Catégorie : Marketing @en

Catégories
etourism and technology Marketing @en

Instagram: A mobile partner for the tourism industry

With 40 million photos uploaded per day and 8500 « likes » and 1000 comments per second, the Instagram mobile application has become an essential tool for Marketing 2.0.

Named « Application of the Year » by Apple in 2011, Instagram has popularized the art of mobile phone photography, or iPhoneography, by enabling users to personalize and share their photos with others. Purchased by Facebook for US$1 billion in April 2012, a year later Instagram boasts a community of more than 100 million monthly active users.

Hugely popular among young adults, Instagram offers businesses an ideal opportunity to enhance their visibility and public relations, especially if their target public includes members of Generation Y. Many brands, including companies working in the tourism industry, have joined the network and made it part of their marketing strategy.

Instagram 101

For those of you unfamiliar with Instagram, here’s how it works:

  • After taking a picture using Instagram or selecting a saved photo from your phone, you can modify the final image with one of the application’s 18 automatic filters before sharing it with your network.

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  • Similar to Twitter, members subscribe to the accounts they want to follow and use #hashtags to label or describe their photos. Just like on Facebook, viewers can express appreciation for an image by « liking » it; they can also post comments.

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  • Moreover, the application can be used to share photos on other social platforms.

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  • Although Instagram does have a Web version, other Websites have adapted the mobile platform for larger screens, making it easier to navigate and manage your account: Webstagram, Statigram and Pintacular.

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Source: Pintacular

How can tourism businesses and organizations benefit from Instagram?

With Instagram, businesses have access to user-generated mobile-optimized content. A convergence of two major trends, the rise in visual marketing content and SoLoMo (see also: Vous avez dit SoLoMo?), this medium is generating interest in the tourism industry, which sees it as a new way for communicating with clients. Making Instagram part of your marketing strategy can provide the following benefits:

  • Develop your brand image. Instagram can introduce users to a variety of interesting photos associated with the brand or destination.
  • Strengthen customer relations. Analyzing Instagram photo searches can help businesses better understand their target clientele. They can use the application to interact with their target market and participate in conversations about certain images, thus reaching a different digital community to complement those in other social media.
  • Create visual content. An organization can repost the best user photos of its establishment or destination on its own account. When you do this, the firm Adviso suggests adding a message to the photo mentioning the name of the user who took the picture, to give photo credit. You can also include Instagram photo albums on your Facebook page, thereby increasing the amount of visual content shared with your fans.
  • Increase your mobile presence among travellers. Instagram can be useful at every stage of the travel cycle, not just during a stay. Its content can provide inspiration, encouragement and guidance during the planning stage, and keep a potential visitor connected with the destination or organization after the initial contact. It is an opportunity to increase one’s presence among connected customers.

How can individuals use Instagram in the context of tourism?

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What tourism businesses or destinations use Instagram?

The Canadian Tourism Commission has added Instagram to its social media strategy with the ExploreCanada account, which has nearly 15,000 followers. It invites members of the tourism industry to post images using the hashtag #ExploreCanada.

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Source: ExploreCanada

The destination management organizations of Nova Scotia, British Columbia and Alberta have also created hashtags to showcase their destinations.

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Source: #visitnovascotia, #tourismbc, #travelalberta on Instagram

Tourisme Montréal encourages the use of hashtag #MTL and incorporates user-generated Instagram photos in a page on its blog, Vivez Montreal/The Montreal Buzz. Some images are also reposted on its Facebook page or put together to form a special blog post. For summer 2013, the site has developed a strategy using the hashtag #mtlmoments on Instagram and Twitter.

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Source: The Montreal Buzz

The number of major hotel chains using Instagram more than quadrupled in one year, from 19% in 2011 to 82% in 2012, according to Digital IQ Index: Hotels 2013. Some brands, like the Shangri-La and Four Seasons, have come up with hashtags (#lovingthemoment and #FSFotog, respectively) to encourage guests to share photos of their hotel stays.

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Source: @althotel, @intercontinental and @fairmonthotels on Instagram

Furthermore, the ALT Hotel banner launched its second mobile photo contest, #ALTexpo, to create a mural of digital photos for the lobby of its new hotel at Halifax Stanfield International Airport. The video below presents a behind-the-scenes look at the first edition of the contest, organized for the ALT Hotel at Toronto Pearson International Airport:

<iframe width= »560″ height= »315″ src= »http://www.youtube.com/embed/Od3CEQRrXpU » frameborder= »0″ allowfullscreen></iframe>

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Od3CEQRrXpU

The application has also been enthusiastically adopted by the airlines, particularly Air Canada and WestJet.

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Source: @WestJet, @Air France and @AirCanada on Instagram

With an adoption rate of 18% in the United States, Instagram is still an emerging platform, currently used primarily by young people. Some 28% of Americans ages 18 to 29 used Instagram in 2012, compared to 14% of 30 to 49 year-olds and 3% of 50 to 64 year-olds. However, it has significant growth potential and relevance for tourism, which is reflected in its current popularity among numerous industry organizations.

Catégories
Marketing @en

The Power of Photography in the Digital Age

With digital cameras, online sharing, and tools for improving, transforming and distributing images, the photograph remains an indispensable means for capturing intangible memories like travel experiences. It can also be the deciding factor in arousing interest in a destination, attraction or hotel. Up to 78% of people say that pictures of hotels and hotel rooms play a decisive role in the selection process, even more than online client evaluations. Although video may offer more possibilities, photographs still play an essential role. But go easy on the touch-ups … customers have a keen eye!

The influence of images on the choice of destination

Travel and photography have long been intertwined. Photographs seem to concretize experiences and allow them to be shared. But with the Internet, the notion of « sharing » has taken on a new dimension. We used to show our photo albums to friends and family or hold a slide show on our return from a trip. Now the presentation of travel pictures has moved from the private to the public domain, and often in close to real time, with instant messaging, online photo albums, blogs and social networks.

Travel photos shared with friends on Facebook can be very persuasive. According to Skyscanner, a flight comparison site, more than half (52%) of Facebook members say that photos uploaded by friends inspire them to book a holiday in the same location. As noted by Sam Baldwin of Skyscanner, viewing our friends’ travel photos on Facebook plants a seed in the mind and gives us travel ideas.

A study by HRS.com and eResult on hotel selection criteria reveals that photographs have the greatest influence on 78% of respondents, after online client reviews (67%) and star ratings (59%).

Matching images to customer segments

At the ITB Berlin Congress in March 2011, Markgraf and Scheffer presented the results of their marketing communication study and showed how they applied their findings to images in advertising brochures. Working on the assumption that up to 95% of our decisions are subconscious—arising from our personality, values, needs and desires— they concluded that a tourism ad aimed at the family should emphasize harmony and the interaction between family members, and depict a place where family members are happy in one another’s company. The images below, for this type of market, show the evolution of the visual imagery.

