Doing More with Less!

One of the key challenges for DMOs across the UK for the foreseeable future will be how they can galvanise the private sector to participate in the delivery of effective destination marketing. Tourism Providers will have to work more collectively and DMOs will need to play a leading role in enabling this? What can be done by DMOs to make the most of their people and their data – their real assets – in an environment where we need to provide better services but with less money?

The work we have pioneered with iVisitorGuide in the Northwest  proves that there is a way to improve the productivity of your visitor economy AND reduce your budgets.

Now more than ever you will need to look carefully at your budgets and question what value you are able to add to your local visitor economy. We have been trialling a new approach to marketing and information provision over the last 18 months and have now developed a cost effective way of packaging/branding/presenting visitor information using your DMS platform that will dramatically increase the prominence of your regions key products and experiences on the internet.

The service is called iVisitorGuide and is the platform for the online distribution of your DMS data built upon a network of Tourism Providers who agree to cross promote for mutual benefit.

Key benefits to you will include:

·         Increased exposure on the world wide web – for you and your Members

·         Reduced marketing costs

·         New revenue streams

·         Tourism Provider business improvement

·         Taking visitor information directly to the consumer

We are convinced that our approach will revolutionise the way tourism boards work in the near future.

2010 will become known as the year when destination marketing moves from being publicly funded to public/private sector collaboration – where the DMO leads and the private sector pays! What public sector budgets that can be sourced will be used to back the clear and proven winners of tourism – the key UK attack brands. The reality moving forward will be about economy of scale, doing more with less and exploiting more opportunities with the private sector.

iVisitorGuide is the platform that will enable DMOs to manage the changes to come, work more constructively with your Tourism Providers and generate revenues. 

If you work in Marketing/Visitor Information/Commercial or Business Development within a DMO it would be great to meet with you to demonstrate iVisitorGuide and the results of our work to date. 

Can you afford to lose 66% of the consumers that visit your website?

Most tourism websites fail to provide the visitor information that consumers need to help them plan their trip. Research by Frommers Unlimited indicates that 66% of consumers find travel websites do not have enough information on Things to Do. Highlighted by Deloitte / Visit Britain as a national problem that affects the UK's international competitiveness, it clearly also affects how successful your business could be!

For Hotels in particular, as many as...

38% of consumers will avoid booking a hotel because the hotel website does not give them enough information about the destination!

[Forrester Research]

How much money is the industry losing because of this?

iVisitorGuide solves this problem.

We provide your business with the detailed visitor information that lets consumers know exactly what there is to do, where to stay, eat, drink, what's on and special offers - all local to your business. It's a simple link from your website that tells consumers all they need to be able to plan their trip and make the most of their stay. 

We want all tourism businesses to provide the very best visitor information to the millions of on-line consumers looking for ideas on where to visit and what to do. 

The research shows that when your website contains up to date, relevant and quality visitor information you increase the likelihood of:

• getting that booking
• inspiring more people to visit
• making sure that they have the best possible experience 
• encouraging repeat visits

Now, more than ever, we need people to arrive sooner, stay longer, do more things, have better experiences and spend more money. We need to start making it easy for people to plan their trips. We need to provide better information, inspiration and incentives.

Existing members of the iVisitorGuide network include leading businesses such as Chester Grosvenor Hotel, Tatton Park, Alderley Edge Hotel, Jodrell Bank, Cottons Hotel, Gawsworth Hall and Harrop Fold Farm amongst others. All of these businesses are working to sell their location as a great place to visit, promoting the local quality businesses around them and providing great customer service from the moment someone visits their websites.

iVisitorGuide costs from as little as 87p a day, yet in addition to the visitor information service you will also be joining a network of businesses who will all:

• inspire and motivate people to plan their trip to your destination!
• generate new enquiries
• increase marketing exposure
• improve Google ranking
• provide market intelligence on what consumers want to do

iVisitorGuide is a service that is managed and maintained in partnership with some of the UK's leading regional tourist boards.   

  

NEW iVisitor Guide Pilot for Visitor Attractions in Lancashire & the Wirral

Following on from the successful launch of iVisitor Guide in Cheshire the service is now being extended across the northwest and two new pilots have been approved in Lancashire and the Wirral. We specifically want to work with leading Visitor Attractions in these regions and are now inviting applications from suitable businesses to take part in the new programme.

A general invitation to take part will be announced on Twitter very shortly.

We want to work with those businesses who are already engaged in social media and understand the need to embrace new innovations, technology and services. 


Visitor Attractions in Cheshire that use the iVisitorGuide service include Tatton Park, Ness Botanic Gardens, Gawsworth Hall, Redhouse Farmshop and the Anson Engine Museum. The service is also used by the leading accommodation providers Chester Grosvenor & Spa, Grosvenor Pulford & Spa by Kasia, Harrop Fold Farm, Alderley Edge Hotel and Inglewood Manor amongst others.

If you'd like to view a presentation on some of the research and reasons why iVisitorGuide would be great for your visitor attraction please click on the presentation below. NB follow the option to view full screen and press autoplay.

iVisitor Guide - Visitor Attractions on Prezi

To find out if you can take advantage of the Pilot offer [no fees for 12 months] please contact Martyn Collins.

iVisitorGuide - a Local Solution to a National Problem

The importance of Tourism to the UK is exceptional; Deloitte's estimate that the wider worth of the visitor economy is £114bn, it attracts £20bn a year in foreign earnings, employs 8% of the workplace and represents at least the fifth largest sector of the economy*. Deloitte's report also identifies...

'future challenges facing the Visitor Economy and identifies key market failures.'

The UK's Visitor Economy is not only trying to flourish during a global economic recession - it is trying to do so despite the hugely negative impact of these market failures.

Two of the identified key market failures - Information Gaps [Asymmetries] and Free Rider Problem are presented as being difficult to resolve unless there is public sector intervention.

However the work we have been pioneering in Cheshire over the last 2 years proves that these Market Failures are simple to resolve with minimum public sector intervention.

The State of the Internet

Fascinating video that reveals some astounding facts about the size and reach of the Internet today. There are some amazing numbers - For example, there are about 740 million Internet users in Asia alone; Facebook serves 6 million pageviews per minute, requiring 30,000 servers; and there are 148,000 new zombie computers created each day by hackers using botnets.



JESS3 / The State of The Internet from Jesse Thomas on Vimeo.


With thanks for the link to www.fastcompany.com

Favourite Days Out in Cheshire

Last week saw the launch of another new iVisitor Guide website promoting the Favourite Days Out group of Visitor Attractions across Cheshire. This one site will give you lots of ideas for things to do when in Cheshire including family favourites such as the world famous Chester Zoo, historic Tatton Park, the botanic gardens at Ness or the out of this world experience at Jodrell Bank.

The Visitor Attractions of Cheshire provide the widest range of fun, excitement, history and culture that will amuse and entertain adults and children of all ages.

Always with a full calendar of great things to do, you may be thinking of visiting a specific attraction or looking to take in several over a short break – either way you’ll find all the information you need on the Favourite Days Out website!

This site also links to Taste Cheshire, another iVisitor Guide website that promotes the best of food & drink available across Cheshire so if you want somewhere fabulous to eat we've got lots of fantastic options here.


iVisitor Guide provides totally managed web development and maintenance services in conjunction with the regional tourist board Visit Chester & Cheshire.

How to engage in Social Media with Visit England

I just found this useful video produced by Visit England on Social Media



If you are a Tourism Provider I think it will be worth your while signing up and seeing how this initiative can help you. This service is a perfect complement to the iVisitor Guide service and I'm really pleased to see the initiative being trialled in this way.