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Guest lecture, delivered to masters students at Università Ca' Foscari Venezia, Italy, covering digital marketing, social media, mobile and e-learning technologies. Prepared and delivered April 2011.
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Tourism Marketing and Technology
Andrew Daines29 April 2011
About me: Andrew Daines• Travel and tourism industry professional
– 14 years with VisitBritain– 3 years in the commercial travel sector– European Travel Commission Marketing & Technology Network chairman (2010) and vice chairman (2008‐9)
– Business and Tourism Management graduate• Main interests
– Travel– Food and drink
linkedin.com/in/andrewdaines facebook.com
Agenda
• Overview: from electronic brochures to permanent, deep relationships
• The NTO / DMO perspective– Development of a National Tourism Platform– Using technology to support offline channels
• Social media– VisitBritain’s social media strategy
• Mobile: 24/7 social media
2000
2002
2004
2006
2008
2010
361
587
817
1,093
1,574
2,050
Global online population (millions)
Source: Internet World Stats
Year
The future?
Case study
Development of a National Tourism Platform for Britain
The role of the DMO (or NTO)
• To increase the value of the destination’s tourism industry, including:– To increase spend by visitors– To reduce seasonality– To increase the spread of business– To ensure long‐term sustainability
The web: an electronic brochure
visitbritain.com: objectives
Consumer needs:• Ideas and inspiration• Information, to make an informed choice• To be able to book easily• An assurance of qualityIndustry needs:• Advance sales of perishable product• Low‐cost ways to make sales
visitbritain.com: a shop window
Accommodation data – pre‐2005
TRIPS Database
ScotlandTRIPS interface
BTA Overseas offices
Southern England TRIPS interface
Central England TRIPS interface
Northern England TRIPS interface
South West England TRIPS
interface
BTA / ETB TRIPS interface
Wales TRIPS interface
London TRIPS interface
Leased line connections
Britain Visitor Centre
TRIPS database
• Reasonably comprehensive in terms of quantity of data, but limited in depth
• Data collected and managed by, national and regional tourist boards
• Data updated once per year• Extracting data difficult – distribution limited to visitbritain.com, overseas offices and Britain Visitor Centre
Evolution of Destination Management Systems (DMSs)• Destination management ‘in a box’• Product database at its core
– Mechanism to collect and manage data
• Product data populates a variety of services• ‘Self‐service’ or ‘serviced’ models• Long‐standing DMS suppliers:
– Tiscover– New Vision Group (NVG)– New Mind
DMSs emergence in the UK – late 1990s onwards
Destination Management System
Product database
Call centre
Brochure production
Website
Destination Management System
Product database
Kiosk
Website
Tourist Information
Centre
Destination Management System
Product database
Member comms
Website
Hotel TV
Destination Management Systems
• Met the requirements of the destination, in terms of functionality and budget
• Product data much richer than TRIPS• Ability of offer lots of services to tourism businesses – but limited distribution opportunities available
Overall situation
• Duplication of effort regarding product data management– Confusion for tourism businesses and visitors– Inconsistencies
• No national value‐add services (e.g. booking)• Limited distribution of content
• Failure to meet consumer and industry expectations
A call for action• 2001: the year of:
– Foot and Mouth outbreak in the UK– Large parts of country devastated by flooding– Fuel crisis– 9/11 Terrorist Attacks
• 2002: English Tourism Council:– E‐tourism in England strategy– Partnership formed with the10 English regional tourist boards to create EnglandNet(the National Tourism Open Platform)
E‐Tourism for England, 2002:Key objectives
• National product database: data collected once only• Bookability of accommodation and other product• Systems flexible, to enable distribution onto new platforms, e.g. mobile
• Integration at a Britain level with systems used in Wales and Scotland
• Global distribution via British Tourist Authority networks
• The prize: England gains competitive advantage as a destination by serving consumer and industry
EnglandNet:Key objectives at outset
• Investment into Destination Management Systems by Regional Tourist Boards and Destinations should be protected
• Flexibility for Regional Tourist Boards and Destinations to choose their own systems / solutions
• Integration with global players – Global Distribution Systems, Travel Agents, Tour Operators, etc.
• Core requirement: common approach ‐ interoperability
EnglandNet / National Tourism Open Platform
• Services– National Tourism Product Database (2004)
• Accommodation, attractions, events, activities, destination guides– Interoperability Gateway (2004)– Polling Service (2005)– White Label Product Search (2009)– Product Search / Polling Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) (2009)
– Portable Travel Channel (2010)– Smartphone Application (2010)
• Core principle: open platform
National Tourism Product Database• 50,000 accommodation products• 12,000 attractions• 6,000 events• 700 activities • 1,000 destination guides
• One product, one owner
• Product owners:– National product owner– National, regional or destination tourism organisation (default owner)– Marketing Group
Content supply: product owners
National Data Aggregation
National Tourism Product
Database
Interoperability Gateway
VisitBritainDestination
Management Application
Nation / Region /
Destination
Nation / Region /
Destination
Nation / Region /
Destination
National Product Owner
Property Management
System
Marketing Group
Tourism business
Tourism business
Official product ratings / awards
Tourism business
National Product Owner
Look Book – ‘Polling Service’
• Real‐time availability and price checking for accommodation product
• Non transactional• Provides a ‘deep link’ to one of 40 sales agents, where the transaction can be completed
• Sales agent partners:– National, regional and sub‐regional tourism organisations
– National Product Owners– Marketing Groups
• Over 16,000 unique pollable products
Polling Service: key benefits
• For the tourism businesses:– Wide range of sales agents / commercial models
• For the consumer:– Wide range of bookable accommodation product– Opportunity to compare prices
• For VisitBritain:– Opportunity to offer bookability without handling the transaction
• For national product owners / OTAs– Open platform – routes to market
Global, national and regional distribution
National Tourism Product Database
Interoperability GatewayRegional
campaign
Cross‐regional campaign
Global and national websites
Third party websites
Other online devices
Third party offline
VisitBritainoffline / print
TIC extranet
White Label Product Search deployment
Polling Service deployment
API deployment
Portable Travel Channel
Smartphone Application
Performance: White Label Product Search
2007/8 2008/9 2009/10 2010/11Number of referrals 17,637 18,929 82,422 272,554Value of referrals (£)
4,588,343 4,161,855 17,015,325 64,274,618
Number of bookings
1,228 2,297 10,898 13,741
Value of bookings (£)
187,982 391,545 1,803,750 2,335,907
Polling Service
Conclusions
• NTOs can add value by providing leadership and an environment for collaboration
• Working together isn’t necessarily the easiest or quickest option
• Each stakeholder must have a clear understanding of the role every stakeholder plays
• Stay focused on the end goals and prizes
Case study
Using technology to support offline channels
Supporting offline channels – why?
• Despite size and growth of the online population, a significant number of visitors book travel through traditional agents
• Ensuring travel agents know about product and are incentivised to sell it is key
• How can technology be deployed to reach travel agents and maximise efficiencies?
Introducing BritAgent
• In late 2010, VisitBritain launched BritAgent, an online, self‐study programme for travel agents
BritAgent
• Tailored to local markets, the agent works through a series of modules, at their own pace, then undertakes an assessment
BritAgent
• Agents need to achieve 80% or higher to pass the assessment. When they have passed each module’s assessment, they become a qualified BritAgent.
BritAgent: key benefits
• For travel agents:– Increased knowledge should make it easier to sell Britain
– BritAgent contains lots of information about commissionable products – increased earnings
– Receive regular, exclusive communication from VisitBritain (London and local offices) – including product news, promotions, offers and competitions
BritAgent: key benefits
• For the travel industry:– A highly targeted route to market for product and service providers
• Inclusion in modules or assessments• Inclusion in e‐newsletters, online resources• Sponsorships opportunities
– Qualified BritAgents best placed to qualify for product knowledge / familiarisation trips
BritAgent: stats to date
• 4 modules– Britain The Basics, Destination Britain, Selling The Experience, MICE
• 17 markets– USA, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Hungary, Czech Republic, Netherlands, Poland, Russia, UAE, India, Korea, Thailand, China, Hong Kong, plus global (English)
• Over 5,000 registered students• Over 500 qualified BritAgents
Source: VisitBritain, March 2011
Social Media
The world’s population is connected through social media channels
• Facebook has 664,000,000 subscribers• Half the population of North America have a Facebook account (almost a quarter of the population of Europe)
Source: Internet World Stats, April 2011
Travel specific social media: WAYN
• WAYN: Where Are You Now?• “The world’s largest social networking community focused on location and lifestyle”
• 15 million members in 193 countries• Originally launched 2002 – relaunched 2009• DMO partners include Tourism Ireland, VisitSweden, German National Tourism Organisation
Source: WAYN, October 2009
Travel specific social media:TripAdvisor
• Launched 2000, now with over 25 million monthly unique users, 10 million members
• One of the few western social media sites to be available in China
Visitors like user reviews and ratings
Source: TripAdvisor, March 2009
Savvy businesses embrace TripAdvisor
Notice the integration with Facebook?