Source : Neuromarketing at REWE Touristik

The following illustration shows the same exercise for a different market: financially comfortable couples 40 and older without children, in search of an aesthetically sophisticated, quality establishment.

Source : Neuromarketing at REWE Touristik

Using images to advantage

Tourism Australia created a map of the country from photos or « experiences » of travellers in Australia. This approach encourages Internet browsers to plan their visit inspired by the photos and comments of Australian travellers (click on the link below the image for a better grasp of the concept).

Source : Tourism Australia

The Room 77 website does for hotel rooms what Google Street View does for streets: it allows users to locate a specific hotel room (upstairs, near an elevator, etc.) and to get a glimpse of the view it offers with a photo or image. To date, Room 77 has mapped approximately 460,000 hotel rooms in the United States, London and Vancouver. The database is also available as a mobile app.

Source : Room 77

Websites can display 360° panoramas, geotag them, and provide a links to related sites (a destination, for example). Certain restrictions apply, depending on the portal. The 360 Cities website, with one of the Web’s largest collections of panoramic photos, is directly linked to Google Earth.

Parc national des Grands-Jardins on 360cities.net via Google Earth.

Show what you have to offer…but just that

Technology offers endless possibilities. But visitors who have been burned by doctored and misleading images exert a strong influence on sites like TripAdvisor and other review portals. The following examples appeared in the Business Insider blog. Click on the link to view various publicity images juxtaposed with the harsher reality.

Source: Oyster dans Business Insider

Cover all the key sites

Finally, according to a survey conducted for the review site TripAdvisor, 92% of respondents are more likely to book an accommodation when there is a detailed description that includes photographs. Hotels have a vested interest in displaying their own information and images on TripAdvisor, in the section reserved for them, as well as on sites like Google Addresses and Facebook, and, of course, their own site.

Sources:

– Blodget, Kelsey et Jennifer Garfinkel. «Here’s Why You Should Never Trust The Photos Hotels Post Online», Oyster dans Businessinsider.com, 3 mars 2011.

– Craig, Daniel Edward. «How to optimize Your TripAdvisor Listing», ehotelier.com, 25 mai 2011.

– Guerrier-Buisine, Vanessa. «Selon le portail de réservations HRS, les photos ont plus d’impact que le «bouche à oreille» lors de la sélection d’hôtels», Tendancehotellerie.fr, 4 mars 2011.

– Koumelis, Theodore. «“Facebook factor” inspires 52% to book a Holiday, reports Skyscanner», traveldailynews.com, 25 février 2011.

– Lo, Iris Sheungting, Bob McKercher, Ada Lo, Catherine Cheung et Rob Law. «Tourism and online photography», Tourism Management, vol. 32, no 4, juin 2010, p. 725-731.

– Markgraf, Ingo et David Scheffer. «Trends and Innovations in Marketing Communication and Advertising», Congrès ITB Berlin, 9 mars 2011.

 

Sites Internet:

– 360cities.net

– Google Earth

– Room 77

– Tourism Australia

– TripAdvisor

Catégories
Accommodation etourism and technology Marketing @en

The Troubling Trend of Increasing ‘Web Marketing Ineptitude’ in Hospitality… by Max Starkov

The Québec Tourism Intelligence Network is pleased to present some highly relevant thoughts about online marketing of hotels, written by special collaborator M. Starkov, consultant in Hospitality eBusiness Strategies.

Throughout our nearly 15 years of hotel Internet marketing experience, we have been consistently concerned about the increasing level of disparity between savvy Internet/Mobile marketers in hospitality and travel, and the Internet/Mobile Marketing-inept players in the industry.With the advent of social media in recent years, Web 2.0 technologies and the mobile Web, this disparity has accelerated dramatically.

On one side there are the extremely Web-savvy:

  • Online travel agencies like Expedia, Travelocity, etc.
  • Most major hotel brands’ e-commerce departments
  • Airlines
  • Some e-commerce departments at smaller and mid-size hotel and resort chains
  • Some very bright individuals at the marketing departments of full service hotels, resorts and casinos

On the other side there is everybody else, which unfortunately means the majority of hospitality executives and sales and marketing professionals.
HeBS defines “Web Marketing Ineptitude” as the lack of hands-on experience in Internet marketing and all of its formats: website re-designs, SEO optimizations, search marketing, email marketing, strategic linking, banner advertising and online sponsorships, social media and Web 2.0 and more recently, mobile marketing. In addition, this ineptitude also indicates a lack of understanding of best practices and latest trends in the direct online channel.

In the 1990s, it was “normal” that only a few hospitality and travel marketers were proficient in the online channel.  Less than 3% of travel reservations in the U.S. were booked online back in 1999. In the 2000s (in 2001, online travel bookings reached 5.4% of all travel reservations in the U.S.), hospitality marketers and the major hotel brands began to pay closer attention to the Internet channel. In the years that followed, Internet travel adoption increased dramatically and in 2009 alone over 55% of all travel reservations in the U.S. will be online (45% of all hotel reservations) to the tune of a staggering $116.1 billion (eMarketer).

Yet, to our dismay, over the past 15 years the level of Internet marketing expertise in the hospitality industry has not kept up with this remarkable growth. On the contrary, we are witnessing whole new generations of hospitality executives and marketing professionals who are unfamiliar with Internet marketing in general as well as best practices and trends in the direct online channel.

This problem has been exacerbated by a) the social media and Web 2.0 phenomena, and b) mobile marketing. Both of these new marketing and distribution channels introduced an entirely new level of complexity and skill set requirements, as well as new best practices and trends.

  • Social Media have changed how customers plan and purchase travel, how customers access information, and how customers perceive the credibility of information. How can hoteliers create/monitor/take advantage of the social media “chatter” around the hotel, target receptive audiences, and ultimately stimulate hotel website visits, interactions and bookings? What type of Web 2.0 and interactive features and functionality do you need on the hotel website?
  • Mobile Web is expected to surpass the traditional Web within the next five years. The promise of “immediate, anywhere and anytime” Internet access, instant information and transaction capabilities, location-based services and personalization are some of the key factors for the “explosion” of the mobile Web. Hotel guests–past, current and potential–are increasingly becoming mobile-ready and hoteliers have to respond adequately to this growing demand for mobile services. This is the reason why hoteliers and travel marketers need to have robust mobile Web initiatives in place, including mobile brand websites, mobile apps, m-CRM and mobile marketing.

Why Is There a Growing Web Marketing Ineptitude in the Industry?

There are many reasons for this “Web Marketing Ineptitude” among the ranks, but here are some of the most important:

Franchised Properties:

  • Many major brands control all Internet marketing initiatives at the corporate level, including property-level initiatives, thus depriving staff at the property from any meaningful experience in Internet marketing.
  • We have seen a trend among small/mid-size chains to establish small but vital e‑commerce departments. In many cases, these companies outsource whatever online marketing they do to outside vendors. Here again, when outsourcing, they make a crucial mistake by not demanding professional development to be part of the Internet marketing vendor’s responsibilities. This results in Internet marketing expertise not being disseminated to the properties in the process.

Independent Hotels and Resorts:

  • The biggest concentration of Internet marketing knowledge is at this level.
  • Many big full-service hotels and resorts have some form of in-house Internet expertise. However, due to staff turnover and constantly decreasing budgets, these properties tend to have a very spotty Internet expertise retention rate.
  • Smaller hotels and resorts are most vulnerable due to limited budgets and difficulties with hiring and retaining employees with expert knowledge.

Destination Marketing Organizations (DMOs) and Convention and Visitor Bureaus (CVBs):

  • These organizations boast some of the brightest Internet marketing stars and some of the most inept marketers.
  • In many cases among DMOs and CVBs, ignoring Internet marketing best practices is not even a matter of budget size, but a result of inertia and commitment to traditional advertising formats.
  • The government or quasi -government nature of CVBs and tourism offices does not help with the hiring and retention of Internet expertise.

So What Is the Verdict?

HeBS believes there are different levels of Web Marketing Ineptitude in the industry regarding three important marketing media: Traditional Web, Social Media/Web 2.0 and Mobile Web. Here are our estimates of the ineptitude rates in each of these media:

Internet Marketing/Traditional Web

  • Nearly 15 years of existence of the traditional Web
  • Internet Marketing Ineptitude rate in hospitality:  65%

Web 2.0/Social Media Marketing

  • Nearly 5 years of existence of social media
  • Web 2.0/Social Media Marketing Ineptitude rate in hospitality:  90%

Mobile Marketing/Mobile Web

  • Nearly 10 years of existence of Mobile Web but in reality, the Mobile Web in the U.S. exploded with the introduction of the first iPhone in June 2007.
  • Mobile Marketing Ineptitude rate in hospitality:  97%

Conclusion

Hoteliers should strive to gain a crystal-clear understanding of what the best practices and latest trends are in hospitality Internet marketing: what works, what doesn’t, and why. Hoteliers should recognize that they do not have all the answers in-house and that there are thought leaders and other proven industry experts who can help them and their property stay competitive in these economic times, preserve and increase market share, and generate the highest website revenues and ROIs.

Hoteliers should take a hard look at how Best Industry Practices are being utilized by their corporate offices or major brands, as well as by the hotel’s Internet marketing vendors. Almost 15 years after the first online hotel booking, best practices have been established in practically every aspect of hotel Internet marketing. Hoteliers should not allow their Internet marketing vendors to “learn the business on the hotel’s dime.”

The prospect of professional development should become the main criterion when choosing an Internet marketing vendor.  Hoteliers should hire experts who are able and willing to teach the hotel and staff best practices and keep the hotel appraised of the latest direct online channel trends.

Hoteliers should work only with Internet marketing experts who can help them acquire new core competencies and adopt best industry practices in the direct online channel. 

They should provide crucial professional development as well as guide the hotel’s direct Internet marketing strategies, online brand building strategies, e-CRM, website re-design and SEO optimization, search and email marketing, social media and mobile marketing initiatives.

Catégories
etourism and technology Marketing @en

Destinations 2.0: Trend of the hour!

Web 2.0 offers organizations some amazing and effective opportunities. And it cannot be repeated often enough: consumers trust reviews from other customers and recommendations from experts more than they do official sources of information. Some destinations have truly got the message and put this principle into practice. The following article looks at some examples of destinations that have succeeded in getting insiders to spread the word.

Uwishunu.com (You wish you knew…)

Written by forty or so “in-the-know” contributors, this blog presents the contemporary, non-traditional side of Philadelphia. Real Philadelphians reveal their secrets about dining, nightlife, music, culture, fashion, outdoor activities, design, etc. The goal is to enable visitors to experience Philly like a local. Though created and maintained by the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation, the site is presented as a separate entity. Readers are invited to post feedback and comments about the articles.

The site makes full use of Web 2.0 and social media with blogging, podcasts, online networking, photo and video sharing and RSS feeds. The site’s administrators even use Twitter (a social network and microblogging tool) to promote certain events.

Uwishunu is also home to Illadates, a popular weekly series of video podcasts where two amateur filmmakers take viewers to the best places around town.

This very inspiring site can serve as a model for most destinations and help them create an inexpensive promotional tool that is more effective than many other Web strategies.

Holland.com

The Netherlands Board of Tourism and Conventions recently launched a typical Web 2.0 site targeting the North American market. In addition to providing access to tourist information, the site also invites users to join its virtual community where they can share past trips and publish articles, videos and photos and thereby enable the site to constantly evolve. Using RSS feeds, the site also posts information from other sites like Google News, Yahoo Travel and YouTube.

Like many sites, Holland.com enables users to rate articles and add their comments, thereby highlighting the most relevant ones.

Site content is therefore generated by users, the Board of Tourism and by a few third parties. By using various news items, videos and comments to bring together past and potential visitors, the site has created a credible information source that offers visitors the best experience possible.

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And that’s not all: the Board of Tourism has also opened the first national tourism board in Second Life, yet another example of using the virtual world to encourage real-world discussion about its destination. Most importantly, this move has created another opportunity to attract media attention!

VisitMyBaltimore

To enhance the city’s allure, VisitMyBaltimore.com invites Baltimore fans and residents to upload amateur videos highlighting their favourite places, must-see events, and well-kept secrets. To launch the project and encourage locals to publish their videos, the Baltimore Area Convention and Visitor’s Association (BACVA) organized a contest offering the creator of the best video a prize of US$2007. For small businesses, the contest was an excellent opportunity for self-promotion and a chance to win the prize! The site is planning future contests to maintain user interest.

VisitMyBaltimore also had another good idea that has proved very popular: invite celebrities to upload their own videos of the town!

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Ifoundmymontreal.com

Montreal has also been busy, launching a blog where visitors, businesses and event organizers can publish their thoughts and comments and promote their site or event. IfoundmyMontreal.com is managed by Tourisme Montréal and aimed primarily at international travellers.

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The blog appears as an extension of the Tourism Bureau’s FindyourMontreal.com site, which introduces visitors to Montreal’s festivals, cuisine, eclectic architecture, shopping, nightlife and cultural scene. Information is presented in the form of videos, images and podcasts.

Tourisme Montréal is currently doing a complete overhaul of the city’s official Internet portal, creating a major section for user-generated content (comments, photos, creating and sharing itineraries).

To recap

Web 2.0 destination sites with “insider” content clearly benefit from being seen as new and credible information sources. Whether content comes solely from locals or from a mixture of travel professionals and select contributors, the unofficial character of such sites, combined with their opportunities for user interaction, questions and comments, gives the impression of authenticity and a sense of being able to experience the destination just like a local.

