A new destination marketing organization strategy involving the tripecho

In this era of iPads, metasearch and consumer content, where does the traditional CVB (convention and visitors bureau) or DMO (destination marketing organization) fit into the ever-fracturing leisure travel planning process?

Certainly still part of the overall travel planning puzzle, DMOs (the general term we will use for both organizations throughout the rest of the article) have built a remarkable bond of trust with the vacationing consumer. However, DMOs concurrently struggle to have the same consumer recall and utilize this unbiased bastion of travel knowledge at the opportune time.

Is it simply an issue of information overload — tweets, posts, videos, reviews, status updates, texts — or is the DMO model outdated in the digital age?

How does a DMO position itself to achieve a level of mindshare appropriate for such a valued resource?

First, let’s review the standard goals of any DMO: visitation/heads in beds, revenue through taxes or advertising and finally, information dissemination.

The first two goals are difficult to track (or at the very least show direct metrics) and the third goal is proving to be highly time-consuming to manage in today’s splintered market.

The bottleneck for most DMOs is attempting to squeeze new techniques and mediums into the template of old model goals.  A better measurement methodology is not the answer, but rather the establishment and inclusion of new goals.

Goals that take into account the traits of the digital traveler.

The tripecho accounts for the lasting effect of travel

Visitors come and go, often once in a lifetime, but what is the true value of that visitor? How do they communicate their trip, experiences and opinions about your destination?  What is their lifetime value?

Do they post a photo gallery on Flickr? Send tweets during dinner?  Write a review on TripAdvisor.  Maintain a blog? Even just pass on the printed visitor guide?

And, what about the local audience, friends, relatives, etc?  What is the value of a local recommendation on Yelp or a friend’s foursquare check-in?

How do we account for all of the ripples caused by the social nature of digital communication?

We need a new goal, a new metric and a new term…the tripecho.

Visitation is better represented by the consumer’s tripecho or a valuation on the communication/social impact of the travel experience.

Relevancy — the new revenue

In simple terms, communication that is targeted becomes more relevant for the consumer and, therefore, more likely to generate revenue.

Leveraging the consumer should be a mutually beneficial partnership, not a one-way advertising push.  We know so much about the consumer, primarily thanks to either a desire for personalization or the unknown results of information sharing.

It seems ridiculous that this information is commonly pushed aside in favor of a shotgun marketing technique.

The traveler is happy to share information if they receive relevant results.  Then, the revenue will follow.

Conversation replaces information

One-way information dissemination is no longer tolerated or appreciated in today’s interactive planning process.  Little more than a push of information via a mailed visitors guide was acceptable as recently as 15 years ago, but the modern demographic is expecting a conversation.

Twitter, TripAdvisor, VirtualTourist, questions and answers, texting…all of these new information highways follow a common path of communication.  DMOs must learn to adopt and embrace open, meaningful conversation via a variety of mediums as an important indicator of travel.

Does it make sense, in today’s market, that one-on-one conversations on Twitter or via a call center are given less value than an obscure visitor guide request?

The tripecho, revenue relevancy and conversation are the points on the new digital roadmap.

The time is now to define your version of the roadmap and plan a route to marketing success in the digital age.

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