Hyatt Key West embraces social media!
Case study
VisitBritain’s social media strategy
Why use social media channels
0200000400000600000800000
100000012000001400000160000018000002000000
01/04/2010
VisitBritainSwedenVisitBritain USA
VisitBritain TV
Yahoo
Social Media
Source: VisitBritain, October 2010
VisitBritain’s core social media platforms
• Facebook – one voice
• Twitter – one consumer voice (separate VB corporate voice)
• Flickr – an area for VisitBritain and for VB’s advocates
• VisitBritain.tv – YouTube
“Fishing where the fish are”
Using LoveUK to build the Britain brand
Flickr• Over 50,000 views of photos on the VB Flickraccount
Flickr: source of 95% of images on visitbritain.com
YouTube / VisitBritainTV: 300,000 views of Britain content, August 2010
Source: VisitBritain, January 2011
Tips for VB staff: help VisitBritain in 7 simple steps
• Join VB groups, Like VB pages, follow Twitter streams...• Join the conversation – add links, pose and answer questions, share photos...
• Always Like / Tag / Star / Favourite VB stories• Share VB content using social sharing tools and retweets...
• Build your personal social profile and become and influencer in your own right...
• Tell friends / networks / peers about VisitBritain and get them to participate...
• Listen for social dialogue about Britain and join in...
Social media: points to note
• Not about visits it’s about content, and placement thereof.
• Not about telling, it’s about listening then suggesting.
• Social Media isn’t free! The tools are, but it takes time and patience.
The Next Big Step…
• Facebook isn’t getting smaller
• Geo‐location is getting bigger
• Combine the two…
Mobile: 24/7 Social Media
Did Apple change everything?
At October 2010, Apple had sold over 73 million iPhonesSource: telecoms.com, October 2010
Mobile headlines
• October – December 2010: 36% of US / 29% European mobile users accessed online content
Source: ClickZ, February 2011
• Smartphone adoption grew considerably in 2010:– 63,000,000 smartphone handsets in the US– 71,651,000 in France / Germany / Italy / Spain / UK
Source: Marketing Charts, February 2011
• Italy has the highest penetration of smartphone users aged 15‐24 (47% of this age group)
Source: Marketing Charts, January 2011
Mobile and social media
Top four mobile social media brands:
US Europe1. Facebook 1. Facebook2. MySpace 2. YouTube3. YouTube 3. MSN / Bing / WindowsLive4. Twitter 4. Twitter
Source: Social Times – Your Social Media Source, January 2011
Geo‐location and social media
0
100,000
200,000
300,000
400,000
500,000
600,000
Registered Users
Gowalla
Source: VisitBritain, January 2011
Geo‐location and social media
0500,000
1,000,0001,500,0002,000,0002,500,0003,000,0003,500,0004,000,0004,500,0005,000,000
Registered Users
GowallaFourSquare
Source: VisitBritain, January 2011
Geo‐location and social media
0
100,000,000
200,000,000
300,000,000
400,000,000
500,000,000
600,000,000
Registered Users
GowallaFoursquareFacebook
Source: VisitBritain, January 2011
Facebook Places
Growth of Facebook Places
January 2011
Growth of Facebook Places
Yesterday
Facebook Places: Facebook Deals
Facebook Deals: Coming soon to Europe...
...but available now in the US
Final thoughts and conclusions
• What are the biggest challenges for DMOs / NTOs?
• How important is local content in a global environment?
• Should DMOs / NTOs / tourism businesses abandon their websites in favour of social media platforms?
Sources of information / inspiration
• www.visitbritain.org• www.newmediatrendwatch.com• www.visitengland.org• www.facebook.com/deals• www.tripadvisor.com• www.wayn.com
Thank you
Andrew Dainesandrew@andrewdaines.com
www.linkedin.com/in/andrewdaines
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