The top tips from our examples:

  • Provide a showcase for small businesses who can present themselves in an innovative way
  • Involve some celebrities
  • Organize a contest to encourage participation
  • Attract the attention of the media
  • Add content using RSS feeds, simply and freely

In addition to their relevant content, these sites have become popular thanks to significant media coverage. Their innovative, youthful, hip and off-the-beaten path character attracts users and creates a buzz. For locals, they offer an opportunity to introduce one’s favourites and experience 15 minutes of fame.>

Current Website development platforms make it relatively easy to include the functions needed for these new Web 2.0 sites (account creation, file sharing, comments, etc.) and, furthermore, are low-cost. However, be advised: despite the technological simplicity of such sites, their popularity is not guaranteed! Projects must still be well planned, well communicated and well managed. They must also be easily referenced by search engines.

Among other issues, it is difficult to accurately assess the impact of these new interfaces, but they do seem to enjoy good visibility. Also, these sites must strike a delicate balance between true user-generated content and that created by businesses, contributors and the tourism bureau. After all, a site’s very credibility is at stake. And although content is usually monitored, blogs are open to criticism and negative comments.

Is this a trend to monitor, or to try yourself? It is your decision, but once word-of-mouth gets going, you have no idea how far it can take you!

For more information on how customers can influence others, see:
– Today’s customers influence tomorrow’s choices

Sources:
– Sauer, Abram. “Uwishunu,” [www.BrandChannel.com], June 25, 2007.
– [www.uwishunu.com]
– [www.findyourmontreal.com]
– [www.ifoundmymontreal.com]
– [http://us.holland.com/]
– [www.visitmybaltimore.com]

Catégories
Around the world etourism and technology Management Marketing @en

Interhome: a good example of best practices

At the 2007 ITB Berlin Trade Fair, Simon Lehmann, CEO of Interhome, spoke on the topic of Customer Relationship Management (CRM), an approach adopted by Europe’s largest holiday rental accommodation agency. The impressive results testify to CRM’s undeniable impact when used in conjunction with a personalized marketing strategy.

What is CRM?

The goal of CRM is to collect as much information about one’s clients as possible, and to combine these individual pieces of information into targeted, personalized marketing initiatives in order to recruit and retain clients and encourage them to spend more.

Interhome and the reassessment of previous practices

Interhome has offices in 20 countries. Each year, it rents over 20,000 vacation homes and apartments to over 500,000 guests, for over 7 million overnight stays and sales of 120 million euros. In order to promote an inventory of this size to such a large number of potential clients, Interhome uses a variety of communication, promotion and sales methods including distribution networks, advertising, a sales force, catalogue, and the internet. Although the company’s management team believes this number of methods is unavoidable, it is also convinced that using them prevents it from developing an accurate assessment of the profile and habits of its clients.Reflecting on this fact, Interhome’s managers began to ask themselves whether the impressive catalogues listing all the available homes were, in fact, relevant or effective. Producing them involved costs which were not necessarily offset by the relatively low reservation (or conversion) rate. The company also realized that client‑related information was distributed throughout a number of databases.

Know your client

It was then that Interhome decided to invest in CRM in order to consolidate and improve its client‑related information. This new database stores three different kinds of information:

  1. history of the consumer’s contact with the company (catalogue orders, reservations, comments and complaints, etc.);
  2. data collected during each consumer contact (visiting the site, requesting information, reserving a home, etc.) regarding his/her vacation preferences;
  3. complementary information obtained via surveys (lifestyle, purchasing habits, household composition, habits and leisure activities, etc.).

Thanks to this information, Interhome was able to develop a system that creates a profile for each customer. These profiles list the customer’s profile, his/her loyalty index and the complete history of his/her interactions with the company.

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  • prior expenditures
  • preferred destinations
  • preferred travel periods
  • favourite type of accommodation
  • family situation: number of children and their ages
  • leisure activities, interests and motivating factors
  • preferred method of communication

CRM enables companies to gather the information they need to create detailed consumer profiles which they can then use to implement marketing strategies based on personalized offers.

1‑to‑1 marketing

In order to bring consumer preferences in line with their offer, Interhome developed a new method of classifying residences based on the client’s stated preferences: spa, family, sports, comfort, pleasure, rest, snow and dream destination. Interhome analyzed the client profile in order to identify the product categories likely to interest him/her. It then analyzed the characteristics of each vacation home (location, accommodation capacity, price, availability, etc.) so it can propose to each of its clients places that are perfectly suited to their preferences. Henceforth, instead of receiving an exhaustive catalogue, the client receives a brochure listing no more than 8 prospective residences that both fulfill his/her requirements and are available during his/her preferred travel periods. This also enables Interhome to prioritize homes that will generate the highest profit margins.

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This personalized brochure is either mailed or e‑mailed depending on the customer’s stated preferences. Automatic follow‑ups are generated by the system and all reservations can be made through Interhome’s website. It goes without saying that all action (requests for information, reservations, etc.) generated by this mailing will be added to the client’s profile, thus further increasing Interhome’s effectiveness.

Telling results!

Lehmann emphasized that the cost per reservation is 10 times lower with the personalized, or “1 to 1” marketing approach than it is with the undifferentiated, catalogue approach. Some of the results he mentioned are as follows:

  1. a 30% reservation rate following a request for information (as opposed to a 7% rate with the catalogue);
  2. the average rate is one reservation for every 12 direct mail messages, a higher‑than‑average conversion rate for direct marketing;
  3. significant savings on postage, since two‑thirds of mailings are done electronically;
  4. a savings of 500,000 euros on the cost of printing catalogues;
  5. because the company was able to prioritize homes that would generate the highest profit margins as well as profitable complementary sales (transportation, car rentals, ski tickets, trips, packages, etc.), revenue per reservation increased by up to 30%;
  6. every year, over 200,000 new client‑related information items are added to the database.

During his presentation, Lehmann did not reveal how much his company spent to develop such an effective CRM system but the results he presented lead one to believe that the move was a profitable one.

Will other tourism companies follow suit?

Many tourism companies have already gathered a significant amount of information about their clients and a number of these companies would probably benefit from adopting the same type of CRM that Interhome did. After all, client data is a gold mine; once data is collected, all the company has to do is put the data to work to make its marketing efforts more targeted and effective. Source: * Lehmann, Simon, “Best Practices in CRM & Personalisation, 1 to 1 Marketing @ Interhome,” PhoCusWright conference – ITB Travel Technology, Berlin, March 8, 2007.

Catégories
etourism and technology Marketing @en

Your client’s friends are your friends

Corporate marketing strategies tend to focus on the following questions: who are we trying to reach, and how and when can we reach them? In other words, a company will base its marketing decisions on the data – mainly geographic or demographic – it has about its current and potential clients. Network-based marketing brings another variable into play, namely « who is in contact with whom? » This is an important question, for we know that a person in contact with one of our current clients is more likely to be interested in our product or service.

