SOS to my followers! The role of marketing communications in reinforcing online travel community value during times of crisis

Tourism Management Perspectives 39 (2021) 100843 Available online 16 June 2021 2211-9736/© 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). SOS to my followers! The role of marketing communications in reinforcing online travel community value during times of crisis Itziar Oltra Gonz´ alez , Carmen Camarero * , Rebeca San Jos´ e Cabezudo University of Valladolid, Facultad de Ciencias Econ´ omicas y Empresariales, Avenida del Valle Esgueva, 6 – 47011 Valladolid, Spain ARTICLE INFO Keywords: Online travel communities Marketing communications Tourism co-creation Online travel agency Crisis communications Instagram COVID-19 Pandemic ABSTRACT The context faced by online travel agencies (OTAs) during the pandemic is nothing short of dramatic. During the state of emergency, marketing communications have proven essential to maintain emotional ties with online communities even though sales have plummeted to zero. This study analyses the social network communication strategy during the worst days of the crisis of two OTAs specialized in selling flights and in distributing activities, excursions, and guided tours at the world’s top tourist destinations. This qualitative study, based on the observation of online activity and personal interviews with marketing managers, shows how to respond to a crisis, maintain brand identity and strengthen the support of the online community. With the help of the community and co-creation processes, the sector has been able to reinvent itself and new services have emerged. From selling flights, one of the studied OTAs has now changed to planning trips around the regions. 1. Introduction According to Statista (2020), the travel agency industry over the last decade might be declared as having been the era of travel agents, as a result of the latter having experienced enormous growth in terms of sales, revenue, and profits. This growth was principally due to online travel agencies (OTAs), which grew at twice the rate of the direct channel (Turner & Mansour, 2018). Some OTAs allow customers to hire a combination of services, such as hotels, flights, travel packages, activities, and car rentals (Expedia, Booking, or Ctrip), while others specialise in a single travel service such as hotel bookings (Hotels.com, LateRooms.com) or booking experiences and activities that can be enjoyed at the chosen destination (Getyourguide). The growth and consolidation of online travel intermediaries was cut short by the health crisis triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic, which has had a substantial impact on global economic, political, and sociocultural systems, and particularly, on global travel, tourism, and leisure (Sigala, 2020). As a consequence of the virus, countries imposed travel restrictions that have impacted all kinds of tourism industry activities and all parts of the hospitality value chain (G¨ ossling, Scott, & Hall, 2021): airlines and other forms of transport were forced to drastically reduce their activity (particularly those operating at an international level), hotels and restaurants have closed (some restaurants have been relying exclusively on delivery services), while leisure and entertainment activities came to a virtual standstill. For Wang and Su (2020), the effects of the pandemic on tourism are due to three specific reasons: official travel restrictions, event cancellations, and travellers’ fear of the risk. G¨ ossling et al. (2021) describe this scenario as moving from overtourism to non-tourism. In what is such a catastrophic situation for the tourist sector, firms involved in the industry as a whole, and OTAs in particular, were forced in a matter of weeks to face up to this situation and to even refocus their business given the uncertainty surrounding how the sector will evolve (Zenker & Kock, 2020). Firms had to respond to the immediate needs of their clients (refunds, cancellations), their staff (temporary redundancy plans involving staff being furloughed) or society at large (for instance, transport companies or vehicle rental services who put their fleets at the disposal of health workers or members of the security forces, or hotel chains who gave over their facilities to health workers or patients, to cite just a few examples). Together with this urgent and immediate response, another challenge facing firms involved maintaining communication with their clients, particularly through social networks and online communities. With the onset of the crisis, social networks have enabled organizations to keep in touch with their clients. Indeed, the use of these online spaces has risen since the coronavirus outbreak (Statista, 2020; Techcrunch, 2020). As a result, and faced with the restrictions on mobility and the * Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: [email protected] (C. Camarero), [email protected] (R. San Jos´ e Cabezudo). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Tourism Management Perspectives journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/tmp https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tmp.2021.100843 Received 18 January 2021; Received in revised form 25 May 2021; Accepted 28 May 2021 Tourism Management Perspectives 39 (2021) 100843 2 lockdown measures imposed, the online communities of OTAs needed to be maintained by adding value. Yet this is easier said than done: how social networks should be used during the Covid-19 crisis has proven (and is proving) to be an issue that has aroused interest in a practical sense (eMarketer, 2020; Socialbakers, 2020), and is of undoubted appeal to scholars, since crisis and crisis management continues to be a topic of interest amongst academics and one which still involves a number of questions that need to be explored (Bundy, Pfarrer, Short, & Coombs, 2017), particularly in the face of such an unprecedented crisis as the one currently gripping the world. Specifically, with regard to digital media or social networks as platforms for promoting online communities new challenges have emerged: how can emotional ties with the community be strengthened when sales have plummeted to zero and the future looks uncertain? How can one talk of travel at a time when there is widespread dismay and when society is immersed in the bemusement and pain caused by the effects of the virus? The future is still one of enormous uncertainty. Many firms are still in the dark as to what the real impact on their business will be, although they live in hope of getting “back to normal”. What is true is that the future of the sector will not only depend on how the restrictions imposed by the health crisis evolve but also on changes in consumer behaviour and travel demand (because of personal economic wellbeing and the perceived health risk) and on businesses’ financial capacity to withstand the crisis. There will be a clear need to redefine certain businesses so that they can continue to generate sustainable value for their clients and survive this crisis. This is where questions concerning communication come to the fore: How should communication with the online community be managed in times of crisis? Is it possible to maintain the activity in social networks when the future of the business is uncertain? Can social networks serve as a forum to spawn ideas that can help businesses to redefine themselves? In this context of crisis for the tourism and hospitality industry, this work seeks to unearth the keys to efficient communication in social networks that will provide value to the community of followers while also obviously giving value to the firm. To explore the communication strategy of OTAs during the pandemic and the value for online communities, this work employs a qualitative study of two cases of OTAs specialized in selling flights and cultural activities. They are suitable cases because both are supported by a large number of social media followers and because the communication strategy was adapted during the darkest days of the crisis. The research method is based on the observation of online activity together with personal interviews conducted with the marketing managers. 2. Background: social media communities and communication in the tourism industry 2.1. Social media and online communities in tourism Curiously, a few years ago some disadvantages of online travel intermediation were the lack of human context during the transaction or the volatile customer base (Buhalis & Licata, 2002). Nowadays, the situation has changed and there is greater interaction with the client. Marketing methods have evolved over the last few years, with many more travel agents using social media and user-generated reviews as a marketing tool. Indeed, the use of social media in tourism and in the hospitality industry is growing. According to SocialToaster (2019), 1,000,000 travel-related hashtags are searched for every week, 74% of travellers state they use social media while travelling, and 75% of travel followers will engage with their friends’ travel posts, amongst other results. The potential of social media as a communication tool in the tourism industry has been evidenced and highlighted by several authors (Cabiddu, Carlo, & Piccoli, 2014; Casal´ o, Flavi´ an, & Guinalíu, 2011; Clarke, Murphy, & Adler, 2016; Kim, Jun, Walker, & Drane, 2015; Neirotti, Raguseo, & Paolucci, 2016; Xiang & Gretzel, 2010; Zeng & Gerritsen, 2014). Leung, Law, Van Hoof, and Buhalis (2013) examine the literature in tourism and the hospitality industry that highlights the important role of social media in both travellers’ decision-making as well as in tourism operations and management. From the consumer perspective, several studies have stressed the role played by social media at different stages of the travellers’ travel plan process. Trustworthiness of information on social media is positively recognized and travellers have accepted social media as a new communication channel, in which to communicate, collaborate, and cooperate (Casal´ o et al., 2011; Xiang & Gretzel, 2010; Xiang, Magnini, & Fesenmaier, 2015). Previous research has also shown the potential of social media in enhancing brand awareness, customer engagement, and customer loyalty (Almeida-Santana & Moreno-Gil, 2017; Leung et al., 2013). For their part, supplier-related studies have concentrated on social media applications in promotion, product distribution, communication, management, and