The document discusses the results of a study examining how "digital natives", defined as those aged 35 or younger, engage with and perceive tourism destination websites on mobile. The study found that digital natives have poor brand awareness of destinations from non-mobile optimized sites and react negatively to sites with too much text and lack of visual content. However, mobile optimized sites that are visually appealing, easy to use, and provide location context can increase digital natives' interest in visiting a destination by positively shifting their initial perceptions. Key lessons are that destinations must design for immediate mobile experiences, focus on strong visual content, and ensure easy access to location details.

1. Digital Benchmarks
Destination | Business | Intelligence
Nicholas Hall
CEO & Founder
!
SE1 Media
Digital Tourism Think Tank
!
Monday 13th October
DST 2014

2. ARE YOU BENCHMARKING YET?

3. Performance
Measuring performance of your
competitors against your destination
Opportunities
Measuring opportunities and
trends for insights and learnings

5. DESIGN SOCIAL
CONTENT MOBILE

6. Methodology

7. 1. Exhaustive evaluation
with 200+ Points

9. 2. Fully qualitative
expert analysis

12. 3. Advanced scoring
system with auditing

14. SOCIAL INTEGRATION
@think_tourism

15. What we found
‣ Most destinations ‘ignore’ social media as
an integration opportunity
‣ Whilst share buttons are no longer
sufficient, most are limited to that
‣ Social must be an integral part of
destination websites

16. Spain
SOCIAL INTEGRATION
‣ Full integration of user
generated content within
main destination site
‣ Advanced social sharing
encouraged between
users and spain.info
‣ Comprehensive integration
adds authenticity to their
brand message

17. CONTENT
What
should
Des-na-ons
watch
out
for?
@think_tourism
#KX2014

18. What we found
‣ Visitors seek effective an inspiring content which
builds stories around your brand
‣ Rich ‘long-format’ media drives powerful brand
engagement
‣ A variety of content types and perspectives is
important
‣ Show your destination from a range of
perspectives: Yours; your visitors; their influencers

19. Switzerland
CONTENT
‣ Excellent targeting of
content to interest groups
‣ Functional needs perfectly
integrated; navigation,
maps, practical, related
content
‣ Huge variety of content
perspectives from rich
media, 360 panoramas
and street view

20. MOBILE
Are
you
thinking
mobile
first?
@think_tourism

21. What we found
!
‣ Many DMOs don’t think ‘mobile first’ yet
!
‣ Most don’t follow mobile best practices
!
‣ Iterative user centred design approach is
widely overlooked

22. Ireland
‣ Excellent mix of simplicity &
powerful rich media content
‣ Fast loading and efficient
despite high in visuals
‣ Well structured and logical
navigation for mobile
interface
MOBILE

23. Switzerland
‣ Excellent mix of
functional and interactive
features
‣ Use of memorable icons
works brilliantly
‣ Excellent maps and tap
friendly controls
MOBILE

24. TODAY’S DIGITAL NATIVES
Understanding the impact of
Mobile on Youth Travellers
@think_tourism

25. Digital Natives Love SnapChat!
70% US College Students 18-24
Use Snapchat Daily!
Facebook Who?
Compared to 11%
Posting to Facebook Every Day
Source: E-Marketer

26. social
Instagram and Snapchat are the social
media most used by Digital Natives
“Social networks are an absolute
priority as a source of information
for 18-30’s”, NH Hotels
mobile
27% of Digital Natives book their trip on a
smartphone
“Around half of 18-34’s use apps for their
travel planning activity”, PhoCusWright

27. Digital Natives
Driving The Future of Travel
Age: 35 or under
Blended offline & online words
Have smartphone & tablet
Book via online travel websites
60% consider smartphone a
travel companion

28. “Digital Natives”
“Millennials”
“Generation X, Y & Z”

29. So… Digital Natives
What’s the idea?
“We wanted a concrete understanding of
young travellers and their attachment to mobile”

30. Digital Natives
a pilot study with WYSE
‣ is our hypothesis correct?
‣ initial sample of 30 participants
‣ in-trip research in London
‣ focused on these ‘digital natives’

31. two groups
two evaluations
A Place to Visit
Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park
A Famous Attraction
Victoria & Albert Museum

32. WHAT DID THE RESULTS SHOW?
Awareness of Key Landmarks and Attractions
@think_tourism

33. Perceptions. Reactions.
1. Knowledge of Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and
V&A: “What do you expect to see?”
2. Reactions after browsing both full and mobile
optimised sites?
3. How do both mobile and full websites impact the
visitor perception of the attraction or place?

