I started this week at the University of Guelph, one of Canada’s most prestigious Schools of Hospitality & Tourism Management.  It was a privilege to meet with and teach the next generation of industry professionals, ranging from hospitality MBAs to first year undergraduate students. In an industry where staff recruitment and retention can be so challenging, it was wonderful to observe both the job fair and alumni/student evening as well as the very practical approach to bringing the hospitality and tourism businesses together with its bright young future employees.  This is something which must surely enhance Canada’s future competitiveness as a tourism destination.

Also contributing to Canada’s strong future focus is Canada e-connect, the e-tourism strategy conference running in Toronto this week.

Hosted by the Tourism Industry Association of Canada and organised by fellow T List blogger Jaime Horwitz, I feel e-connect day one successfully delivered attendees three critical things:

1. A dose of digital reality

Not only has the world has changed -  “deal with it” – but here are some strategies to help you deal. (Strategies, note, not just tactics as is so often the case  at tourism industry events).  This was about a grown-up approach to e-tourism and emarketing – not just a bunch of cool stuff you can do, regardless of how relevant to your business and customer.  This included:

The 4 ps of digital marketing.  Because this conference was about so much more than tactics, it was interesting to hear Dr Ian Fenwick talk both accessibly and inspiringly about the shift in marketing fundamentals that lie behind digital marketing strategy.  The traditional 4ps of marketing (price, product, promotion, place) take a shifted focus in a digital environment, a theme reiterated through the day.  The principals of digital marketing, whether we’re talking mobile devices or email communications, come down to:

• Permission (opt in, easy opt out, non interruptive/invasive, frequency as agreed by customer)
• Participation  (customer participation in content creation, what the brand stands for etc)
• Particulars (collecting customer data drop by drop)
• Personalisation (relevant, timely, valuable to customer)

What I found interesting about many of the speakers in the course of the day was that they didn’t simply focus on the 2nd P – participation – and managed to avoid getting fixated on  promotion/user generated content at the cost of everything else.  Exactly the lesson I was teaching to the marketing students at the University of Guelph earlier in the week.

Message before  medium. In one of the best analogies of the day, Adam Keats of Weber Shandwick explained that when Moses chiselled out the 10 commandments from God, it wasn’t because he had some really neat stone tablets that he wanted to fill with content – it was because he had these messages to get across and the stone tablets were the best medium to hand.

He concluded by saying let’s not ask “how do I blog successfully?” but instead ask “what stories can I tell?”In both the mobile strategies session and the blogging session, it was illuminating to hear panellists say “this may not be for you.”

Likewise, in the mobile strategies session panelists urged businesses to think about what your customer does when out and about on their phone (and other mobile devices such as in car gps) – and define where in that process you can bring them extra value that is highly relevant and timely.  If you don’t deliver extra value in that customer’s personal context – then maybe you don’t need a mobile strategy.  And if of course you do, then contextual is a word you’re going to be uttering a whole lot more in future!

2. An enhanced view of customer centricity

The travelling customer was not invisible at this conference.  Instead of being entirely supply-side or product focussed, there was talk of permission, personalisation, customer centricity etc.  But it was Diane Clarkson of Forrester that really delivered a powerful reminder of the customer’s importance in her lunchtime address on delivering the valued customer’s experience in a web 2.0 world.  Because economic conditions are meaning travellers are spending less, taking fewer trips and are reducing accommodation spend (either downscaling rooms or establishments).

“Travelers don’t care that the economy is tough on you too”  Diane Clarkson, Forrester

Diane highlighted that critical to embedding the valued customer’s experience across the organisation are the principals that the customer must feel:

• Fulfilment of their needs, both in terms of the product delivery, but also their emotional expectations
• Respect – for their time, for their money, for their experience
• Communicated with – by name, authentically, personally

Right now, 3 out of 4 people do not feel valued in the email communications they receive – they are product/supplier centric, rather than centred on delivering value to the customer as an individual.  She warned that based on the evidence of their research, it was clear that the current strategies of many tourism businesses focus inwards on the company, rather than outwards on the customer.

Fortunately, the conference content offered businesses strategies to address that!

3. A clear view forward, not a glance behind in the rear view mirror

I found, judging from day one, that e-connect was suitably forward looking and pitched very appropriately.  It didn’t take the line of “you must get into web 2.0 or be left behind.”  In many ways it took for granted that businesses were already in that space, or at least wrestling with the questions provoked by the 4 new ps listed above.  Instead the conference looked intelligently ahead – based not just in terms of technologies, but more importantly in terms of customer needs, expectations and digital usage.

While not at the bleeding edge of travel innovation in the way that the PhoCusWright conference is, it nevertheless featured the thinking of those innovators and translated it into relevant terms for the mainstream Canada tourism industry, without (in my opinion) being either too basic or too backward looking. And that is critical to getting any form of innovation embedded into the wider market place.