The goal of network‑based marketing is to increase (or create) awareness of a product or service by taking advantage of social connections between consumers – through either word‑of‑mouth or viral marketing (see also: Le marketing viral, le bon vieux bouche‑à-oreille revisité). However, over the past few years, a new factor has emerged with the increase of web‑based social networks and the many possibilities they represent.

The proof is in the study results

In a recent study of a telecommunications company that was launching a new internet service, two different ad campaigns were carried out: one aimed at potential clients identified by demographic and geographic characteristics, and another aimed at people in contact with current internet service users. The study showed:

  • The people who were part of an existing client’s network were 3.4 times more likely to adopt the new service;
  • The people who were identified as potentially interested AND who were part of an existing client’s network were five times more likely to try it;
  • People who were part of the existing client’s network BUT who did not seem to be potential clients were roughly three times as likely to choose the new service.

The results of this study suggest, in general, that a company can find more buyers for its products by tapping into the network of its current clients. It is also true that the results of network‑based marketing can be influenced by other factors and may vary depending on the product or service in question. For instance, a new and exciting product is likely to generate more buzz. However, the basic truth is that social networks represent a new avenue worth exploring in the search for potential clients.

Clearly, the e‑commerce company Amazon has grasped this concept (see below).

Amazon_clients_friends1

Web 2.0 opportunities

In addition to traditional social networks, the increasingly popular virtual networks have become a mine of information for marketing experts eager to make a connection between a product and a common interest among internet‑users. For example, social networking sites such as MySpace, Friendster and Facebook, and personalized Web pages (MyYahoo) are proof of connections between individuals and hence provide vital information for network‑based marketers. Blogs also attract people with common interests and often provide links to other blogs, thereby creating vast social networks.

Major players have their own means of gaining access to other networks. For example, eBay recently acquired Skype, a free internet telephony and videoconferencing software company, so it can find out who is talking to whom!

Local applications of the trend

Although obviously not all local tourism companies can join forces with MySpace or Skype, here are some action items which will help them take advantage of the network‑marketing phenomenon:

  • In your client database, enter any information on your clients’ interests they have given you: whether or not they ski, like fine dining or are interested in regionally‑produced gourmet products, etc. This kind of information can help you define your position with respect to social networks.
  • Conduct direct marketing campaigns by encouraging people to pass a message on to their friends (such as contests they can invite people on their contact list to take part in).
  • Watch out for instances where people are talking about your company online. Identify the networks and set up a Web presence there.
  • Make sure your clients are truly satisfied with their experience. A significant percentage of your clients will be members of a social network and will probably talk to their contacts about their experience.
  • Go a step further and invite your clients to tell their contacts about you through sites such as TripAdvisor or by sending virtual postcards.

Create your own web‑based social network

These days, marketing is all about innovation, so why not create your own online community? A new business has sprung up which enables tourism companies to do just that, and it may well inspire a number of copy‑cat versions. Holiday Smilers is aimed primarily at resorts and provides a personalized online space where the company’s clients can create their own profile and talk to other clients, whether past, present or future. The site is set up to enable people to exchange photos of their experience, discuss common interests, ask for suggestions, etc. Members can share their vacation experience with friends by inviting them to become members.

clients_friends2

Whether this kind of community is run by a third party (such as Holiday Smilers) or operated by the company itself, it still offers many advantages for a tourism organization. Some of the benefits include client loyalty, the ability to create a personalized vacation product through contacts with other clients (chat forums, organized group activities, photo sharing), the opportunity to e‑mail special offers and, above all, positive word‑of‑mouth referrals.

Resorts are a good example because, due to the very nature of the offer, the buyers of this kind of product tend to meet each other. However, the idea also has great potential for other kinds of businesses as well. After all, as long as people have interests in common, there are opportunities for networking!

Sources:

– Hill, Shawndra, Foster Provost and Chris Volinsky, “Netword‑based Marketing: Identifying Likely Adopters via Consumer Networks,” Statistical Science, 2006, vol. 21, No. 2.
– Hospitality Trends, “Netword‑based Marketing: Using Existing Clients To Help Sell to New Ones,” January 2007.
– Online: http://www.holiday-smilers.com/?&=eng

Catégories
etourism and technology Management Marketing @en

Web marketing for SMEs

You may think it’s impossible to increase your company’s Internet effectiveness with a marketing budget of only $3,000, but a variety of low‑cost strategies exist, whether you need to enhance your Web presence or conduct an email campaign. According to Merrill Lynch, over 39% of all travel‑related transactions will be conducted online by 2007. Many hotels already book over half their rooms online. For other businesses, embracing the World Wide Web is more difficult and takes longer to produce results.

Start with a Website

The first basic principle is that no business is ever too small for a website. Many web design tools do not even require specialized computer knowledge. This accessibility is just one reason that the number of online blogs has mushroomed in the last year (over 100 million).

However, the best solution is to call on the services of a web design firm, who will be able to produce professionally looking content that delivers the desired result. By the way, not all site design techniques are created equal. It is crucial that the selected supplier be well-versed in tourism marketing. On average, a small inn would need to set aside a budget of $2,000 to $4,000 for the design and creation of a website.

Search engine optimization

If a site is well designed, it will be easily found by search engines. However, there are many strategies for increasing site traffic. The technique of search engine optimization can be very effective, but it may be too expensive for organizations with limited budgets.

Another, less expensive, way to increase visibility is to get other sites to include links to yours. Link popularity is an important criterion used by search engines like Google and Yahoo when ranking sites in search results. Incoming links to a site are interpreted as a « vote of confidence » by search engines and are considered in placement rankings. In a Google search using the same terms, this can make the difference between appearing on page 1 or page 10. Regardless of the strategy used, time is also an important factor. Often, the longer a site has been online, the more success it enjoys with search engines.

Develop networking opportunities

One does not need an enormous marketing budget to build online business connections, simply some time. Here are some strategies for increasing the number of sites with links to yours:

  • Explore and identify the main points of contact with potential customers. Place a link to your organization on sites containing some tourism-related content such as your local business development centre, a directory of small hotels and inns, a tourist attraction in your region, a snowmobile club, your regional tourism association, etc.
  • Create links on sites frequented by potential customers, even if they are not exactly travel-related (e.g., a bird club, wedding planner, chamber of commerce, etc.).
  • Target only high-quality sites relevant to both your product and your clientele.
  • Ensure your website address is clearly visible in all your communication tools, especially your email signature.

One way to assess the performance of your referencing strategy and the true contribution of your business partners, in terms of incoming links, is through tracking tools such as Alexa. This site instantly supplies very pertinent data on any website, completely free of charge. As an example, we used Alexa to analyze the site for Auberge des Falaises in Charlevoix (Illustration 1). Although not an exact science, Alexa produces statistics like traffic generated, number of pages visited, percentage increase in the past three months, etc. If a site generates enough traffic, one can also get graphs illustrating the breakdown of visitors and visits during a specified time period.

Illustration 1

Alexa1

The Related Links section in particular contains highly relevant information to help you better understand the influence of other sites in relation to your organization. Alexa draws up a list of the sites that send visitors to your site (Illustration 2). This data enables you to quickly see which sites send the most visitors and their traffic ranking, whether you are familiar with these sites or unaware of their existence.

Illustration 2

Alexa2

Finally, it is interesting to find out where else your visitors browse. If you have a lot of traffic but very few transactions, this information will give you a better idea of where your lost customers are going. You will also find out more about your potential customers’ interests. In our example, the most popular site among browsers of the Auberge des Falaises site was that of the Corporation du parc régional du mont Grand-Fonds (Illustration 3).

Illustration 3

Alexa3

Convert visitors into customers

The ultimate goal of attracting a visitor to one’s site is obviously to encourage this potential customer to make a reservation. However, according to search engine statistics, only 3.7% of visits to hotel websites translate into a sale. What usually makes the difference is the site’s professional appearance and usability.

The firm eMarketer has published a ranking of the best online marketing tactics, as well as the worst performing, according to a survey of tech-savvy online advertisers (Figure 1). Paid search ads and house email lists are the two methods that received the highest ranking. On the other hand, sending emails using rented lists was relatively ineffective.

Figure 1

CP_2007-02_marketing_web_grphq1

Email segmentation

If you operate a small business, segmenting your email lists may be an effective marketing strategy. Purchasing email lists from specialized distributors may well be beyond your means and this strategy offers mixed results at best, so the ideal solution is to build your own email list.

Segmenting your list means grouping current and potential customers together by what they have in common: interests, purchasing behaviour, demographics, etc. Compiling this data enables you to more effectively target your efforts, adapt your message and obtain a better response rate than you would with blanket email marketing initiatives. On average, specialized firms that conduct such email campaigns charge anywhere from $15 to $150 per month, depending on the size of your list.

Regardless of the company’s size, a well-segmented house email list can encourage customer loyalty and increase sales, convey information relevant to the needs of potential customers, and create a high-quality channel of communication with customers.

There are many tools and strategies available to business owners; one has only to adopt them and use them effectively. We live in an era when the role of technology is to further the development of small business, not hinder it. With a minimum of investment, some good advice, several hours of research, a little curiosity and a dash of resourcefulness, you will be well positioned to market your business like the big players.

Sources:
– eMarketer. « What Works, and What Doesn’t, in Online Marketing, » February 7, 2007.
– Goodman, Gail. « Email Segmentation for Small Businesses, » iMedia Connection, August 30, 2006.
– Husin, Linda. « Booking Is the Keyword, » ehotelier, November 29, 2006.
– Salerno, Neil. « So, You Have a New or Improved Hotel Web Site – Now What – How to Promote Your Web Site, » HotelOnline, November 2006.
– Salerno, Neil. « Production Benchmarks for Your Hotel’s Web Site, » HotelOnline, August 2006.
– Max Starkov and Jason Price. « Strategic Linking in Hospitality: Build a Robust Link Popularity, » HotelOnline, September 2006.

Catégories
Customer segments Marketing @en

Familiar with tweens? You should be…

A recent development in marketing has been to define a new customer segment: « tweens » or preteens. While young people ages 9 to 14 are no longer children, they are not yet teens, either. With surprising purchasing power and influence on a variety of family decisions, they are an attractive market. Although manufacturers have recognized the potential of this market, the travel industry is just beginning to clue in. In fact, tweens now make up another type of traveller. This does not mean family vacations are a thing of the past; they have simply changed direction – to follow tweens!

What is a tween?

« Tween » is a marketing term used to describe preteens ages 9 to 14. Straddling childhood and adolescence, they have a foot in both worlds. When it comes to technology, they rule: they are online longer, adopt and master new technologies faster than adults and participate in a wider variety of online activities. In Canada, 85% of tweens have access to a computer, 82% to a video game system, 25% to an iPod or MP3 player and 16% have a cell phone (this number rises to 26% among 12 to 14 year-olds).

While their favourite medium is still television (50%), 27% of American 9 to 14 year-olds watch it on the internet. Figure 1 lists their favourite online activities.

activites_tweens

Purchasing power and influence on family decisions

Spending by tweens has doubled every decade for the past 30 years. In the US today, between spending their own money and influencing their parents’ purchasing decisions, this segment controls or influences approximately US$260 billion in spending. According to the BRANDchild study (conducted by Millward Brown among 2,000 young people ages 9 to 14 years in several countries), tweens influence 80% of their parents’ brand purchases.
Tweens2

In 2005, there were approximately 2.5 million tweens in Canada and their average annual income was CAN$1,155. This means they controlled CAN$2.9 billion of their own money in addition to influencing another CAN$20 billion in family purchases.

It is this financial power that differentiates tweens from earlier generations; never has this age group exercised such influence. The generation is populous enough to ruin a brand it does not like or catapult another to success by adopting it. The influence of tweens is particularly noticeable when it comes to choosing a restaurant, groceries and even cars, but they can also affect travel-related decisions:

  • Over 40% of young people believe they have some or a lot of influence when it comes to choosing a vacation destination.
  • Although only a small percentage of tweens feel they have a strong influence on hotel choices, 59% believe they have some influence. Also, 20% of parents say they « always or sometimes » ask for their tween’s opinion when selecting a hotel.
  • Tweens believe they influence the planning of vacation activities 55% of the time.

achat_tweens3

They may be plugged in, but do they shop online?

Surprisingly, tweens and teens are shopping online in increasing numbers, thanks to prepaid gift cards. Major companies now offer prepaid credit cards designed especially for young people. The Visa Buxx card is just one example and can be used everywhere Visa is accepted, particularly online!

Tweens5

Receptiveness to advertising

Young people in the United States, Australia and Great Britain see an average of 20,000 to 40,000 commercials per year and spend 60% more time in front of the television than at school. Two surveys conducted by The Harris Interactive Youth and Education Research Group in May 2006 offer more insight into young people’s attitudes towards advertising:

  • Tweens attach a great deal of importance to objects and brands « cool. »
  • Friends have a tremendous influence on their preferences and they want what their friends have. Their consumer choices are also influenced by advertising.
  • More than earlier generations, tweens are very receptive to celebrity-driven advertising.
  • Young people say they are most influenced by television commercials (54%), magazine ads (23%) and movie-theatre commercials (19%).
  • Advertisements for food seem to attract the most attention from tweens.

Generally speaking, marketing specialists use the strategy of treating tweens like teens. The marketing industry has forced children to grow up faster and studies show that those aged 11 and older no longer consider themselves children.

