Tourism Business Platform Rula Ammuri Country Manager Microsoft Jordan
Tourism Industry, Key Facts Everywhere, every day all around the world individuals are making travel plans. In 2007, nearly 900 Million international tourist arrivals were recorded and expected to increase to 1.6 Billion in 2020. Over 1.5 Billion Internet Users Over 2 Billion Mobile devices A forecast of1.6 Billion tourist arrivals in the year 2020 Need for technical innovation & tourism solutions leveraging the latest technologies
Technology s Role in the Tourist Experience Technology plays an increasingly important role in all the stages of the visitor s experience. Collecting Information Online Quality content Interactive & easy to navigate Personalization Sharing Experiences & Memories Booking Services Availability Reservations Agencies & operators During or after the trip Social Computing User Generated Content Visiting Destination Location-Based Services Mobile Services Interactive Kiosks
Goals/Objectives for a Tourism Destination Traveler Experience & Facilitation Ensuring a positive traveler experience before, during and after their journey Destination Promotion + Product Mgt Marketing their city/region/country as a tourism destination and cultivating the destination s brand Drive visitors to the destination increase the number of heads in beds and visitors, ultimately increasing tax revenue and economic development (jobs, investment, etc.) Serving Travel Industry Stakeholders Delivering value to travel suppliers (hotels, restaurants, attractions, tour guides, etc.) in the destination and distribution partners who sell your travel products Capacity building and enablement of travel suppliers, especially small/independent travel businesses Collaboration between various Governmental and Private sector Tourism partners Coordination with other tourism organizations at the local, regional or national levels Inter-agency collaboration with related government agencies/organizations
Connected Tourism Ecosystem enabled by integrated business platform 6 4 1 8 5 3 2 7 1 2 Local Destination Marketing 3 Organization/ Tourism Board; Maintains the official visitor internet website, provides info about what makes the destination 4 unique, from attractions & accommodations to events Tourism Authority/Ministry; Collects & analyzes data (immigration/foreign affairs, marketing results, hotel/taxation data, etc.) to inform Tourism policy 5 Visitor Information Center; Provides info & reservations to visitors Mobile Tourist; Accesses info relevant to his particular location & traveler profile/ preferences via mobile phone Internet Cafe Tourist; Accesses her current itinerary while at an internet café to get info regarding a possible change in travel plans 6 7 8 Hotel; Provides property & inventory info to Official Visitor Website. Staff accesses info about an upcoming city-wide conference that will affect the hotel s occupancy and staffing needs Tour Guide; Provides info about tours; offering last minute specials via the Official Tourism Portal; accesses photos & other assets from extranet for use in promo materials DMO Call Center; Responds to calls by referring to DMO intranet for consistent, up-todate information
Characteristic of a Robust Tourism Business Platform 1. Presence on the Internet Visitor Portals at the National, Regional and Local Levels Facilitating online presence and booking for micro enterprises Requires effective content management capabilities 2. Effective Communication & Collaboration between Tourism Stakeholders Intranets for Government funded Tourism organizations Extranets to allow for Industry Only communications and collaboration (e.g. Access to Image/Video Libraries, or approved descriptions of attractions, areas of historical significance, etc. 3. Business Intelligence Huge amounts of data available, but often difficult to analyze Need to share insights and collaborate on everything from emerging trends, to effective marketing tactics, etc.
1 VISITOR PORTAL The tourist experience
Destination Management Portal Example: www.andorra.ad
Mapping -- Accommodations on Map
2 COMMUNICATION & COLLABORATION Streamline communications with stakeholder & partners, increase productivity and deliver value
Communications & Collaboration Benefits Ensure all members of your Tourism Ecosystem are in sync and upto-date while enabling two-way communication: Disseminate information on city-wide conventions & events to all stakeholders (including: transportation, hotels, event site/convention center, attractions, etc.) Ensure Tourism Information Centers, Tourism Offices and staff have latest, most accurate information Communicate with Stakeholders regarding construction, logistics or security issues that may effect tourism Intranet or Extranet
INTRANET/EXTRANET 3 TRAINING & ENABLEMENT Building the Capacity & Capability of your staff and stakeholders
Communication & Collaboration Tools for Success There are a variety of technologies and methods for Tourism Information Centers to Share information across their Intranet and Extranet properties Intranet or Extranet
Training & Enablement Benefits Ensure delivery of marketing resources for use in training, marketing materials, promotions and collateral Provide training materials and online courses on an intranet to train new hires for Tourism Information Centers and Tourism Office. Offer structured courses that could result in certification for: small/independent travel-related enterprises, partner tourism orgs, internal staff, tourism ambassadors, etc. Enablement Provide marketing resources for the travel suppliers in the destination to facilitate their marketing/promotional efforts: photo libraries, market data & research, email/newsletter templates, promo copy for local attractions, etc. Intranet or Extranet
Training & Enablement Tools for Success There are a variety of technologies and methods for Tourism Organizations to provide Structured Learning & Marketing Resources to each of their stakeholder groups via Intranet and Extranet properties Intranet or Extranet
BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE 4 BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE Turn data into insight
What BI can measure and inform Return on Marketing Investment: What BI is Tracked: How BI data should be used: Visitor Information: Track number of visitors to destination, (either collected at port of entry, immigration, Homeland Security) country/post-code of origin, and length of stay. Benchmark against marketing activity to assess growth in tourism. Tourism Information Metrics: Track number of visitors to Tourism Information Centers, visitor counts, brochures/collateral disseminated/reordered. Determine what marketing collateral is most valued. Economic Impact data: Tourism Tax collection by geography. Gross receipts, direct and indirect employment figures. Assess influx or reduction of tourists and where tourism dollars are spent. Accommodation Booking Information: Track average room rate per night, avg length of stay for hotels in the destination across all types of accommodations. Determine marketing spend and assess growth potential. Membership Information: Track Paid Memberships and participation in events/programs/services consumed. Inform whether additional marketing spend should be put on member acquisition. Web Metrics: Track unique visits, time on site, page views, click-through and conversion rates[continued action rates/conversion to bookings]. Drive Web Experience improvements; the content exposed to customers all with the intent to increase bookings. Advertising Campaign Metrics: Tracking each campaign in detail. For example, impressions by media type (online, print, radio, direct response), response rates by channel, correlation with media flights and a pivot by audience. Test various types of online/offline media for effectiveness with audiences, time periods, offers and messages.