34. "More I’ve never than heard somewhere 3,000,000 about visitors the museum. in 2014
It’s
6th Most Popular here, I’ve seen that in the underground
station, but I don’t know Attraction it" (Miguel, in the Portugal, UK
25)

35. “ Every time I take the train I see some part of
the park. But I don’t really know what is in
there.” (Lela, 25, Malta)
Captured the imagination of 100’s of Millions in 2012
1,000,000 + Visitors since reopening in 2013

36. Perceptions. Reactions.
“I suppose it is a park with
fountains and statues of the
queen” (Ilona ,17, Czech
Republic)”
“I guess, in this museum, I can
see paintings about the royal
family, weapons and some stuff
about history” (Paco, 18, Spain)

37. Poor Brand Awareness
Requires the Mobile Brand
to Deliver a Seamless Brand Experience

38. REACTIONS: FULL VS MOBILE
How
Do
Digital
Na-ves
React
to
Non-­‐Op-mised
and
Op-mised
Websites?
@think_tourism

39. “I don’t think it’s for mobile, the
interface is quite small.”
!Peter, 18, UK

40. “I don’t like this website, it is not
suitable for smartphones”
!Ignacio, 19, Spain

41. “The website is easy
to understand and it
looks great! !!!!!!
Ella, 24, Italy

42. “The website is very
colourful. I like it!”
!Ashley, 22, USA

44. Creative
Interesting
Easy
Pleasant
Attractive
7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Clear
Mobile Optimised Full Website

46. Attractive
7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Creative
Interesting
Easy
Pleasant
Clear
Mobile Optimised Full Website

47. MOBILE: SHIFTING PERCEPTIONS
How
a
Posi-ve
Mobile
User
Experience
Changes
Everything
@think_tourism

48. Shifting
Perceptions

49. Websites have an impact on
the perception of what they
promote
Design Impacts Reputation
Non-optimised sites resulted in a
loss of interest
Optimised sites actually
increased interest in a place
Choice of photos and layouts
have an instant impact
Visual content leads natives
to immediate assumptions

50. Too much text hinders curiosity
Content influences the
motivation to visit
Participants complained about
the prominence of text
Lots of text = Abandonment
Natives find a site
disappointing when it lacks
strong visual content
Visual content increases
motivation to visit
Poor consistency fails to
support visitors needs

52. How does a non-optimised
site change initial perceptions? Initial perception Post-browsing
7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Exciting
Enjoyable Interesting
Unique
7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Exciting
Enjoyable Interesting
Unique
Perception

53. How does a mobile optimised
site change initial perceptions? Initial perception Post-browsing
7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Exciting
Enjoyable Interesting
Unique
Perception
7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Exciting
Enjoyable Interesting
Unique

54. IMPORTANCE OF CONTEXT
Maps
and
Loca-on
Awareness
@think_tourism

55. “I don’t want to spend too
much time on a website
with my mobile, especially if
I’m out!”
Lela, 25, Malta
"I want small text,
attractive pictures
and a map.”
Simon, 22, France
“The pictures are really,
really nice. It seems really
interesting.”
Anna, 22, Germany

56. Importance Context
three important observations
1. Immediacy is key
2. Instant overview is necessary
3. Provide concrete information visitors need

57. KEY TAKEAWAYS
What
To
Consider
when
Engaging
Digital
Na-ves
in
Travel

58. What have they taught us?
Speak “experience” in your digital rhetoric
It must be immediately clear for tourists what they
can do and experience
!An authentic image can communicate the actual
experience

59. What have they taught us?
Get your visual content spot on
Visual content should shape and enhance
your brand image.
!Consider fonts, images and colours carefully

60. What have they taught us?
Don’t forget location, location, location
Location and directions should be easy to
find on the website.
!Location plays a key role in shaping
spontaneous decisions

61. What have they taught us?
Always exceed expectations
A brand has a limited amount of time to
match tourists expectations or change them
for the better
!Visitor perceptions are based on complex
environmental factors. You have an
opportunity to shape these.

62. Thank You ;-)
Nicholas Hall
CEO & Founder
!
SE1 Media
Digital Tourism Think Tank
!
!
Monday 13th October
DST 2014
@think_tourism