The days of guided tours and organized group itineraries are far from over, but consumers’ increasing desire for experiential travel is inspiring more online exploration prior to booking. To reach this new, independent audience, destinations must rethink their marketing strategies, generating compelling content to draw in the “authentic travel” seeker. The three city tourism YouTube campaigns below have created unique, local-focused videos to satiate today’s information-hungry travelers.

Good: San Diego “Guides to the Good Stuff”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CRFXn3UPs0&list=PLhF9aDw_N6H7ukKp9DPf-49t5uXnOostJ

For those travelers afraid to ask how to find the perfect wave, or what to do after visiting the San Diego Zoo, this video series has the answers. Though stiff at times, video hosts are clearly passionate about their crafts.

Better: Miami “It’s So Miami: People & Places”

Voiceovers from everyday Miami residents give an authenticity to these short, beautifully produced videos, and offer great tips for tourists who are unfamiliar with Miami’s villages and neighborhoods. Including “credits” at the end of each video to incentivize local businesses’ participation (and help visitors remember the slew of intriguing local spots) would be a bonus.

Best: New Orleans “Behind the Bar Series”

Like the city’s overall marketing campaign, Follow Your NOLA, the “Behind the Bar” video series plays to New Orleans’s strengths: food, drink, and culture. Not only are these shorts great promotional material for the featured bars, but they also give viewers a taste of what the city has to offer – leaving them hungry (and thirsty) to discover more.

Whichever strategy you choose for embarking on your city tourism YouTube campaigns, play to your strengths. Whether that means exploring little-known segments of a world-famous city, or creating unique how-to videos to entice potential travelers, you’ll be sure to intrigue and incite some serious wanderlust by using the people who know your city best – the locals.