BI Example Executive Dashboard
BI Example--Dashboard
Thank you 2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Microsoft, Windows, Windows Vista and other product names are or may be registered trademarks and/or trademarks in the U.S. and/or other countries. The information herein is for informational purposes only and represents the current view of Microsoft Corporation as of the date of this presentation. Because Microsoft must respond to changing market conditions, it should not be interpreted to be a commitment on the part of Microsoft, and Microsoft cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information provided after the date of this presentation. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRESENTATION.
1 APPENDIX & EXAMPLES
Reservations Book direct with hotel
Reservations Book direct with hotel This booking functionality is under development right now
Central Reservation Booking Engine #1 www.visitchesire.com
Central Reservation Booking Engine #2
Mapping -- Accommodations on Map
Mapping -- Accommodations on Map
Social Computing User Generated Content
Social Computing User Generated Content
Example: Costa Brava region of Spain Marketing and training resources for professional audience www.costabrava.org
Costa Brava University is an elearning environment to train tourism professionals
BI Example Marketing Campaigns
BI Example Advertising Effectiveness
BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE 5 TOURISM WEB PLATFORM Addressing multiple needs
Microsoft s Tourism Web Platform Capabilities Internet (General Public) Training & Enablement (Internal staff, or external stakeholders) Communication & Collaboration (Within your org, with stakeholders and partners) Business Intelligence Social Computing, blogging User Generated Content (users sharing travel experiences) Central Reservations Mapping (hotel locations, destinations, points of interest) Online delivery of marketing resources to suppliers (templates, image libraries) Training Sharing and spreading information easily to regional offices My Sites, Document Libraries, Shared Folders Profile management Online: Portal Metrics; site traffic, page views, top pages, search results Offline: Marketing spend, ROI
Destination Management & Promotion Today s Data Silos: As solutions are developed, information silos often arise resulting in inefficiencies and inhibiting collaboration. Visitor Portal (Internet) Training & Enablement (Extranet) Communication & Collaboration (Intranet) Solution Platform Solution Platform Solution Platform
Advertising Sales/Revenue Generation Aspects of Destination Management & Promotion Location Based Services Reservations and Dynamic Packaging Mapping & Geo-Spatial Data Business Intelligence Social Computing Informing all Destination Management Decisions Personalization and CRM Visitor Portal (Internet) Robust Portals-Web 2.0 Promotion and Demand Generation (Ads, SEO, etc. Content Management Marketing resources for suppliers & other Tourism Orgs Communication and Collaboration (Intranet) Training and Enablement (Extranet) ICT tools for small Travel Suppliers/Providers Training/info for Tourism Orgs and Travel Suppliers Marketing enablement Sharing information and data: Throughout an entire Tourism organization, Between gov Tourism and related agencies on local, regional and national levels Sharing info/collaborating with providers and other stake holders. Information Sharing i info i i Information Silos Difficult to Collaborate The MS Platform i info
SUMMARY THE MICROSOFT TOURISM WEB PLATFORM: Addresses multiple needs Serve multiple internal departments/tasks Can help deliver value to stakeholders Increase efficiencies Reduce costs
Contact: Eric Basha (Ebasha@microsoft.com), Industry Managing Director, Public Sector - Government
2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Microsoft, Windows, Windows Vista and other product names are or may be registered trademarks and/or trademarks in the U.S. and/or other countries. The information herein is for informational purposes only and represents the current view of Microsoft Corporation as of the date of this presentation. Because Microsoft must respond to changing market conditions, it should not be interpreted to be a commitment on the part of Microsoft, and Microsoft cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information provided after the date of this presentation. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRESENTATION.