Tmi 091012

www.bournemouth.ac.uk

The Learning Destination: Developing productive relationships between higher education and destination management

Dr Phil Long, Dr Philip Alford, Dr Debbie Sadd, and Lisa AshurstSchool of Tourism, Bournemouth University

Anthony Climpson, New Forest TourismGraham Richardson, Poole TourismMark Smith, Bournemouth Tourism

www.bournemouth.ac.uk 2

Relationships between universities and destination management: observations and opportunities

• Need for critical reflection on professional practice (in both universities and destination management!)

• Some academic research is of direct relevance to professional practice and development

• Some academic research is (or perhaps should be) of interest to practitioners

• Academics are increasingly required to ‘engage’ with our sectors

• Funding opportunities exist…………

www.bournemouth.ac.uk 3www.bournemouth.ac.uk/business-services

Bournemouth University

School of TourismEvents, Hospitality, Leisure, Retail, Sport & Tourism

www.bournemouth.ac.uk/tourism

Approx. 18000 students, 1600 international students from 130 countries

Six Schools

England’s Best New University – 2009; 2010 (The Guardian League Tables)

Significant Period of Investment in Buildings and People

Ambitious Research & Enterprise Agenda for 2012 and Beyond


School of Tourism



Budget 2012-13: c£16m (R & E income c£1.2m)

Over 100 Staff (77 Academics, high % Professorial)

1500 Undergraduate Students; 200 Postgraduate Students

45 PhD Students

Strong international profile – students, staff and partners


Indicators of quality



• Rated “excellent” by the QAA• Research of national and international excellence

(RAE / REF)• Strong graduate employment rates • High application rates• UNWTO accreditation• TMI recognition of BA (Hons) Tourism Management

and MSc Destination Marketing and Management



Research Centres



Tourism Research Expertise includes:



Tourism Development and Planning

Economic and Econometric Impact Modelling

Tourism Sector Management, Marketing and e-Tourism

Destination Management and Marketing

Sustainable Development and Tourism

Employment, Human Resources, and Education in tourism

Health, well-being and social tourism


Tourism Research Projects include:



Accessibility and Tourism

Wildlife and Eco Tourism

‘Slow Travel’ and ‘well-being’

Tourism, Climate Change, Crises and Disaster Management

Generational Change and Patterns of Consumer Behaviour

Managing World Heritage Sites

Real Ale Tourism


Recent Staff Publications:




Journals Edited in the School include:




School of Tourism, Bournemouth University: Partners and networks

• Tourism Management Institute• England Tourism Research and Intelligence Partnership• International Festivals and Events Association• WTO / UNESCO / UNEP

• ATLAS (Association for Tourism and Leisure Education)• European Union of Tourism Officers• …….


Funding relationships between destination management and higher education: The Bournemouth case

Acronyms explained:

•NTBA•HEIF funded DDP (inc. DIF,DIG, FAME)•ESRC / AHRC•NCTA


The Impetus

• Regional Growth Fund application to fund the development of the UK’s first National Tourism Business Academy (NTBA)

• Driven by private business• Guided by academics• Supported by destination management

professionals


The NTBA concept

Aimed to:

• Offer ‘blended learning’ to support tourism businesses

• Pioneer the formation of a whole destination as a shared learning resource

• Improve business performance for Bournemouth, Poole and the New Forest tourism sector

• Be fully operational as a national tourism business resource from 2013


Disappointment!

• Regional Growth Fund bid rejected …..

• BUT ….

• Funding secured from Higher Education Innovation Fund (HEIF) for The Destination Development Programme (DDP)


The Destination Development Programme:Working Towards a National Tourism Business Academy

• By 2015 Bournemouth University will be the pre-eminent institution for the study of tourist destinations in the UK and overseas and the home of a “state of the art” knowledge exchange to facilitate research, study, employer engagement, professional development and networking for all destination stakeholders.


Destination Development Programme

• Research Frameworks• Destination Intelligence Framework (DIF)• Framework for the Assessment of Major Events (FAME)• Destination Innovations Group (DIG)

• Profile and Reputation

• Integrated Bidding

• New Venture Development


Destination Development Programme:Objectives

• To develop an exemplary model of destination-wide interaction and engagement among private and public sector tourism organisations, academic institutions (staff and students), destination management organisations and related external networks to foster and enhance the growth prospects of tourist destinations in their entirety and become the custodian of a knowledge repository of best practice in destination marketing and management.

• To offer a programme of blended learning to support professional development across tourist destinations to include lectures, workshops, seminars, webinars, peer-to-peer networks etc.


Destination Development Programme: Objectives

• To develop, and then market, robust and innovative research frameworks to underpin decision making in destinations and inform the development and testing of new products, events and markets.

• To enhance BU’s profile and reputation as the pre-eminent institution for the study of tourism in the UK and provide an environment in which student recruitment (undergraduate, postgraduate, professional and PhD), internships and placements, consultancy, volunteering, graduate employment and academic research can flourish and raise the external profile of the destination and all destination stakeholders.


Destination Development Programme: Objectives

• To create a proactive culture of integrated bidding among destination stakeholders for external funding (e.g. EU, ESRC, AHRC) and growth opportunities.

• To collaborate with BU’s Centre for Entrepreneurship and Business Engagement to facilitate new destination-related venture development.


Destination Development Programme: Elements

• Physical and Virtual Destination Knowledge Exchange• Professional networking and mentoring• External lectures and events• Self-help facility and professional development• Information repository• Student hub for internships, placements, consultancy, volunteering and graduate

employment

• Blended Learning• MSc Destination Marketing & Management• eMarketing Strategies, Destination Marketing & Management, Managing the

Visitor Experience• ‘Bite-size’ learning• Collaboration with VisitEngland, TMI and Tourism Society


Destination Development Programme Elements: Destination Intelligence Framework (DIF)

• Development of research frameworks / models in collaboration with the University Market Research Group

• Collection and analysis of robust data to support operational and strategic planning


Destination Development Programme Elements: Framework for the Assessment of Major Events (FAME)

• Framework for assessing the viability of major events for Bournemouth to build on the expertise of the Air Festival

• Potentially transferable• Framework developed and informed with key

stakeholders and independent expert facilitation• Need to ‘tie in’ with wider destination development

programme


Destination Development Programme Elements: Destination Innovation Group (DIG)

• “To identify and harness the most dynamic “Emerging Talent” from the 18,000 strong tourism workforce in Bournemouth, Poole and the New Forest”


Destination Innovation Group (DIG): Objectives

To realise opportunities for:

• product and service innovation• greater market differentiation• a sharper competitive edge• increased market share and: • to inform a research and development programme that

will draw on national and international examples to underpin ideas


HEIF as catalyst for successful bidding

• ESRC Knowledge Exchange – Digital Destinations: Exchanging Digital Technology Knowledge in Local Tourism Economies

• Crown Estates/Coastal Communities –

National Coastal Tourism Academy


Some points arising from yesterday

• The destination brand = the sum of all the stories• The DMO as the enabler in a destination• Passionate communities• Lifestage is key to influence buyer behaviour• Big data – how to mine it?• What to do next “Put 50% into CRM”• Where in the funnel can you influence?


Digital Destinations

• Recruit 60 ‘visitor economy’ businesses – diverse membership in terms of size, sector, skills and knowledge - divided into six clusters

• Aim: to discuss, develop, test and share best practice in online marketing focused on the development of an effective and measurable online marketing strategy

• Empower businesses in the destination• Overall focus on co-production and co-delivery of

knowledge• End product - more effective individual business online

marketing = greater online presence for the destination as a whole


Greater than the sum of the parts


What do the businesses get?

• An online marketing strategy developed, tested and critiqued over a 12-month period

• Expert input via face to face seminars, online webinars and access to materials via the project website

• A final year student is placed with the organisation and works alongside them on their online marketing strategy

• An opportunity to benchmark against peer group• Insights into leading edge measurement and tracking of

online marketing to get that all-elusive ROI data!• Peer support

Poll

Question: How do you measure your ROI from social media?

a) New traffic to your website?

b) New sales leads generated?

c) The number of Likes / Fans / Views?

d) Increase in brand sentiment?

e) Collection of profiling data?

31

Results

Question: How do you measure your ROI from social media?

32

Why Digital Visitor

Digital Visitor specialise in the Travel, Tourism and Leisure sector both for:

Social media technology•Application for easy integration into websites providing review and social media capability

Social media marketing•Relevant experience for social media campaigns and channel management in the industry

33

Reviews increasing conversions

•Potential customers expect to see reviews•60% of consumers say they’re more likely to make a purchase from a website with ratings and reviews Jupiter Research and iPerceptions

•Why let customers leave your website to find these

34

Driving organic traffic

Search engines love reviews

Regularly added user generated reviews, including images and videos, will help to drive organic traffic

35

Increasing traffic from social media channels

Sharing content with social media channels

•Company’s profile – Sharing content to your own profiles will drive traffic

•Customers – Use your customers to tell other like minded individuals by sharing to their own profiles

36

Gathering content

How can you gather content for your own website

•Ask customers to add reviews

•Make it easy for them

•Show reviews and media content against relevant products and services

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Measurement is key

‘Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted”


Customer engagement value


Crown Estates/Coastal Communities: National Coastal Tourism Academy (NCTA)

• “The NCTA is a ground-breaking knowledge transfer initiative, designed to accelerate tourism growth in destinations and businesses across Britain.”

• “Its aim is to coordinate an entire coastal tourism destination as a centre of excellence that will provide a unique combination of practical and academic support.”


Primary purposes of the NCTA

• To increase economic performance of tourism in Bournemouth, then more widely

• To establish the NCTA as a viable centre of excellence internationally.

•

S

Shared vision


NCTA Programme Elements

• Coastal Activity Park and programme • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLheNd5oVIw

• Developing resort wide ‘world class’ visitor experience programmes

• Coastal tourism product research and development programme

• Informed by and informing national and international research and best practice


NCTA: How is it funded?

• Two years funded support from the Coastal Communities Fund, administered by DCLG, with support from Bournemouth University and commitments from Bournemouth Tourism Management Board and Borough Council

• Key aims of securing long-term sustainability and longitudinal, funded research programmes and

• securing national and international profile and participation


A destination manager’s perspective: Tony Climpson

• Benefits of delivering student lectures • Value of student placements/secondments• Students are the future – we’re the present

(often the past )• Learning never stops• It’s a two way street


Relationships between universities and destination management: Issues and challenges

• What are your experiences and observations on working relationships between destination managers, the wider tourism sector and higher education?

www.bournemouth.ac.uk

Questions and Contacts:

Lisa AshurstSchool of Tourism, Bournemouth University

[email protected]

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