Good job Jaime and TIAC – I think Canada is leading the way in e-tourism in so many ways.

And to give the final quote to Sean Shannon of Expedia Canada, who talked about balancing the intelligent use of information with respect for customer sensibilities:

“It’s not always what technology can do, but what you decide to do with it”.

But the time can come when a man tires of stands offering similar offerings and needs to go in search of something else. Perhaps a walk on the wild side.

So, with that in mind, I decided to venture (within the safe confines of WTM) into the ‘axis of evil’ – in other words, I decided that I would visit the stands of countries that draw a fair amount of opprobrium and see how just how they were marketing themselves from a…errr…negative brand position.

The end result? In some cases, ‘ethical’ concerns might matter but I suspect that this can successfully be got round by some nifty marketing that addresses the emotional fears that unethical actions are a proxy for.

What do I mean by it being a proxy? Well, for example, if I believe that a government ready to imprison and torture its citizens seemingly on a whim, then I fear that there might be a chance that I might be subject to the same treatment, equally on a whim. But, there are ways and means around these unconscious fears that can help present destinations in a more favourable light. And the stands here are WTM might well be interesting insights into how to deal with these perceptions.

Take Cuba for example.

Cuba is not officially a paid up member of the axis of evil but Human Rights Watch (hardly a US stooge) notes that it is still a repressive country but the international public perception of it (outside the US) is that it is, at worst, almost a slightly wayward social democrat country that it is important to visit before it is ruined by nasty commercialism. I suspect that Cuba is well aware of this and, as such, its stand here at WTM is big, brash and confident. Ironically for a communist country, it is is a well marketed and professional destination marketed with considerable commercial nouce.

And it is fun.

As such, Cuba would appear to have listened to research and market forces and responded to consumer demands in improving and diversifying its product.

On the other hand, the Iranian stand (representing a country that is officially a member of the ‘axis of evil’) lacks this confidence. Like many of the Middle Eastern countries, it seems to rely on old images and on a slightly worth line of products. Their product appeals to a bookish person like myself but I think it communicates at the level of the head, not the heart. By this, I mean I need to be reassured that Iran, for example , is a safe place to visit where I won’t be stopped for a cultural misunderstanding. This doesn’t seem to happen and so, despite the attractions, there is still some nagging doubt. Overall, there doesn’t seem to be a suggestion of fun and the emphasis seemed to be on the historic, not the living.

However, fun seemed to be on the minds of the fellow evil-ites in the Syrian stand. Although the cliches undoubtedly abounded here as well, they were living cliches with people enjoying themselves – people laughing, people eating and people chatting. All of which are reassuring images common to all humanity.

While not an official ‘axis of evil’ country, China is nevertheless working hard to improve its image as a destination to visit. They’re not at the Iran level but neither are they are the Cuba level. I think their game is a longer one that will slowly build their brand to the point that they are perceived as a super-charged Singapore – no better or worse but certainly not grounds to avoid.

Finally, I went in search of the really evil Hermit Kingdom of North Korea. However, if they are here, their reputation for secrecy is intact as I couldn’t find them.

So, what can we learn from this slightly silly excuse of a post? Well, I think it is the lesson that destinations need to market to the heart as well as the head. As we noted a while ago, many of us carry conscious and unconscious prejudices and destinations need to address these in order to position themselves effectively. And although I have been using perhaps extreme examples, this lesson applies also to mainstream destinations – I don’t care if somewhere has a spectacular castle if it is an area where I’m likely to be mugged, for example.

Right, I’m off to find the Zimbabwean and Guantanamo Bay stands.

Update 1700: Well, after my mention of the Zimbabwe stand, I did go to and it struck me as traditional (safaris and all that) but…actually good. Despite the situation in the country, the stand suggested safety and fun. Not sure what that means for my theory.

External Links:

GoCuba (Canadian official site)

Iran Tourism

Syria Tourism (actually not a great site in contrast to the stand – you need to come and talk to us, guys)

China Tourism

Tourism in North Korea

Axis of Evil

WTM Global Trends Report

OK, let’s start off with an overview of the WTM Global Trends Reports prepared in partnership with Euromonitor.

Despite the talk of markets that have growth potential, it is clear that in the next few years, there is going to be, at best, a slow down in the tourism and travel sector. Beyond that, however, there are new markets and new possibilities. So here are a few of the highlights for me from the report:

• Free and cross-subsidized pricing will become increasingly used (but regular Tracking Tourism readers knew that back in March!)

• Customers are downsizing in a variety of ways – but still travelling. In some cases, this downsizing happily coincides with a desire for more authenticity (home swaps, for example, so that you get to live like a local) and in other cases it’s simply a move to cheaper alternatives (good old price elasticity of demand coming into play).

