Chapter by chapter slides based on "Fundamentals of Destination Management and Marketing," provided by Destination Marketing Association International in cooperation with American Hotel & Lodging Association Education Institute.

1. © 2005, Educational Institute
Chapter 7
Technology
Fundamentals of Destination Management and Marketing
(323TXT)

2. © 2005, Educational Institute
The Threat of Disintermediation
• Disintermediation: removing the middleman
o Describes many Internet-based businesses
that use the Web to sell products directly to
customers, without intermediaries
• Online travel agencies
o Provide robust booking capabilities, great
rates, and easy online reservations
o Lack the detailed destination information
that CVBs can provide

3. © 2005, Educational Institute
Design
CVB Web sites should have:
• Bright, tourism-related colors, well-chosen branding
images.
• Good, strong content.
• An easily identified navigation bar in a consistent
place.
• Database-driven content with robust search
capabilities.

4. © 2005, Educational Institute
Navigability
• The home page should give users a compelling
reason to visit.
• A navigation bar with basic descriptive terms
should appear on every page.
• Sites must contain basic categories of information
of interest to travel planners.
• Begin with the end in mind.

5. © 2005, Educational Institute
Customer Relationship Management
(CRM)
• Sophisticated CRM will provide dynamic content
based on visitor preferences, geography, and
profile information.
• CRM software should respond correctly and
appropriately to visitor questions and searches.
• Personalize the Web site experience to enhance
customer relationships.

6. © 2005, Educational Institute
Technical Compatibility
• Web sites must be multi-browser friendly.
• Add printer-friendly links when content will run off
the printed page.
• The site should fit on an 800-by-600 screen with no
horizontal scrolling.
• Web sites should download in less than 15 seconds
using a standard phone line.

7. © 2005, Educational Institute
Search Engine Compliance
• Search engine rankings are determined by
automated “spiders” that follow every link on a
Web site and index the contents.
• Frames and Flash pages hinder search engine
indexing.
• Web sites should have a hierarchical structure.
• Title tags, keywords in the source code, and
descriptions are critical to success.

8. © 2005, Educational Institute
Third-Party Technologies
• Hardware, software, or applications not directly
owned by the CVB or Web site visitor
• Perform specific functions such as displaying
event calendars or maps, booking hotel rooms,
or facilitating searches

9. © 2005, Educational Institute
E-Commerce and Web-Site Advertising
• The goal of e-commerce is to offer consumers
dynamic destination booking that enables them to
browse, compare, and purchase online while
supporting multiple booking channels.
• Web-site advertising should be deliverable to key
pages on a destination site with linking, tracking,
reporting of impressions, “click-thrus,” and
conversion to sales.

10. © 2005, Educational Institute
Performance Tracking and
Measurement
• Tracking unique visitors is becoming obsolete.
• Track registered users, their preferences, and
information requests.
• Track link popularity.
• Measure return-on-investment for stakeholders,
board members, partners, and advertisers.

11. © 2005, Educational Institute
Developing an Action Plan
• Understand diverse target market segments.
• Convert site visitors to registered users.
• Determine the desires and expectations of site
visitors.
• Clearly define the mission and critical items and
plan to launch the site in phases.

12. © 2005, Educational Institute
Planning Design for Online Branding
• Adjust the brand to accommodate each online
segment.
• Marketers should put themselves in the
consumer’s shoes.
• Online branding should be guided more by what
consumers want to do online than by what the
CVB wants to say.

13. © 2005, Educational Institute
Targeting the Customer Online
• Goals
o Motivate visitors and meeting delegates
o Accommodate meeting planners
o Administrate for small-group leaders
• Mistakes to avoid
o Fulfilling your needs before theirs
o Not providing what they expect
o Allowing a segment audience to general
navigation
o Not tracking their behavior

14. © 2005, Educational Institute
Addressing Navigation
• Navigation and vernacular should be fine-tuned
for each market segment.
• Basic navigation outline
o Home page
o Visitor information
o Resources
o Accommodation/package booking
o Search
o Meeting planners
o Groups
o Press and media

15. © 2005, Educational Institute
Building the Web Site:
In-house or Outsource
• Outsource: hiring an agency to build the Web site
o Benefit: easier process
o Risk: hiring the wrong company
• In-house: current staff handles the Web site
o Benefit: more knowledge of the product
o Risk: taking time from other projects, potential
for final product to be skewed

16. © 2005, Educational Institute
Choosing Vendors and Technology
Evaluation Tools
• Multiple consultants/vendors
o May save the bureau some money, but increase
the risk of incompatibility
o Are difficult to hold accountable
• Sole-source provider
o Must be close to CVB staff and goals
o Must be accountable for all pieces of the
program
o Must have people and methodologies that the
bureau trusts

17. © 2005, Educational Institute
Project Management Cycle
• Pre-project phase
o Gather relevant documentation and materials.
o Complete timeline and budget frameworks.
• Planning and documentation phase
o Detail the deliverables and expectations and
construct the documentation for each phase.
• Kick-off meeting
o Project managers transfer information to all
team members.

18. © 2005, Educational Institute
E-CRM Database
• Outsourcing
o Manager should also be the software provider.
o Risks include hiring a company without
experience in destination CRM, needing heavy
staff involvement, buying a cookie-cutter
program, and failure to have a plan.
• In-house implementation
o In-house staff must devote significant time to
the function, but this allows the CVB total
control.

19. © 2005, Educational Institute
Back-end Databases
• Consider flexibility and usability when
evaluating or designing software.
• The platform defines a standard around which a
system will be developed.
• Database should be compatible with all
foreseeable hardware, software, and applications.
• Scalability refers to how well a system can adapt
to expanding and increasing demands.

20. © 2005, Educational Institute
Strategic Internet Marketing Plan
• The plan outlines the various strategies and
tactics to optimize a destination’s Web presence
and often consists of two phases.
• Direct all efforts to the CRM program and
driving traffic to the site.
• Create and implement consumer-friendly
programs and promotions to keep people coming
back.

21. © 2005, Educational Institute
Writing the Internet Marketing Plan
• Outsource to an Internet marketing company or
an advertising agency.
• It is best to use an Internet marketing company
with strong travel marketing experience because
most advertising agencies do not provide
ongoing online marketing activities.

22. © 2005, Educational Institute
Ongoing Online Marketing,
Communications, and Research
• Review of search-engine position and ranking
• Strategic listing and linking strategies
• Direct e-mail promotions
• Affinity and co-marketing campaigns
• Delivery of news releases

23. © 2005, Educational Institute
E-Team and Staffing
• Potential Internet marketing positions
include:
• I-team director
• I-marketing manager
• Tactical e-team
■ Content specialist
■ Web manager
• Graphic designer