Santander, E. at ENTER2016 eTourism Conference

1. BUILDING A DIGITAL STRATEGY FOR DESTINATION EUROPE
Eduardo Santander
ENTER 2016, 4th Febrary 2016, Bilbao

3. EUROPE IS THE #1 DESTINATION WORLDWIDE
Source: UNWTO

4. TOURISM INDUSTRY IS KEY IN EUROPE
584 million International arrivals
509 billion USD Revenues
1.8 million Businesses
9.7 million Workforce
9.7% GDP
Source: UNWTO & WTTC

5. FOUR PRIORITY MARKETS
Source: ETC Dashboard., Tourism Economics
International arrivals
to Europe in 2015

6. Share (%) of international tourist arrivals by region of destination, Source: UNWTO
57% 52%
41%
16% 23% 30%
RELATIVE WEIGHTS ARE CHANGING

7. WHY A DIGITAL STRATEGY?
Europe’s #1 position is under threat
Europe faces structural difficulties and a lack of a clear image
Destination Europe 2020 Initiative

8. THE ADAPTED TRAVEL CYCLE
TRAVELLER
DREAM
PLAN
BOOKEXPERIENCE
REMEMBER
+share
+share
+share
+share
+share

9. STRATEGY BUILDING PROCESS

10. START BY
UNDERSTANDING
TRAVELLERS

11. UNDERSTAND THE MARKET
OUTBOUND MARKET STUDIES
A complete overview of markets, including
• Consumer trends and behaviour;
• Operating environment;
• Image of Europe as tourism destination.
NETNOGRAPHIC STUDIES
An innovative approach to understand
Europe’s reputation and investigate the
travellers opinions and behaviour, as
pictured in the footprint they leave in social
media.

12. SOURCES OF INFORMATION
Source: MMGY Global. Portrait of American Traveler
DREAM PLAN BOOK
Ideas and
inspiration
Advice and
insights
Compare Price Purchase

13. EXTREMELY/VERY DESIRABLE 2010 2011 2012 2013
1 Check lowest rates 83 84 84 83
2 Lowest rate guarantee 82 82 81 80
3 Photos ofhotel, facilities, rooms, etc 76 78 81 78
4 Easy-to-use booking feature 75 78 78 74
5 Compare rates of multiple suppliers 78 78 77 73
6 Photos of area 66 72 73 73
7 Preview room location 67 71 72 68
8 Schedule activities in advance 64 69 70 62
9 Check last-minute air, hotel, car rental
availability
63 68 66 62
10 Interactive map to explore visually n/a 66 65 62
11 Video tours ofhotel andresort 65 68 65 58
12 Video tours of destination 55 61 56 53
MOST DESIRABLE WEBSITE FEATURES
Source: MMGY Global. Portrait of American Traveler

14. MOBILE IS USED THROUGHOUT
THE TRAVEL DECISSION JOURNEY

15. WHY A DIGITAL STRATEGY?
Europe’s #1 position is under threat
Europe faces structural difficulties and a lack of a clear image
New generation of digitally sophisticated travellers
Destination Europe 2020 Initiative
New communication approach
New digital platforms

16. STRATEGY BUILDING PROCESS

17. CONTENT
IS
KING

18. CONTENT MARKETING
 Put consumer first
 Build your brand promise…
…and make a great story
• Short
• Personal
• Entertaining
• Useful
 Distribute

19. Visiteurope.com user Behaviour
Demographics Needs
WEBSITE VISITOR PERSONA
• Active on Facebook, Twitter and
Instagram
• Views content on laptop and smartphone
• Interested in culture, fashion and food
• Previously travelled internationally
• Plans and books online
• Spends 2-3 minutes on website
• Immerse herself in Europe’s multifaceted
culture
• Visit all Europe’s “must-sees”
• Advice from previous travellers
• Looking for travel deals

20. For those with a boundless desire to travel,
Visit Europe is a trusted source of information at
the beginning of the planning process
designed to inspire truly unforgettable and
authentic journeys
that create a lifelong passion for exploring more
of the continent.
Who are we speaking to?
Who are we ?
What differentiates us?
What is the benefit to the
consumer?
BRAND POSITIONING STATEMENT

21. BRAND ARCHITECTURE

22. PAN-EUROPEAN THEMES
CULTURE
HISTORY & HERITAGE
SPORTS TOURISM
GASTRONOMY
EDUCATION
FESTIVALS & EVENTS
RELIGIOUS TOURISM
RURAL & ECOTOURISM
MUSIC
BEACHES & COASTAL TOURISM
MOUNTAINS
INDUSTRIAL TOURISM

23. CONTENT PLANNING

24. CONTENT DEVELOPED
42 INTEREST BASED ARTICLES
15 REGION PAGES
36 COUNTRY PAGES
32 PHOTO GALLERIES
12 RECOMMENDED TRIPS
27 VIDEOS
7 LANGUAGES TRANSLATED

25. STRATEGY BUILDING PROCESS

26. STARTING SITUATION

27. WEBSITE AUDIT

28. SITEMAP

29. WIREFRAMES

30. OPTIMIZE
 Search optimization
 Schema Implementation
 Friendly URLs
 SEO elements
• Title, description & keywords
 Indexable Content
 Metatags
 Mobile optimization

32. STRATEGY BUILDING PROCESS

33. RESULTS
Users -10%
Sessions +6%
Page views +120%
Time spent +20%
Bounce rate - 50%
Mobile + 40%

34. THE PERCEIVED PROMISE

35. WHAT IS NEXT?
 User interface and experience enhancements
 Inspire better. More personalization
 Intra European trip planning
 Consistent cross-channel experience
 Upgrade to the latest standards and evaluations
 Chinese consumer website

36. TAKE AWAYS
 It all starts (and ends) with research;
 Define your goals;
 Take your time;
 Plan ahead and long-term;
 Promote far from the launch;
 Work with your partners.

37. WANT TO LEARN MORE?

38. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION!