Let's Go! Tourism Marketing

Good online marketing for major tourist destinations should make us want to drop everything and go there NOW. Here are the official tourism sites promoting travel to India, Italy, Beijing, and Japan.

• Incredible India, with microsites for specific tourist sites, lots of gorgeous photos and details, and targeted holiday ideas (like adventure sports, ecotourism, luxury trains). The Incredible India print campaign, which stars the Taj Mahal, is very eye-catching.
  
• The Italian Government Tourist Board, not as visually stunning as India's--in fact, a little text-heavy--but with good photos plus the schedule for the Italy for Life hospitality bus, a mini-road show that has been touring U.S. cities.
• Beijing 2008, the official English-language Beijing Olympics site, with the latest news, ticket info, local tourism info, Olympic lore, and more. It's hard to do justice to the spectacle of the first Olympics held in China on one site...
  
• Japan National Tourist Organization, with colorful, evocative photos on the home page; on the English-language pages, special tour offers, info about food and festivals, targeted travel ideas (like rural areas, affordable trips, highlights).