• Destinations are having to cast their nets wider to catch customers. For example, the report cites the Bahamas and the British Virgin Islands marketing beyond the traditional US market. Although not made explicit in the report, this surely means greater competition among destinations for similar pools of customers, something I’ll touch on a little later.

• The downsizing/authenticity nexus can arguably be described as resulting in a travel 2.0 experience in which ‘user generated’ social network interaction online result in real visits made to real people in real neighbourhoods as a logical extension of that way of interacting. Obviously, before we get to breathless about this, most of you will appreciate that this is a variant on ‘visiting friends and relatives’ and it’s what people do when they have less cash. But, I can see that Web 2.0 technologies can make this a more easily facilitated process than might have occurred in previous years.

• There’s an increasingly complicated pictures of inter-regional travel and tourism. For example, a Scot working in the Oil industry in Saudi and part of the large expat community there should be considered not only as a Scot in terms of travel preferences but also as a potential traveller defined by where he currently works. So, to take our example further, his circumstances mean that a jaunt to Dubai might be more appealing than a jaunt to Ibiza or somewhere similar popular with British people.

Some elements of the report I disagree with or feel that they occupy a really niche market. For example, there is a section on philanthropic tourism whereby rich westerners have a feel-good break that ethically engages with the local community (a bit like Fairtrade travel). I don’t deny that such travel exists and that there is some customer demand for it (as opposed to it being part of the Corporate Social Responsibility PR agenda of the supplier) but wonder how large such a market will be over the next torrid couple of years and their lingering aftermath. I’m not too sure how charitable I might be feeling in 18 months time!

The press release for the WTM Global Trends Report can be accessed here.

Increased competition

I also attended a press conference yesterday for Croatian Tourism and, as with most countries, there is a real recognition of the benefits of tourism for the economy and the image of the country. But seeing Croatia’s efforts also made me realise the sheer intensity of competition in some regions and the need to define a really clear proposition for the customer.

Put simply Croatia is a great Mediterranean country with a great coast that wants to get more upmarket customers. Great ambitions but I suspect that it has France, Italy, Turkey, Greece, Cyprus, Malta, the Balearics, Israel, Lebanon, Morocco, Libya, Tunisia, Egypt and the rest of the 25 countries bordering the Med. as competition and all adopting similar strategies.

This doesn’t mean that Croatia shouldn’t try but rather that each of these areas needs to have a clear USP, brand or market position to get ahead. And while ‘quality tourism’ remains an attractive prospect, I often wonder whether ‘good value’ (i.e. cheaper) tourism isn’t still a viable aspiration. Your thoughts on this one gratefully received.

Stop me!

Finally, I suspect that many of Trackingtourism.com’s UK readers are attending WTM so do email me if you want to meet up on Tuesday 11th November.

To my mind, this attitude is not one of caution or inclusion. It is rather one of unwitting slow suicide.

The image on the right is a reprint of an advert that appeared in the Wisden Almanack in the 1920s (possibly earlier?). You’ll notice that all three establishments have had this new-fangled device installed called the telephone so that you can make bookings and inquires. You also notice that they sell themselves on the fact that there are ‘electric lights and bells throughout’ and no charge for attendance or lights.

The point I am making in pointing to this is that lights, telephones, internal communications mechanisms are now taken for granted in hotels. They are not optional extras. And in the same way, modern standards of service are not optional extras – they are as fundamental as electric lights and telephones.

As a colleague recently said, “I don’t expect to pay for my towels so why should I be expected to pay for WiFi?”

So, to my mind, it would be ridiculous as a DMO to overly indulge a bed and breakfast owner who was losing bookings because he wasn’t sure about having a phone line. Put brutally, he would deserve to go out of business because his business model was fundamentally flawed (note that I’m not talking here about isolation holidays or that kind of thing).

And in the same way, tourism businesses that are unsure whether they should

• respond to email enquiries;
• have a professional website;
• have online booking; or
• attempt to understand what travel 2.0 involves;

should feel the chill winds of the current climate and either step up to the plate or make way for someone who does understand these modern business fundamentals.

You might think this is an exaggeration – surely it is only a minority now who act like this? Maybe so but I fear its a larger minority that we sometimes suspect (I speak only of the UK here) and there sometimes seems excessive attention paid to their concerns which frankly seem more like indulgence that encouragement. My recent experience suggested that this was at the cost of those who had made moves to improve their businesses through adoption of these fundamentals and who now needed that little extra advice to take it to an even higher and successful level.

Whenever I am in North America, I am often impressed at how hard many travel companies work to earn your dollars. There is often a level of intelligence and aspiration that, whatever the level of the product, signals a more grown-up market with big aspirations. However, while they look to the stars, it seems that we are too often left staring at the floor.

Perhaps I’m being unfair here – let me know how I am wrong!

From Scotland to South Africa, Beijing to the Cook Islands, it’s a much quoted maxim that “tourism is everyone’s business”.  Not surprisingly, it passes particularly from the lips of those national and regional marketers charged with putting a destination’s best faced forward to the world.  They are only too aware of the severe damage that gaps between the promise and delivery of experience can cause.

With all the multiple touchpoints that impact on a visitors end-to-end experience, one bad apple has the power to sour the visitor experience. Sometimes to the extent that the good businesses cannot fully redeem it.

As a result, the investment to win, satisfy and re-attract a customer at national, regional and individual business level is undermined.

Sound like I’m exaggerating?  Here at Highland Business Research we conduct direct visitor satisfaction research across countries, destinations and individual businesses.  We seek out visitors for face to face or internet research, plus they seek us out to share their experiences through our systematic customer experience measurement programmes.

Here are some first hand examples of the bad apple effect in actions.

“I just had to get this off my chest”…

I recently received a phone call from a visitor who’d just experienced the worst meal of their life.  The hotel in question was not our client and had provided no means for the visitor to give feedback.  But so incensed and upset was this individual that they went to the trouble of using a feedback postcard from a completely different business to track down our number and call.

They felt that had wasted money they could ill afford, a special occasion had been spoilt and their impression of the overall destination was unquestionably tarnished.  So they went to the effort to tell someone “in tourism” about it, in the hope someone cared.  Another person would have been on Tripadvisor, blogging or writing to the local newspaper.

Our client, who has invested in their business and in analysing and acting on customer feedback, not only lost trade to the bad apple but in effect subsidised the means for the bad apple’s customer to complain.

In another incident, a visitor almost shook with rage during a recent face to face interview as they recalled how a few days earlier they had been subjected to particularly patronising and abusive “service” in a shop where they were browsing for high end gifts.  They had decided to keep their money and weren’t planning any more shopping.

Because we spend a lot of time asking visitors about their experience and represent a disinterested party they can be frank with, we not only hear about some appalling examples of bad apples in action – we also get to see just how strong the emotional reaction is to the negative experiences.

The ripple-out effect is wide.

When conducting research for destination A it is common to be told about an emotive incident that occurred in destination B – completely beyond the scope of influence of those undertaking the research, but one and the same in the visitors mind.

Bad experiences stick and people want to get them off their chest by telling others about them.  And they now have the tools to tell a bigger audience than ever.  The ripple out is a problem because it takes more than an equal amount of good experiences to offset the damage from a very negative one.  Additionally the negative experience anchors satisfaction low, so that the visitor is also likely to rate the other tourism businesses that they encounter lower than they would otherwise have done.

Wired’s take on the anchoring effect: “If a customer watches three movies in a row that merit four stars — say, the Star Wars trilogy — and then sees one that’s a bit better — say, Blade Runner — they’ll likely give the last movie five stars. But if they started the week with one-star stinkers like the Star Wars prequels, Blade Runner might get only a 4 or even a 3.”

So what to do about the bad apples?

There’s no deny that tourists and therefore tourism and travel businesses are facing an economic struggle.  With vacation time and income tight, the sting of a very bad experience with the bad apple is potentially even more potent. And with competition fierce, a good business or destination that is making effort and investment is justified in being frustrated when future business is lost thanks to a bad apple.

So assuming that a Beijing Olympics approach to obstacles is not taken, what does a destination or a group of businesses do about the bad apple that is impacting on the experience of their own visitors?

I must be honest and say I have no grand plan – only some loose ideas below.  I would be very interested to hear your thoughts and experiences.  Here are my views on some possible options:

• Just let market forces take their toll. If they’re that bad they’ll go out of business.  The trouble with this one is that in current economic circumstances they’ll probably go out of business slower than a far better business that has debt from investment in its product and expensive well trained staff.  I’m not sure “do nothing” can be enough for a destination that is fighting hard to stay business.

• Provide a band aid, moral support and try to outshine the negative. The good business tries to offset the negative impact, by virtue of its qualities, winning the visitor round in the process.  The trouble is, the negative has already had an impact.  An anchoring effect kicks in, meaning that the rating the good business achieves may still be lower – despite them doing everything right – than it would have been after a series of good experiences by the customer.

• Name and shame – let the customers do the talking? Tourism businesses have always listened to their customers’ feedback on the associated experiences in their visit that they did or didn’t enjoy and have used these to formulate future recommendations for customers.  The popularity of online travel ratings and user generated content means it possible for you to have a wider than ever view of who the bad apples in your market are.  Visitors are talking and you can listen.  Whether you then encourage your customers to avoid the bad apples like the plague, or are tasked with trying to bring them up to standard depends on your job description!

• Apply the carrot of training/rewards and the stick of policy at a national or regional level. Not an option that tends to have teeth in free market Western democracies, but still wrestled with the world over.  But with so much of the tourism sector operating in a grey zone outside of official quality assurance programs, or impacted by businesses such as retail that may not even regard themselves as “in tourism” – taking this approach as a standalone seems doomed outside of planned economies.

• Lead by example to drive sector, community or destination level quality control activities.  Ah, a tough one.  Movements like Scotland’s Pride and Passion have taken this approach, with the private sector trying to lead by best practice example.  However, the concern is that they are preaching to the converted.  Are they ever successful in influencing the indifferent, ill-willed and the incompetent that make up the bad apples? (This is a genuine question – please do tell me if you know!)

If I had to pick one, personally it would be name and shame by letting the customers do the talking – and really utilise what you are hearing for competitive advantage.  As my recent distressed caller said “there are clearly so much nicer places about, I want other people to be able to find them instead of places that don’t give a damn”.

I’d love to hear if you know of different appraches to this issue that have worked.

This week at ITB the world’s tourism destinations were on display. An attractive, dizzying whirl of infinite travel possibilities, all chasing a finite visitor spend.

So take a glimpse at your competition.

Which destinations really stood out?

India was again incredibly impressive. I have previously posted here about the Incredible India campaign and I am a big fan of the marketing and strategic efforts being made by India to dramatically grow its inbound tourism. Those efforts were in full flow at ITB and business was clearly being done.

The efforts seem to be paying off – compared to 2006, foreign tourists earnings grew 33.8%, with 2006 having previously registered a growth of 19.2% over 2005 (more facts and figures here). As hosts of the 2010 Commonwealth Games and with an aggressive tourism growth strategy in place, it seems likely that growth will continue.

Poland – not surprisingly given its geographic proximity to Germany, Poland’s presence at ITB was extensive and compelling. With dramatic landscapes, historic buildings and deep culture it represents an interesting potential competitor to Scotland. Poland also now has an extensive expatriate population working across the EU and beyond, who are effectively prospective return visitors (just as the Scottish and Indian Diaspora represent prime targets in their “home” markets).

Euromonitor predicts the hosting of Euro 2012 will be a significant development factor for Poland’s tourism industry: “This third largest sports competition in the world will intensively impact the development of such sectors as hotels, foodservice and transportation. Rough estimates are that about EUR50 billion will be spent in the coming years to ensure that the complete infrastructure is in place for this large event.”

The Faroe Islands – now with a direct flight from London’s Stansted Airport, Faroe is in its own words “bypassing Shetland” where the visitors from London previously used to land. Like Shetland, its remoteness is an attraction, but it comes at the price of high transportation costs (though it does not regard itself as being as expensive as Iceland, for example). Also like Scotland’s Northern Isles, the Faroe Islands lead on the natural environment and historic culture and it is focussing product development on areas like cycling, hiking, seabirds, diving and fishing.

Scandinavia – sited right next to the UK stand (embracing an individual presence for Scotland, Wales, England and London) was the united front of Scandinavia. Featuring Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, the Scandinavian group has some of the strongest destinations for natural beauty, environmental and eco-tourism. Most of the group are experiencing fairly consistent tourism growth.

Like parts of Scotland, some of Scandinavia suffers from extreme seasonality in its tourism, with summer the most popular time to visit. Iceland, according to Euromonitor, has managed to curtail this somewhat in the past few years with strategies to attract convention and incentive travellers as well as those looking for a city break. Evidence suggests it is en route to becoming a major destination.

So, how does a destination compete with the rest of the world?

To get insight into this I’d recommend checking out the Country Brand Index research by FutureBrand. This highly useful and in-depth annual research ranks key tourism destinations according to factors such as assets, reputation, experiences and perceptions.

Australia leads the overall country brand index. India was number 1 for authenticity in the 2006 country brand index, with New Zealand leading in 2007 (all extremely strongly marketed destinations). Sweden topped the environmental rankings in 2007, with Croatia named as rising star. (Poland also appears in the top 10 places on their way to becoming major destinations).

In their 2006 report, FutureBrand explained:

“A country’s ability to be authentic, deliver authentic and communicate authentic is probably one of its biggest destination advantages today.”

“People want to experience the true essence of a different place. This is the magic of a country brand.”

But in such a competitive market, destinations are struggling.