research functions. In addition to being a powerful communication tool, social media are an extremely valuable tool for managing relations with clients as well as for creating and maintaining a brand-based community, thereby offering enormous potential to develop communities, interact with them and engage followers in creating and disseminating information. Therefore, social media act as platforms to build online brand communities; namely social media-based brand communities (Laroche, Habibi, Richard, & Sankaranarayanan, 2012). Users obtain information, entertainment, and economic benefits (Gummerus, Liljander, Weman, & Pihlstr¨ om, 2012), but also social and emotional value (connectivity, integration, identification) by being a member of social media brand communities (Carlson, Wyllie, Rahman, & Voola, 2019). Several authors have studied individuals’ interest in engaging in social media (Hollebeek, Glynn, & Brodie, 2014) and their reasons for participating and interacting in firmhosted commercial online communities, such as commitment to the community, online interaction propensity (Wiertz & de Ruyter, 2007) or identification (Kang & Schuett, 2013). Moreover, online communities based on social media have proven to be useful tools to encourage branding co-creation with customers (Hajli, Shanmugam, Papagiannidis, Zahay, & Richard, 2017) and have emerged as a source of new ideas and user-generated content. In the tourism context, the potential of social media to build brand communities and to engage individuals with tourism brands and with destinations has also been evidenced (Cheung, Ting, Cheah, & Sharipudin, 2020; Harrigan, Evers, Miles, & Daly, 2017). Cheung et al. (2020) suggest that social media brand communities allow tourists’ emotions to be expressed and the intention to co-create value for a tourist destination to be fostered. 2.2. Communication in social media in times of crisis Considering social media as a communication tool as well as a platform for building online communities and engaging customers, brand communication in social media is defined by Voorveld (2019), following the proposal of Alhabash, Mundel, and Hussain (2017), as “any piece of brand-related communication distributed via social media that enables internet users to access, share, engage with, add to, and cocreate”. Voorveld (2019) reviewed the main challenges facing brand communication in social media and indicated that future content would be more organic, more social, and less commercial. These predictions have turned out to be accurate since the beginning of the Covid-19 crisis. Indeed, high-quality and social content becomes the cornerstone of brand social media communication in times of crisis. Stieglitz et al. (2017) explain that in a crisis environment, individuals try to reduce uncertainty and ambiguity by sharing and interpreting information collectively, i.e., collective sensemaking. In this regard, social networks enable the information gap left by other communication channels to be filled. Since the beginning of the health and economic crisis, OTAs have had to decide which brand communication content to maintain in order to endow their social media communities with value. The extraordinary context brought about by Covid-19 demands an even closer look be I. Oltra Gonz´ alez et al. Tourism Management Perspectives 39 (2021) 100843 3 taken at the value of social networks for the client and for the firm as well as an analysis of which elements prove key to securing the support of the social media community during times of crisis. Although the online medium enables the limitations of physical contact to be overcome, failure to actually post any activity or tourist product might lead to some organizations losing their focus. Nevertheless, people are still there: they are not travelling but they do have other specific needs that must be satisfied. Moreover, there are still the emotional ties that bind people to one another and that bind people to brands. Therefore, we put forward the following research questions: (1) How can OTAs maintain the support of social media online communities through communication even if sales have dropped to zero? (2) How does OTAs’ communication in social media evolve throughout the crisis? (3) Can online communities help OTAs to re-focus their activities? 3. Methodology 3.1. Research method This research has employed a qualitative case study approach to analyse the key features of the communication strategy of tourism and hospitality firms on social media during the most difficult periods of the Covid-19 crisis. This research tool is adequate when the objective is exploratory, and when it focuses more on understanding rather than on verification. Case studies allow contemporary phenomena to be described and examined and provides insights into the interaction between the various parts involved in a system (Merriam, 1988; Yin, 2014). Moreover, just a few cases are sufficient to serve as a suitable starting point for in-depth investigation and description (Eisenhardt, Table 1 Description of the cases. Service Search engine (search for flights) specialized in multi-destination travel Distribution of experiences and activities in Spanish in tourist destinations Market National (Spain) International Economic data Founded in 2016 Total turnover: 4M € Founded in 2008 Turnover (2018): 28.8M € Communication Young and fun style. Inspiring and humorous content about the concept of travel. Followers in social media: (0104/2020; Facebook, Instagram and Twitter): 311K Informative style. Useful information about tourist destinations. Followers in social media: (0104/2020; Facebook, Instagram and Twitter): 371K Example of a post before the crisis Text on image: If one door closes, you have to open another, run and get on a flight. I. Oltra Gonz´ alez et al. Tourism Management Perspectives 39 (2021) 100843 4 1989). In this study, we had the opportunity to access the communication activity of two Spanish OTAs from the beginning of the crisis: Airhopping and Civitatis. In addition to availability, another reason for selecting the two companies was that they represent online travel agencies who are leaders in the digital transformation of the tourist industry (Orange, 2019) and who have a strong presence in social networks as well as a defined strategy therein. Moreover, although their sales have dropped to zero they have shown resilience when facing up to the recovery, as recommended by the World Tourism Organization (2020). They are companies who shared similarities in terms of communication and business model before the crisis. This allows us to analyse the reaction in communication to a situation such as this and for which there are no precedents. The firms were willing to provide information about their current and future strategies and to participate in three interviews, at different point in time, to explain the evolution of their communication strategies. Airhopping and Civitatis are two young online companies. Civitatis is the leader in online distribution of activities, excursions, and guided tours in Spanish at the world’s top tourist destinations. Through its platform, travellers can book more than 30,000 activities at over a thousand destinations. Airhopping is an online travel agency specialized in multi-destination flights. Through its flight search algorithm, it offers its users the possibility to visit multiple destinations in a single trip for the price of a round trip. The CEOs of the two companies have managed to create successful models derived from their passion for the online world and their travel experiences. Both companies have a strong presence in social networks as one of their main communication channels, and have created online brand communities that exceed 250 K followers (see Appendix, Table 1). As a consequence of the Covid-19 global pandemic, the two companies faced the biggest crisis in their history. Both Airhopping and Civitatis were forced to react: first, and immediately, in terms of communication, since travel has been restricted; and later, by having to redefine their strategy in terms of the return to tourism with restrictions. 3.2. Data collection To gather data, we conducted three interviews with the CMOs of each company; the first five weeks after the State of Emergency was declared in Spain; the second, two months later, when the State of Emergency was drawing to a close; and the third, a year after the onset of the crisis. The interviews were conducted by video-call, following a semi-structured interview. The script of the interviews is shown in Table 2. The data collection process followed the recommended protocol to ensure research reliability, validity, and credibility (Riege, 2003). The interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim to ensure accuracy of information. In addition to semi-structured interviews, we collected information (publication content), about the companies’ communication strategy in social media profiles (Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter) as well as data from SocialBlade (an external tool to track users’ statistics in social media platforms) about the number of followers, together with data from news that appeared in the press over those days. Data from these two additional sources were triangulated with data derived from the interviews in order to enhance information credibility and were organized around topics and central questions. 4. Data analysis The information obtained from observation and interviews was organized into several interrelated topics on communication strategy, following a chronological order of exposition, due to the relevance of the time variable in the succession of Covid-19 related events. 4.1. First interview 4.1.1. The initial impact on social media communication It seems as though coronavirus reached Spain suddenly. Even though information was reaching from China (The New York Times, 2020), in January and February the likelihood of Covid-19 cases entering the European Union was deemed to be moderate (ECDC, 2020). Joking about coronavirus on social networks was commonplace. Yet the tourist sector was already beginning to see the real impact, with the first flights to China being cancelled, and international connections falling by 65% (CNBC, 2020). “We saw that a lot of brands were joking about Covid-19, publishing memes, and laughing about it. We said ‘we are not going to risk it; this could well get out of hand’”. (Airhopping). And then it hit Italy, with the country becoming the European epicentre of the pandemic in just a few weeks (Forbes, 2020a, 2020b; The Journal, 2020). Italy was a neighbouring country and one of the favourite overseas destinations for Spanish tourists. Closure of the borders led to the first flights being cancelled (BBC, 2020a, 2020b), and meant the suspension of all tourism to Italy. This coincided with the first cases being detected in Spain. Airhopping and Civitatis had to start adapting their communication on social networks. They were forced to recommend people not to travel. In addition, public sensitivity and awareness of the risk involved began to increase, which led to a restructuring of content. “It almost felt like a small opportunity in terms of communication: ‘We are going to speak like experts. We have to cease all tourist activities related to Italy”. (Civitatis). Table 2 Interview script. First interview: 20 April 2020 (five weeks into the State of Emergency) Second interview: 8 June 2020 (two weeks before the end of the State of Emergency) Third interview: 19 March 2021 (two months after the start of vaccination in Spain) The beginning: When did you first start to sense a possible impact? What made you realise the magnitude of the situation? How long did it take you to react? What was the reaction in social networks? The impact: What has the impact on the business been? How do you see the repercussions? Are you confident of a return to normality? Have you considered a change to the business? How do you see the threats and opportunities? The communication strategy: Has the social network strategy been redefined? Has the tone of the content changed? The online community: How have followers reacted? Have the feelings generated by the current situation been transferred to the brand or to the interactions in the community? Business strategy: Focused on national or international? Has what you have been doing since the outbreak of the crisis helped to spur a return? New products or services: Are you going to maintain what you offer or are you going to change it in some way? Have you changed anything? The communication strategy: Have you changed anything over the last few weeks? Are you envisaging any changes in the near future? The online community: Have you noticed any changes in your followers? In their attitude? Are you going to make any changes in communication? Will the opening up of borders affect the level of communication? Business strategy: What results did previous action have? The communication strategy: Have you changed anything in terms of communication over these last few months? Have the resources dedicated to communication changed? The online community: What kind of response are you getting from followers? Are they still the same? Do they feel upbeat? Do they feel dispirited? Do they ask to travel? Do they ask more questions about travelling, about whether they can, about booking? Prospects: Are you planning to make any changes in the near future? Has anything in particular triggered that change? Would you change anything about what you have done so far? I. Oltra Gonz´ alez et al. Tourism Management Perspectives 39 (2021) 100843 5 “We reviewed the editorial calendar and some of the following publications could have been misinterpreted. … we used a lighter tone those days”. (Airhopping). Developments in Spain were coming to a head and on 14 March, with 4209 cases reported, the Spanish government declared a State of Emergency (La Moncloa, 2020), confining citizens to their homes. The two firms seemed to coincide in the idea of issuing a statement as the best way to approach the extraordinary situation that was being faced (Fig. 1). “Even on March 10, and although the State of Emergency had not yet been declared, we saw it coming, we issued a statement: …. That seemed to calm people down a lot, …. Something was going on, and we couldn’t simply disappear. It was our responsibility”. (Airhopping). 4.1.2. The communication strategy and the content With the State of Emergency having been declared and with people confined to their homes and with Spain’s borders closed, both Airhopping and Civitatis decided to continue publishing and to provide their followers with information. As regards how often they published, whereas Civitatis decided to continue in the way it had always been doing, Airhopping confessed to having reduced the frequency of its communication. Nevertheless, they recognized that when the community is used to dynamic content being published on a daily basis, the reduction in content has a substantial impact. Initially, the message focused on the issue of staying at home. It served as a guiding thread through which the tone of communication developed during the month of the pandemic, publishing different content. “We kept on with the message … ‘stay home’, ‘there will be time to travel’, ‘for the time being we will dream so that we can travel later’” (Civitatis). The two brands followed a similar line, in which they left out the commercial angle, leaving to one side the idea of a quick sale, whilst keeping the main axis of their strategy: talking about travelling. Civitatis opted for inspirational content based on the notion of giving a new meaning to travel, in the only way it could be done; from home. Campaigns such as “a free tour of your house” or “#YoViajoEnCasa (#Itravelathome)” underline this editorial approach (Fig. 2). For their part, Airhopping spoke about memories, with their campaign “#VolveremosAViajar (#Wewilltravelagain)” until they reintroduced the humour that characterised the brand, using their usual comic strips and cartoons, referring to hope (Fig. 3). “Within this new strategy, we have been through various phases. We went from the early important statements, in which we wrapped everything up in nostalgia and memories, … and moved on to turn it into a bit of hope, … we shall return, … the world isn’t going to stop …. gradually bringing back the element of humour”. (Airhopping). Fig. 1. Statement by Airhopping and Civitatis in social networks (Instagram). I. Oltra Gonz´ alez et al. Tourism Management Perspectives 39 (2021) 100843 6 The ever-changing environment, which was dependent on statements and releases from the health authorities, prevented any kind of structured timeline of content. “Previously we had feed prepared 30 days ahead. Now, that was impossible, because everything changed week by week. […] We were now guided by the various phases of the State of Emergency in order to create the publications …. We didn’t improvise, but we simply couldn’t plan as far ahead”. (Airhopping). 4.1.3. The reaction of the online community Airhopping and Civitatis agree that they received positive feedback in the form of comments and messages in social media (Twitter and Instagram) from their followers, who thanked them for their efforts, bearing in mind what the sector was going through and the agencies’ position. It is not a situation they would have chosen, and the brand communities are clear on this and empathise (Fig. 4). “Many comments were along the lines of ‘how great it is to see firms who really care’[…]. For people to say, look, these are still going, talking about the situation, and are committed to certain causes, etc.”. (Civitatis). In this regard, the love of the brand also plays a key role, as does the feeling of community (Fig. 5). Airhopping recognises that the positive impact is due in part to this previous relationship with its community. Being able to get close to what their clients were feeling at the time, thanks to the agencies’ messages, and avoiding any sales-related pitch proved to be really positive. Had this not been the case, the results might have been very different, and the brands are aware of that. 4.1.4. The next steps By 20 April, Spain was in lockdown. Its borders had been closed and there was no news concerning any imminent re-opening of them, not even at an interprovincial level. When asked at this point about future prospects, focusing on the summer, the peak season in the industry, Airhopping and Civitatis were very clear on the matter: they would be promoting trips again as soon as possible, yet following their current strategy, in other words not pushing sales too early. “At a communication level, we will stay alert. The tone at the present time does not recommend travelling, but as soon as we can we will be promoting travel once again”. (Airhopping). They also felt it important to foster the spirit of travel amongst their followers, which might have been affected. This might make the tone adopted in future a little less direct when offering their product. “What could happen is that there might be more people who are a bit afraid, and who might take a bit longer to convince. This is normal. (Airhopping). Fig. 2. Examples of Civitatis’s posts on Facebook and Instagram. I. Oltra Gonz´ alez et al. Tourism Management Perspectives 39 (2021) 100843 7 Civitatis, whose product offers activities abroad as well as in Spain, considered the possibility that their communication this summer might focus on promoting national tourism national, which can be done by car. 4.2. Second interview When the second interview was conducted, Spain had already commenced its de-escalation. The country’s de-escalation was planned as a series of phases, which the various provinces would move into individually. Between May 11 and 20 (one month after the first interview with the brands), all of Spain’s regions were in phase 1 (El El País, 2020). This meant that Spaniards could start leaving their homes in an organized manner, at different times of the day. Certain establishments were also allowed to resume business, depending on what sector of activity they were involved in. As regards tourism, news came on 23 May, when Pedro S´ anchez, the Spanish prime minister, announced that national tourism would be allowed at the end of June, which meant permitting mobility between regions, and the arrival of foreign tourists as of July (Forbes, 2020a, 2020b). The issue of Spaniards travelling abroad would depend on how each country went about opening its own borders. Italy, for instance, did so on 3 June, whilst other countries established quarantine periods for any Spaniards who arrived, with others simply maintaining a ban. 4.2.1. Business strategy and new services Here, it is particularly interesting to split the two cases and to look at them separately, since their offer was different. In the