Ethical debate

There is a major debate concerning the ethics of tween-oriented marketing. By treating these young people like mature, independent consumers, advertisers are taking parents out of the decision-making process and thereby making children more susceptible to unhealthy messages about body image, sexuality, relationships and violence. This is an emotional issue that creates sharp divides. Although the tourism industry is less involved in such marketing, it is important to be aware of the issues.

Some tourism examples

In terms of the tourist experience, tweens are often too old for activities aimed at children and too young for teen and adult activities. Very few tourism-based businesses offer products specifically for tweens. However, some businesses have adapted their products for this segment.

Club Med offers two programs designed for 11 to 17 year olds: Junior Club Med, which supervises young people and organizes group activities (beach volleyball, trapeze, trampoline, sailing, inline skating, tennis, etc.), and Club Med Passworld, an exclusive new zone with special high-tech equipment. Specially-trained counsellors facilitate the discovery of new activities designed specifically for them and encourage their development and socialization.

Some Four Seasons hotels (Atlanta, New York, London, Chicago, Philadelphia and Toronto) have added a youth concierge to their service teams to deal specifically with tweens and teens. These hotels have also conducted focus groups with tweens in the aforementioned cities to identify cool things to do locally. They now have an updated idea of this clientele’s preferences and interests. These hotels also provide special amenities to this customer category, offering things like popcorn, recent magazines and films, an indoor pool, and balanced meals designed especially for them. For its part, the Ritz Carlton in South Beach, Miami, provides a tech centre for tweens and teens.

Finally, the Florida tourism portal lists activities aimed at tweens, like scuba diving, an indoor rink for roller-skating and skateboarding and water skiing.

Be among the first!

Given their economic muscle, tweens will no doubt continue to be targeted by businesses. In addition, since relatively few tourism businesses target this clientele in particular, doing so would probably provide a competitive edge. A few suggestions for reaching this market segment:

  • Carefully analyze their likes, dislikes and influences, to offer products and services tailor-made for them.
  • Speak their language: tweenspeak is the system of abbreviations, symbols, icons and numerals used for text messaging and in chat rooms. This new language enables them to communicate with each other around the world without even speaking the same language!
  • Keep wait times to a minimum. Although no longer interested in colouring, tweens still don’t have much patience.
  • Offer cool products traditionally aimed at older customers, but ensure they are closely supervised to reassure parents.

Sources:
– Business Wire. « iGillottResearch Finds Significant Opportunities for Wireless Devices in the Tween Segment, » July 22, 2005.
– De Mesa, Alycia. « Marketing and Tweens, » Business Week Online, October 12, 2005.
– eMarketer. « What Do Kids, Tweens and Teens Do Online? » www.emarketer.com, October 10, 2006.
– Lindstrom, Martin. « Branding Is No Longer Child’s Play! » Journal of Consumer Marketing, Vol. 21, No. 3, 2004.
– Martin, Suzanne. « Advertising to Youth: What Youth Want And What Advertisers Need to Know, » Trends & – Tudes, Harris Interactive, Vol. 5, No. 7, August 2006.
– Media Awareness Network. « Special Issues for Tweens and Teens, » www.media-awareness.ca.
– Shohan, Aviv and Vassilis Dalakas. « He Said, She Said, They Said: Parent’s and Children’s Assessment of Children’s Influence on Family Consumption Decisions, » Journal of Consumer Marketing, Vol. 22, No. 3, 2005.
– YTV, Corus Media. « 2002 YTV Tween Report: Special Kidfluence Edition » and « Winter 2006–YTV Kids Trend Report. »

 

Catégories
etourism and technology Marketing @en

RSS feeds: what are they anyway?

RSS feeds: Everyone’s talking about them, but no one knows what they are! Does the term « RSS feed » mean anything to you? Don’t worry if it doesn’t, because you certainly aren’t the only one. This new form of internet communication is one of many new simplified tools that help consumers exercise greater control over the information they wish to receive. The growing popularity of RSS feeds will not only change the way that users generally find information on the Web, it will also influence the e-marketing strategies of businesses.

What is RSS?

RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds enable internet users to quickly pick up information of their choosing, on their computers, where they can consult it at their convenience. RSS technology is attractive to managers because now they have an efficient way to communicate directly with consumers who interested in receiving precisely their type of information (see illustration).

An XML-based format, RSS is used to distribute various types of web content, particularly sales promotions, news items, statistics, etc., and can only be picked up by a program known as a feed reader or aggregator. Many providers such as Netvibes, NewsGator and My Yahoo! offer this type of service free of charge.

To receive an RSS feed, all you have to do is click and drag the XML button (usually orange) to the aggregator. You can either download a piece of software to automatically pick up new RSS feeds or create a personalized homepage for this.

Once you have subscribed to the feed, you simply wait for the desired information to be sent directly to the reader, in the form of headlines. If something interests you, simply click on the link to open the page. Consumers can receive the information they want, without wasting time and without having to sort through an overloaded inbox.

RSS and the travel industry: A match made in heaven

For many consumers, the internet is the best way to find low-cost travel products and services. However, it takes time and effort to find good deals. RSS technology could well change browsing habits as users gain new control over the kind of the information they receive and its relevance. RSS is part of the Web 2.0 trend towards the intuitive use of simplified, interactive applications that enable consumers to tell businesses what they want. Many travel industry players have quickly adopted this new way of communicating with customers. For example, online agencies like Lastminute, Expedia and Orbitz now offer their clientele automatic updates of all new deals as soon as they are posted.

Expedia is going the next step by offering customers personalized web pages. After filling out their profile, consumers receive RSS feeds on flights and products that truly interest them. Alerts are also available on homepages like My Yahoo!, My AOL and Google Homepage. Even meta-search engines are getting into the act; for example, Mobissimo is now available as an RSS feed, enabling users to access its search tool from their Netvibes homepage.

For web users, RSS feeds are not simply useful for finding bargains. They can also provide information such as travel blog updates, travel-related news, destination reviews and weather reports from their upcoming holiday location.

Still in its infancy, yet promising

As fantastic as they sound, RSS feeds are only known and used by a small percentage of web users. According to a survey conducted by Media Buyer Planner in August 2006, just 11% of US workers were familiar with RSS feeds and a mere 2% used them. Adoption rates are climbing rapidly among « heavy users » (those who go online 11 times or more per week) and as of April 2006, 14% of such users said they used RSS feeds.

However, RSS use is expected to grow as more and more content providers of all kinds start offering the service. Mass usage will probably happen when RSS feed readers come standard with internet browsers and operating systems like Windows.

RSS can also benefit marketers

Now that RSS has become a « given » for a growing number of internet users, it is also a powerful marketing tool. However, unlike other web marketing strategies, RSS feeds put consumers in control. Here are some tips for using RSS feeds to market your product or service:

  • Become familiar with how the various feed readers operate. They are not all the same. For example, some display only a headline for the RSS feed while others display a more complete version of the text. You have to know how content is being presented in the feed to assess its effectiveness.
  • Provide a value-added message, don’t just sell a product. For example, hotels could inform interested consumers of room deals at hotels in their favourite destinations.
  • Keep your content creative and new. Like a constantly running news wire, your information will cease to interest consumers if it is not updated regularly.
  • Build a relationship with customers. RSS technology offers a golden opportunity to communicate effectively with potential customers because they have specifically asked to receive the information. In addition, you do not have to worry about spam filters or trust issues.
  • Select and define your public carefully. Unlike email campaigns, the audience of RSS feeds is much smaller and narrowly targeted. It is essential to know the target segment well so you can properly adapt your message.

As they have done for other Web 2.0 developments, managers can take the time to analyze the situation and gradually discern the best avenues for their companies. However, things are evolving very quickly and it may be wise to understand the direction in which innovations affecting their sector of activity are heading so they are ready to climb on board when the time is right.

Sources:
– Belcher, James. « Really Seldom Syndication, » eMarketer [www.emarketer.com ], August 28, 2006.
– eMarketer. « What Do ‘Heavy Users’ Do Online? » [www.emarketer.com ], August 30, 2006.
– Flitter, Bill. « Tips for Marketing with RSS, » iMedia Connection [www.imediaconnection.com ], May 12, 2006. – Hodson, Mark. « Introducing the Travel Genie, » The Sunday Times [travel.timesonline.co.uk ], March 5, 2006.
– Hotelmarketing.com. « Expedia Introduces RSS Based Travel Services, » [www.hotelmarketing.com ], May 3, 2006.
– Hrastnik, Rok. »The 7-Step RSS Marketing Plan, » RSS Marketing [rssdiary.marketingstudies.net ], July 25, 2005.
– Lieb, Rebecca. « Real-Life RSS Marketing, » ClickZ [www.clickz.com], July 1, 2005.

Catégories
Accommodation Marketing @en Trends

Are tourism brochures still effective?

Technological advances have called into question many traditional models, including the common tourism brochure. And yet, this form does not appear on the brink of extinction. Two studies have confirmed its usefulness, for it remains one of the most popular information sources for tourists. This is all the more true since most travellers alter their plans while travelling. In this respect, brochures play a greater role than the Internet, for example, in influencing the decisions of travellers who have already left home.

Measuring effectiveness

A traveller’s impression of a destination and choice of vacation spot and tourism services are influenced primarily by the individual’s prior experience. When a traveller opts to visit a place for the first time, other information sources like name recognition, reputation, price, advertising, the Internet, word of mouth, etc. are all very influential.

Kathleen L. Andereck, a professor at Arizona State University, wanted to better understand the effectiveness of the tourism brochure as a decision-making tool for tourists. To that end, she administered a survey to a sampling of people who had requested tourist information about Glendale, Arizona. According to Professor Andereck, the study showed that traditional brochures still have a major influence on travel decisions. Potential tourists who had requested a brochure showed an increased interest in the region, thanks to the information they received (Figure 1). In fact, 51% of respondents said they were interested or extremely interested in visiting Glendale after they received the brochure, while only 19% said this before they received the brochure.

Tourist brochures have a significant influence on other major travel decisions, particularly the decision to include the region in one’s travel plans (33%) or stay longer in the region (15%). The study’s author concludes, nonetheless, that a traveller’s initial impressions of a destination remain the strongest predictor of whether or not it will be included in one’s travel plans. On the other hand, a brochure’s effectiveness definitely increases interest in the destination and plays a part in determining how much time a tourist spends in the area.

The experience factor

Two segments were defined to measure the effect of the brochure: repeat visitors (those who had already been to Glendale) and visitors with no previous visits. The data showed that repeat visitors were more interested in visiting the area than the others were, before receiving the brochure. Interestingly, however, the two groups expressed virtually identical interest levels after receiving the information.

Therefore, among tourists who have never visited a given destination, a brochure can be very effective at positively influencing their level of interest. In addition, tourists who had never visited Glendale also indicated that the advertising had significantly altered their initial image or expectations.

Brochures appeal to women

The study sampling also illustrated significant differences in brochure effectiveness, according to the socio-demographic profile of potential visitors. The researchers noted that women were more likely than men to be positively influenced by this form of advertising. This was also true for the population segment of middle-aged people with lower incomes.

For destinations that are further away or less popular, as well as for organizations with limited financial means, confirmation of the traditional brochure’s effectiveness is good news. Relatively low production and distribution costs make the brochure accessible to everyone. However, it is important to take full advantage of the brochure’s two primary strengths, simplicity and colourfulness, and to find appropriate distribution points.

What about the Internet?

There has been much discussion about the importance of the Internet as a travel planning tool. According to the latest data from the CEFRIO (Centre francophone d’informatisation des organisations), 35% of all Quebeckers report that they use the Web to plan their travel. Obviously, destinations need not question the importance of a strong online visibility strategy. On the other hand, it is important to remember that not all travel decisions are made before leaving home and that many details get worked out during a trip. In fact, 62% of travellers look for information while travelling.

Professor Patrick Tierney from San Francisco State University interviewed 2569 tourists in Canada, the US and Ireland at hotels, attractions and visitor centres. His study reveals that once travellers leave home, brochures become the top planning tool (21%), followed by friend/relative and travel guides (15% each). Few people bother consulting the Internet while they are on vacation (11%).

The study also points out that, among tourists who had taken a brochure from a rack, 37% changed their travel plans due to the information in the brochure and 47% purchased something featured in the brochure.

Adapting the message

Another important consideration is the role of women in deciding and planning family vacations. Too often advertising is geared towards men, when women are the ones making the decisions. Furthermore, since women are more likely to be influenced by this form of marketing, it is crucial that promotional strategies be adapted to ensure that women can identify with the message.

Many experts are predicting a rosy future for electronic brochures, because they cost less to produce and are easier to update. However, they do not meet the needs of travelling tourists. It is also important to remember that the behaviours described above were in fact observed among people who wanted to receive a tourist brochure. The expected results of a mass mailing via a major daily or through other unsolicited channels would certainly not be comparable to the examples presented here.

Producing an attractive brochure is only half the battle. It must then find its way into the proper hands at the proper moment.

Sources:
– Andereck, Kathleen L. « Evaluation of a Tourist Brochure, » Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, Vol. 18 (2), 2005.
– Bieger, Thomas and Christian Laesser. « Information Sources for Travel Decisions: Toward a Source Process Model, » Journal of Travel Research, Vol. 42, May 2004.
– Riseley, Mark and Adam Daum. « Tour Operators Taking First Steps to Shelve Traditional Brochures. »
– Tierney, Patrick. « Comparison of the Effectiveness of Brochure Distribution in Racks to Other Tourist Information Sources, » San Francisco State University, December 15, 2003.