“Within the sea of print collateral, few country brands stand out. In addition to having similar language and tone, many ads and brochures share a similar look and feel. In fear of narrow-casting or focusing on one core asset, many countries go in the reverse direction and link to sweeping and generic words like “truly” or “amazing.” They feature hero shots of sky, beach and other stereotypical images of “paradise” and “culture,” employing a wide palette of bold colors. This attempt to grab consumers and invite them to think about vacationing as the realization of dream, discovery and relaxation has become undifferentiated in a saturated marketplace.”

The destinations I highlighted above have not made this mistake (nor do other leading destinations, including in my opinion Scotland). They have a strong sense of identity and authenticity and they focus on the core values at the heart of the brand.

Many of Euromonitor’s top 150 city destinations worldwide, which account for 27% of the global inbound tourism in terms of arrivals, also demonstrate these same features. This suggests that authenticity and a focus on unique, defining character is a far more potent strategy than attempting to promote a destination as a generalist “something for everyone”.

Do you agree? What country destinations do you think the competition should be aware of?

I wish that every tourist considering a visit to Scotland could have their taste buds tickled by the Scotland group on Flickr.

Its stunning images, a selection are shown here in its group blog, represent the best visualisations of Scotland – both in terms of traditionally “postcard” imagery, but also of the daily life of a modern country.

Unlike photographs commissioned in advance for print, these images emerge in near real time, reflecting the changes in seasons and highlighting exceptional events and sights. As a result, I believe they reflect the heartbeat of the country.

But its not just tourists who should be paying serious attention to these destination groups on Flickr.

The people contributing photos to the Scotland group (and other destination groups like it) are producing an authetic, passionate commentary about a tourism destination, that is there for the world to read. It’s because of this that I think destination marketers and researchers should be paying more attention to Flickr than they currently are.

Using the example of the Scotland group, it is participative in a way that reinforces the attractiveness of the destination to the visitor. In the discussion threads, the comments and images of residents are combined with the reminiscences of ex-pats, former students and previous visitors. They are interspersed with comments from people expressing anticipation, excitement and desire to visit Scotland.

In a quick analysis of an 85 post discussion thread entitled “Who are you and where are you from?” I found that while around 60% of participants currently live in Scotland, around 10% are from England or elsewhere in the UK and 30% are from outside the UK.

The non-Scotland based members have an opportunity to maintain and even strengthen their bond with the country by sustaining the interaction with the place, despite the distance.

Having removed any personal identifiers, I ran the words in the discussion thread through a tag cloud generator, in order to identify some of the most frequent terms used:

The results are not just about traditional imagery, castles and scenery. Instead very dynamic, emotional terms emerge – living, love, beautiful, family, best, originally. This is a vocabulary that embodies connection and engagement.

And the Scotland group is not some lone exception. I’ve run similar threads from other destination groups through the same process and the themes are the same: “Love, living, enjoy, moved, feels, visit”

This is engagement and it is real. And it’s what potential visitors trust, often to a greater extent than the formal marketing messages a destination produces.

So how do destinations embrace the Flickr effect?

Firstly, I think it is important to recognise critical mass when you see it and not try to go head to head in competition with a force like Flickr. But I also think it can be used far more effectively than it currently is.

For market insight, yes.

But perhaps more importantly as an embodiment of the pulse of a place.

As an example, two weeks ago the city of Inverness where I live celebrated the end of its year of Highland Culture with an almighty fireworks display by the team behind the Sydney Olympics fireworks. Less than an hour after the event, the first very high quality pictures were on Flickr. The picture used by the BBC website was from a local Flickr star.

By the next day a dozen or more people had posted pictures – many of which attracted hundreds of views from people worldwide. I suspect the PR for the destination functioned more effectively in this Flickr context than it did in the traditional offline and online media, where grumbles about costs soured the coverage.

A destination’s marketing team can’t be everywhere, all the time. It can’t afford to constantly produce a high quality, real-time visualisation of what being there is really like. But on a site like Flickr, there are passionate individuals that can and will achieve this. This is an incredible opportunity as long as destinations can find a way to engage with these individuals, rather than expolit them.

Perhaps one answer is a destination endorsed “access all areas” pass for key Flickrites?

In a recent interview in this blog, leading tourism attraction owner Freda Rapson of Jacobite explained why she believed joined up destination visitor data should be a research priority for Scotland’s tourism industry. She mentioned how a learning journey to Austria had really opened her eyes to just how valuable nationally collected visitor information could be.

So it was terrific to be able to discuss this very subject with Martin Schobert, from the Austrian National Tourist Office (Österreich Werbung). Martin is Region Manager for Austria and responsible for both research and knowledge transfer. He is also one of regular bloggers at the Austrian National Tourist Office’s corporate blog: Kulinarisch Reisen.

Martin explained the practicalities of the Austrian visitor data system:

“In Austria there is a central register of residents (population) and therefore it is ruled by law that also each visitor has to register when he/she stays at a commercial accommodation. So it is Government requirement to log everybody that arrives in Austria. Each region/city is responsible for collecting this data and they send it to a federal data collection organisation. It is then sent to a national organisation called Statistik Austria and they are our partner organisation.”

The paper based system is all implemented through the accommodation provider and data collection is a governmental regulation. Visitors register on arrival, using a simple form (one per party) and then there is no additional time or resource required. While only one person fills it out, the form records group size and where the visitor came from, and of course, this also ties this back to the specific type and class of accommodation visited.

The official form has four copies, which means that not only does the government and national statistics office have access to the data, but the individual business also has a full and standardised record of all guest data.

Martin adds “it is very easy for us to access this data but it’s a huge and difficult process to organise!”

Yet the data is typically then available just 2 or 3 months later, which strikes me as pretty quick. All the statistics are available online and can be seen for free at TourMIS. It is a system everyone can use.

As Martin explains “it helps benchmarking for destinations and federal provinces but it also means businesses do not have to do this work themselves.” Its no surprise then that Martin says Österreich Werbung is “very glad with the system – and it costs us nothing because it’s a governmental regulation.”

There is also potential for the TourMIS system to be used by other countries. As Marin points out, the data is there and in co-operation with the European travel commission and other bodies, it is a model others can use.

Due to data protection, the personal data is only allowed to be used for marketing purposes by the individual accommodation businesses. These retain their own copy of the personal registration details of their own guests.

But the Austrian National Tourist Office may use the anonymous data for marketing “intelligence” and market research purposes, which given the completeness of the data set, is still powerful stuff.

Going forward, Statistik Austria is looking to include more country of origin references (for example, singling out Dubai from the Arabic countries now they have opened new office there).

Martin adds “the only thing we can’t solve right now is the difference between business and leisure travel – because there is no official need to differentiate on this on the official form. It seems pretty simple, but actually it is difficult to get form amended.”

No doubt this is something the team will overcome, making there data even more powerful and allowing even greater targeting and segmentation of Austria’s national marketing.

Is this something Scotland can do?

To come back to the question Freda Rapson originally posed – if Austria can get this data, why can’t Scotland? – I asked Martin if he thought their system was something Scotland (and indeed other destinations) can emulate.

His answer: “Yes. But it has to be Scotland-wide, because if collection is not obligatory (and ideally organised by the local authorities, because tourism organisations never would be able to afford this registration-process) and nation-wide on the exactly the same criteria, it doesn’t work. The results will not be good enough to compare to each other.” And normally, businesses have to do this research themselves so they do not get this standardisation or quality, which is why Scottish tourism organisations have to make a case for a national system.

Certainly, Austria’s paper based system of national visitor registration clearly works for them and is enhancing both national marketing and the performance of individual businesses.

Is there any reason why the same approach wouldn’t work here? I’d especially love to hear from you if you have first hand experience of visitor data capture systems used by other destinations worldwide.

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Subsequent to Rick’s talk, I discussed bed taxes with a representative of an industry body representing small accommodation providers and his objections can be described as follows:

• It’s unfair – why tax accommodation providers and then use that money to benefit the whole tourism industry?
• It would be another nail in the coffin – prices are high enough and this will kill the industry as visitors will chose to go elsewhere; and
• It’s too bureaucratic – can you imagine a Bed and Breakfast owner struggling to deal with the tax implications of this?

Although I continue to keep an open mind, I am not yet convinced by these arguments and think that the benefits could outweigh disadvantages.

If it assumed that a bed tax is used to fund developments, initiatives and promotions that would otherwise have been funded by central government, I think the following advantages follow:

• The central marketing agency (bodies like Tourism Vancouver or VisitScotland) has a more defined stream of income. Funding for public sector bodies usually follows political imperatives and timetables – wouldn’t it be great if they followed industry needs instead?
• The central marketing body has a stake in making sure this works – if fewer visitors visit, the central marketing body suffers as a result. It therefore makes the body much more responsive to industries needs on a results basis.

Obviously, the bed tax process also lays the ground work for much more robust visitor data collection and statistics (as I believe has happened in Austria for example)

But in response to my friend’s original observations,I would say

• A bed tax indeed is collected by the accommodation providers and it benefits the entire area – but people rarely visit an area just so they can sleep! They come to you place because of the other things in the area and so you are all in it together.
• People still visit New York, Vancouver, New Orleans and many many other great destinations despite the imposition of a tax – if your area has value, visitors will come. If your area has little value, a bed tax will be a determining factor but, if this is the case, perhaps you are focusing on the wrong issue?
• It’s no more bureaucratic that any other tax you currently pay.

I appreciate that this is an emotive issue. No one likes paying tax and I’m sure there will be many that disagree with what I have written. Perhaps what’s needed is a change of terminology – from the antagonistic ‘bed tax’ through to things like ‘environmental levies’?

