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web2.0 in the tourism industry – status quo 2011

Friday, 11th of March 2011

Prof. Dr. Holger Lütters - holger.luetters@htw-berlin.de

Holger Lütters � web2.0 in the tourism industry � ITB Berlin 2011 2

The Internet is very important… but still developing fast

• ITB 2010 was full of spectacular web2.0 topics

• Internet is definitively not to be discussed anymore in terms of its importance for the tourism industry

• Preparation of a trip (holiday or week-end) is done using the internet

• Mobile usage is increasing on site

• web2.0 services have become players in tourism

Idea of the study came up during several tourism related projects in Brandenburg

Map from www.reiseland-brandenburg.de

Internet & Mobile use of tourists than of tourism professionals >

Idea of the study: Asking tourism professionals about their web activities and plans to use web2.0 services

• Goal: status quo of internet activities within the tourism industry (corporate and public organizations) in the field of

• internet activities

• web2.0/social media activities

• internet strategy & budgeting

Thanks to the following supporters this research was made possible:

• ITB Berlinwww.messe-berlin.de/itb

• BTE Tourismusmanagement, Regionalentwicklungwww.bte-tourismus.de

• DSFT – Deutsches Seminar für Tourismus Berlinwww.dsft-berlin.de

• pangea labs – questfox®www.questfox.com

FIELD REPORT OF THE STUDY

Field report

• January 2011 until March 2011

• 535 online contacts

• 310 fully completed interviews with questfox®(244 in German / 66 in English)

• Average Response Time: 14 minutes 21 seconds

• Recruiting: online riversampling with partners over social media and e-mail

• Non-monetary incentive to the participant: Promising the results

Limitations of the study

• Mode Bias: Asking over the internet only creates answers from people already online

• Riversampling approach is not representative for the industry (regional answer pattern)

• Social desirability seems to be high for everything which is new (“we plan it for the future”)

• Topic involvement (bias towards interest in technology) tends to overstress the importance of some aspects

• Only successful companies interviewed (82% see a positive development for themselves)

STRUCTURE OF PARTICIPANTS

The study only partly represents the tourism organizations present during ITB Berlin 2011

Basis: n=310; single answer

The statements in the study are made by experienced representatives of the tourism industry

The majority of survey participants have a marketing background

All company sizes are represented

Most of the answers were gathered from Europe (Germany)

INTERNET ACTIVITIES OF THE ORGANIZATIONS

Self-assessment of the online activities

We are not active at all

We use the full potential of the Internet

Question: How would you characterize the activities of your company/organization on the internet?

30% of the interviewed tourism professionals consider themselves as less active on the internet

We use the full potential of the Internet

Basis: n=310

Average:64%

ACTIVITIES FROM WEB1.0 TO WEB2.0

Example of a question

Question: How active is your organization in the following field of online marketing?

The organization’s website is the hub for all online activities

The „classic“ form of e-mail marketing is used intensively

The classic form of web banner advertising is not used by 60% of the sample

The opportunities of keyword marketing are only used by half of the sample

Affiliate marketing is not used by / unknown to the majority of the interviewed tourism professionals

33% do not optimize their most important contact to the online world in order to be found

Social Bookmarking does not play a major role in the online strategy of the tourism professionals (unknown to 20%)

35% do already state to work on Social Media Optimization

Until now only 20% of the sample are actively using digital mobile applications

The majority of the tourism professionals are not using map services until now

Location Based Services are still new to the industry which should be leading in this field

Overall the sample feels quite active in web2.0… even though they only cover parts of the opportunities

Overview: Website, e-mail and already web2.0

Own website

Affiliate marketing

E-mail marketing

Keyword marketing

Web banner

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Social Media Optimization (SMO)

Social Bookmarking

Own digital mobile applications (Apps)

Integration of own services into Location Based Services

Entries of own services in maps

Web 2.0 activities

IntensivelyNo activity

Summary of classic internet activities:Industry is neglecting some of the new opportunities

• The website is still the most important online-channel, followed by classical email marketing

• The complexity of the new web is not really seen (“one new activity already feels like a lot of web2.0”)

• The connections between one´s own activity and the outside world is not really understood

• Existence of a strategy and establisher online budgeting procedure explains more than any other factor

WEB2.0 ACTIVITIES

Social Media is a major activity in web2.0 activities of the tourism professionals

Basis: n=240 respondents with higher activity level than 50%; multiple answers allowed

Question: Which web 2.0 services does your organization already incorporate on the web?

Active companies incorporate a wider range of services in their online activities

Social Media play a huge role even for less active companies

Basis: n=240 respondents with higher activity level than 50%; without people not answering for budgetmultiple answers allowed

SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE

Picture: www.krawattentraeger.de

The self-assessment of activity is lower for Social Media

We use the full potential of the Social Media

Basis: n=310

Average:58%

Representatives of the tourism industry have preferences among online social platforms

Absolutely unimportant

Very important

The facebook use is about to become a professional issue

n=138 respondents using facebook

Facebook for business is already planned……but not yet established for all members of the industry

n=138 respondents using facebook

Which are the organizations already having business activities on facebook?