case of Airhopping, its offer did not permit a change in communication and was limited until the re-appearance of international tourism. As a result, they decided, as part of their business strategy, to launch a new product: trips around Spain. Airhopping created programmed trips by regions. Travellers got in their car and had everything organized concerning where to go, where to stop, what to eat… All planned on a day-to-day basis. Travellers only needed to follow the recommendations. What is more, these recommendations came from the followers themselves. “We knew we were right because the guide is based on the recommendations of locals. Then you have the hotels, … a selection of establishments which unselfishly helped out with accommodation during the first few months of the crisis. We have found them and, in our own particular way, we want to give them something back in return for their help, by offering people the chance to get to know who they are, and so help them to fill up this summer” (Airhopping). Following on from this, Airhopping’s communication in social networks that summer centred on promoting their new product, once again focusing on sales and benefitting from their community to publicise their new product (Fig. 6). Fig. 3. Examples of Airhopping’s posts on Instagram. I. Oltra Gonz´ alez et al. Tourism Management Perspectives 39 (2021) 100843 8 “Communication in summer will focus entirely on national tourism, regardless of whether overseas borders are opened up or not… We are going to focus on Spain because that is what we advised people to do and is where we can be certain.” (Airhopping). For their part, although Civitatis did not need to make any changes or to launch a new product, because they already offered activities in Spain, they stated that, at a strategic business level, they would be prioritising activities in Spain, and would be striving to expand and improve their offer. In contrast to Airhopping, Civitatis gave assurances that they would not be forgetting Spain, but that they would also be fostering international trips. “We have prioritised the publication, creation and establishment of activities in places like Spain, Portugal or nearby… But that does not mean that we will not be focusing on other destinations. (Civitatis). 4.2.2. The communication content In their communication, Airhopping highlighted the task of recovering their usual tone, as well as the freshness and flashes of humour that are characteristic of the brand and which were left slightly to one side during the most critical phases. “Also starting to talk through our memes and through our usual inspiring content about travelling around Spain, so that people would once again have it in their minds through our daily content” (Airhopping). They also used social networks to publicise their new product and to involve people in it (Fig. 7). Of the 14,888 people who expressed an interest in taking part (96.7% of those who participated in the survey), finally 3433 actively took part by sending their recommendations to Airhopping. “We wanted followers to take part in the product. We let them know and began to speak about a new product we were going to launch, directly saying ‘Airhopping around Spain’, …, this will help to encourage people. (…) what we did … was to ask users for the help we needed, which is basically for them to give us recommendations about places they knew”. (Airhopping). In the case of Civitatis, the firm faced a challenge in terms of communication in its networks. In their case, the product is global and they don’t only sell in Spain. “We have a lot of clients in Latin-America. Communication needs to proceed in two phases as there they are now going through the worst part of the pandemic. … They still can’t travel there. So that they see that we’re not overlooking them, so that they don’t feel the brand is foreign and don’t Fig. 4. Examples of followers’ reactions to Airhopping and Civitatis’ activities on Twitter and Instagram. I. Oltra Gonz´ alez et al. Tourism Management Perspectives 39 (2021) 100843 9 think that because people can now travel around Spain, that we are forgetting about them” (Civitatis). As regards Spain, they highlighted that the focus in communication lay in referring to how safe their activities are, so as to inspire confidence in users. “We feel that people will begin to travel without too much fear in that regard. That has been our biggest change, highlighting the safety measures our tours can now offer, and starting to invite people to book”. (Civitatis). 4.2.3. The relationship with the online community Both firms believed that they had got it right, that keeping active in their social networks had been of enormous benefit so that at that moment, with a view to an actual return to tourism, their audiences were still out there, waiting, and willing to go on trusting them. “We have always been sincere. If we had not said a word, the change would probably not now be understood, because they wouldn’t have felt the company close to them”. (Airhopping). Fig. 5. Examples of followers’ reactions to Airhopping and Civitatis customer attention in Twitter. Fig. 6. Launch of a new national Airhopping product on Facebook and Instagram. I. Oltra Gonz´ alez et al.