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Jacobite, the five star attraction owned by Freda Rapson, offers cruises and a wide selection of tours and charters sailing on the legendary Loch Ness throughout the year.

As Tony Mercer, Head of Quality & Standards at VisitScotland says:

“Jacobite is a worthy holder of the 5 star Tour accolade as it sets very high standards in the hugely important day trip market. Visitors and locals alike can enjoy the experience of viewing some of our most famous sites, Loch Ness and Urquhart Castle, from the loch itself on an informative and comfortable cruise combined with coach trip.”

Playing close attention to business data, visitor satisfaction and balanced scorecard KPIs has been of great significance in growing this successful business.

However, Freda believes that for maximum success, it is essential that a more joined up approach to visitor data collection and dissemination is undertaken at a local and regional level.

She regards overcoming dated and disjointed local visitor data as critical for tourism businesses like Jacobite, in order to fully maximise their marketing to geographically discrete markets.

As Freda explains:

“I’ve got a bee in my bonnet at the moment about the amount of customer information that is out there but is not joined up. We collect information mostly from our customer feedback cards. Nationality/visitor origin is one of the main statistics we pick out, so we’ve got that information. And somebody in another business down the road has that information. But nobody links it together.”

“If we all had three standard questions that were asked, and that data was centrally analysed and shared between businesses, it would be such a simple thing.”

The Austrian visitor data example

Freda describes her experiences from a recent learning journey to Austria, where she found near perfect statistics for accommodation occupancy, seasonality, year on year trends and overnight visitor nationalities.

“In Austria, organised by government, everyone that checks in has to give name and nationality. This added to the hotel specific (eg 4 star, location) which all goes into a central database. It means that everyone that spends a night in Austria is recorded. It is so simple, why can’t we do it? Clearly it would require legislation/central co-ordination but its not rocket science. Its so do-able.”

The Austrian research process that Freda refers to is described at some length in this very useful research paper by Karl W. Wöber (Institute for Tourism and Leisure Studies, Vienna University, Austria).

I would agree with Freda that the data collection process is both do-able and very important, though I would add that there are complexities and challenges involved, particularly of the political and administrative varieties.

It would, for example require not only careful planning, but a long term financing model that would allow the data to be collected of a number of years. There would be challenges to ensure that smaller or poorer areas were not overlooked or excluded.

As Karl W. Wöber writes about the Austrian experience:

“Due to the refinancing interests of data collection authorities and the lack of financial resources in the tourism industry, however, the data analysis for smaller tourism regions or report communities has been prevented in the past. This factor must be regretted since it can be assumed that the evaluation of key success factors in tourism marketing will significantly improve when they are measured in smaller regional units.

Also tourism managers, especially those operating on a regional level, usually have only very little influence in the organization of nationwide surveys. Therefore, many of the statistical series are based on administrative regions that are not always congruent with actual regional use and by tourists and subsequent flows.”

Nevertheless, there is no reason why the 20 years plus of learnings from regions like Austria could not be taken on board to ensure that any process developed in Scotland does not fall at obstacles that have already been encountered elsewhere.

How could such data be used by tourism businesses?

Clearly even the most accurate data has little value if it is not used. As Freda adds “its all very well recording it, but what matters is what you then do with it.”

She explains how such visitor information would be utilised by Jacobite, most importantly “to understand profile of customers.”

“Our customers don’t match the old regional survey data that was conducted on the street. Groups, for example, get missed. If data such as visitor origin were accurate it would clarify who we are marketing to, so we could target and promote accordingly. We’d ask what are we doing in the key areas where the bulk of visitors are coming from”

She continues “I do think that there is a lot of fallacy out there. People say we’re not a family market, or not a short break market. Or people say there are no German or Spanish visitors out there. There are.

I bet you if you counted them, there are significant numbers but they’re being missed. For example, the official stats say roughly 1% of visitors are Spanish – but that is not the picture I see in my business.”

“I know what our percentage of our individuals and groups are in terms of nationality – and somewhere, those people are staying here. As a visitor attraction, we see the key link as being with the accommodation providers. Visitors come and stay and then look at what they will do. There must be a point of contact to record that visit – even if that needs legislation – so the visitor data is accurate and truly reflects our business.”

At a destination and country management level, there are of course many other potential uses for joined up visitor data – from comparative regional profiles to package targeting. But what I think is significant about Freda’s viewpoint is that she makes a very strong case for how individual businesses themselves will also profit from better quality data.

And given that is individual businesses like Jacobite who will be responsible for achieving Scotland’s revenue growth targets over the next decade, I think Freda has a strong case for putting joined up visitor data at the top of the tourism industry wish list.