Social Media: Chance or risk?

100% Risk

100% Chance

Basis: n=303

Summary Social Media: The fun becomes professional

• Facebook is more important to consumers, but businesses are getting involved on a professional level

• Activities on facebook seem to be a must; the earlier… the cheaper

• Do not ignore locally more important platforms (Orkut in Brazil; Hyves.NL; China web2.0)

• It’s a chance.It is only a risk if you start without a strategy and do not know how to integrate it!

MAP SERVICES

Google Maps is the most used instrument among the online map services

Question: On which of the following map services is your organization represented with an own entry?

Other map services

Basis: n=199

FUTURE WEB ACTIVITY MIX

Analytic hierarchy process (AHP) decision making model used to evaluate future importance

The dominance of the website will remain at a lower level

Consistency-Ratio : 0,197

n=310; AHP comparisons; groups based on different questions

ONLINE BOOKING OF TOURISM RELATED PRODUCTS

Everything can possibly be booked online in the future

Package tour

Flights

Train journeys

Hotel accommodation

Youth hostel, hostel

Private accommodation

Rental car

On-site transport (Bus, train etc.)

Short journeys/weekend trips

Performances/events

0% online booking

100% online booking

Basis: n=298

CONSUMER TRUST

3 kinds of typical web representations of a Berlin hotel were shown in comparison

n=309; AHP comparisons

The trustworthiness of personal information is 5 times higher than information from a commercial organization

n=309; AHP comparisons

Which form of evaluation will customers consider as more credible?

MANAGEMENT OF ONLINE ACTIVITIES

The website is mainly managed by the organization itself

Basis: n=310; multiple answers allowed

How does your company organize the web site?

38% percent cannot work with a defined budget for online marketing

Only 29% state having a defined Social Media Strategy

Basis: n=233

Only 24% are working with a Mobile Strategy… but 44% have plans for 2011

Basis: n=133

Size of the organization seems to determine the budgeting process

Basis: n=310; item list of single answers

Online budgets are more used for marketing purposes than for technical issues

n=143 with Online Budgetn=114 without Online Budget

Summary Management of online activities

• A strategy helps!

• A defined budget for online activities is the first step

• Make or buy?

• Integrate important knowledge!

• Outsource and crowdsource!

• Keep an eye on mobile and social media!

FUTURE OF ONLINEOpen Questions:

Question: Which web services or applications change the tourism industry the most?

Tagcloud powered by wordle.net based on three open answers n=310

Question: What social media services will change the tourism industry the most?

Question: What mobile services will change the tourism industry the most?

SUMMARY

Status quo: web1.5 in the tourism industry

• web2.0 is happening for consumers, but only parts of the tourism industry tend to follow these developments

• 50% of the respondents are not willing/able to follow the fast web2.0 development

• Online still seems to be a topic besides more important things

Recommendations to the tourism industry

• Do not follow any hype cycle……but do not leave out important developments.

• The internet is going away from the desktop environment to a more personalized location based environment on mobile phones. Not everyone in the tourism sector is joining.

• Make sure that the tourism industry takes the driver’s seat in the development process.

Suggestions for online success of the tourism industry

Explanatory variables Recommendation

Age or work experience are not explaining differences in online behavior in this study

Do not take age as an excuse for not being up-to-date online

Technological usage explains the differences in perception of the importance of trends

Get your employees a new mobile device and let them officially use facebook and other services

Budgeting online activities / Definition of a strategy

Have a plan! Give a budget to the responsible people

Exhibitors vs. Non-Visitors Send your people to ITB 2012!Send your people to ITB 2012!

Thank you for your attention

Special Thanks to Marta Bojkovska-Langer and

Thank you for your attention and to the companies making this study possible

• ITB Berlinwww.messe-berlin.de/itb

• BTE Tourismusmanagement, Regionalentwicklungwww.bte-tourismus.de

• DSFT – Deutsches Seminar für Tourismus Berlinwww.dsft-berlin.de

• pangea labs – questfox®www.questfox.com

People supporting the study

• Prof. Dr. Holger Lütters, Professor International Marketing, Hochschule für Technik & Wirtschaft Berlinholger.luetters@htw-berlin.de

• Marta Bojkovska-Langer, Online Research Consultant,pangea labs mbl@pangealabs.com

• Prof. Dr. Hartmut Rein, Director BTE Tourismusmanagement & Regionalentwicklung; rein@bte-tourismus.de

• Juliane Gaebler & Sascha Stange, KompetenzCenter ITB Berlin

• Rolf Schrader, Director Deutsches Seminar für Tourismus Berlin

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