published stories, filmed themselves and delivered those recordings to the tourist community. The project “Our stories from Bol ”was also recognized by the professional public. 

 

Promotional campaign, storytelling initiated by the Bol Tourist Board is to be commended. In addition to activating the local community - which in itself is of great importance in the promotion of the destination - the storytelling itself is part of the island's cultural heritage. Storytelling as such, ie a form of promotion should certainly be implemented at the national level, and TZO Boland an example is how this can be successfully implemented.

 

- I think it's the communication he's doing Bol one of the shining examples. My position is already well known that I think we have a lot to say on the world stage, given that our experience in tourism is huge, which makes us more qualified than others to be leaders in the digital age of tourism promotion of destinationshe told boljani.info About the project Domagoj Bebić, Associate Professor at the Faculty of Political Science in Zagreb, Head of the Department of Strategic Communication and author of the book "Cyberturist”On the use of digital media in tourism.

 

Tourism is not an end in itself if it does not directly raise the quality of life of the local population and the local economy. The key message of this campaign is the importance of togetherness, because without it there is no authentic experience, and they are Bolke i Boljani ready to share with joy. They want guests to recognize them, and hear stories from them first hand that they can not read in any magazine, discover the fantastic flavors of local food and products, learn something about wild plants and truly experience this little place in all its beauty.