There are 2,3 billions internet users in the world with significant penetration ratios in countries all over the world(5). Recently, User-Generated Content (UGC) has been considered as one of the most important sources of information influencing tourists’ choices. Despite this, few studies have focused on examining cross- visitation, that is referral and conversion traffic from UGC to other key online and offline information sources. Further, little research has focussed on analysing when consumers use UGC along with their information-search and the related cross-visitation.

Some empirical data

UGC plays a relevant role along with all the online searching and booking behaviour of tourists, particularly UGC within third-parties websites. Referring to the so called “billboard effect”, recent research showed that consumers’ decision making often starts by looking at Online Travel Agencies (1,2,4), whose posts of reviews and comments clearly influence tourists choices and online booking(3). Analyzing 1,720 reservations for InterContinental Hotel Brands, a study reported that almost 75% of consumers who booked through the official website of Intercontinental had visited an OTA prior to making the reservation, with nearly 83% performing a search on Google, Yahoo or Bing and two-thirds performing both a search and an OTA visit (2). Further, cross-visits by OTA shoppers to Facebook exceeded seven in 10 whereas cross-citation with Twitter was found to be at around 25% for both OTA and hotel web site buyers (6).

The when consumers use UGC: the Italian tourists’ behavior

Recently, an empirical study was carried out on a sample of 623 Italian tourists to analyze the when consumers use UGC along with their information-search and the related cross-visitation (4). The final open-ended question asked participants to fully describe the way they usually search for information when making hotel reservations. Their open answers were manually coded considering the sequence by which each category of information (both online or offline) were cited (that is step 1, step 2, etc). It was then possible to calculate the frequencies by which the different sources were found to be used along with the respondents’ information-search.

Table 1 shows in which stage each information source is used by respondents to make their hotel booking.

Table 1 – The online information-search: what information sources do tourists use? (%)

The majority of respondents stated that they start their online booking by using OTAs (45.6%) or search engines (23,2%). 14.5% of them reported referring to tourism-related social networks (such as TripAdvisor, Zoover, etc) in the early stage of their search-information process. Furthermore, Table 2 shows that tourists sometimes finalize their booking via traditional travel agencies or via direct contact with hotel (phone call or email).

Further insights on tourists’ booking behaviour can be obtained by concentrating our attention on what happens once tourists start a search via OTAs and search engines, the information sources that appear to influence the early stage of the search the most.

As shown in Figure 1, 23.2% of respondents start their search through search engines and then visit the hotel’s own website (37.2%), or OTAs (24.6%) or tourism-related social network (8.7%).

Figure 1 – Online booking starting with search engines: how do tourists search for information?

Source: Del Chiappa(4)

22.6% of those visiting the hotel website at the second step of their search, proceed in the next step via phone call or email (19.4) or visiting an OTAs to search for comments and reviews and/or to look for more convenient rates (22.6%). There is also a 12.9% of tourists who continue to look for other UGC in tourism-related social networks. 24.6% of those visiting OTAs at the second step, proceed to visit the official websites (50%), other tourism related social networks (19.2%) or make a phone call to the hotel (11.5%).

Figure 2 – Online booking starting with OTAs: how do tourists search for information?

Source: Del Chiappa(4)

According to Figure 2, 45.6% of respondents start their research through OTAs and proceed to visit the hotel’s website (55.2%) or other travel 2.0 application, that is tourism related social networks (19.7%). Then, 69,4% of those visiting hotel websites at the second step of their search, proceed via email (36.5%), phone call (32.9%) or other tourism-related social network (12.9%). 17.9% of those visiting tourism-related social networks at the second step, then visit the hotels’ website (72.7%), or place a phone call (9.1%) or visit photo sharing websites (3%).

Managerial implications and suggestions

Better knowledge on how information is acquired, enables marketers to better influence tourists’ buying decisions. The aforementioned research suggests that hotel marketers should monitor their brand reputation over the internet and should pay particular attention to UGC uploaded onto On line Travel Agencies, considering that it is by looking at ratings/ comments within these websites that consumers’ may decide to include or exclude a given hotel from their potential set of choices. Tourists would then be able to consider the hotel as they proceed in their information search using all the other information sources. Further, findings suggest that hotel marketers should adopt a multichannel communication and distribution strategy (on-line and off-line) to influence tourist choices and should manage their internet strategies (parity rate, effective booking engine, call-to-action, etc) and their customer service in order to convert as much traffic generated by OTAs (and other Travel 2.0 applications).

References

(1) _ Anderson, C. K. (2009). The Billboard Effect: Online Travel Agent Impact on Non-OTA Reservation Volume. CHR Report. The Center for Hospitality Research at Cornell University, 9(16).

(2) _ Anderson, C. K. (2011). Search, OTAs, and Online Booking: An Expanded Analysis of the Billboard Effect. CHR Report. The Center for Hospitality Research at Cornell University, 11(8).

(3) _ Del Chiappa, G. (2011). Trustworthiness of Travel 2.0 applications and their influence on tourist behaviour: an empirical investigation in Italy. In R. Law, M. Fuchs and F. Ricci (Eds.), Information and Communication Technologies in Tourism 2011, 343-353. Vienna, Austria: Springer.

(4) _ Del Chiappa, G. (2012). User Generated Content and its influence on tourists’ choices: how do tourists make hotel reservations online? Turistica, Special Issue “Content Personalization and Multimedia Marketing for Destinations and Tourism Business, 1, pp. 39-50. Paper presented at Modern Hospitality and Tourism Development Conference, Università di Allameh Tabataba’i di Teheran.

(5) _ Internet Word Stats. (2011). Top 20 countries with the highest number of internet users. Accessed online (August 31, 2011) at http://www.internetworldstats.com/top20.htm.

(6) _ PhoCusWright. (2011). Social Media in Travel 2011: Traffic, Activitiy & Sentiment.

Giacomo Del Chiappa – Assistant Professor in Marketing, Faculty of Economics, University of Sassari

Giacomo Del Chiappa received a Ph.D in “Marketing and Business Administration” at the Faculty of Economics of the University of Milan-Bicocca. He was Visiting Scholar at the University of Melbourne (Australia). He is Assistant Professor in Marketing at the University of Sassari, Faculty of Economics. He teaches in the areas of “Tourism Management and Marketing” and “Destination Management” for the Degree in Tourism Marketing and Management, based in Olbia (Sardinia). He is a member of the editorial board of the journal “Tourism Analysis” and referee for international journals. His research topics are related to destination governance and branding, convention site selection criteria and meeting industry and, finally, consumer behavior in tourism. In this latter field his studies are concentrated on responsible tourism, on web 2.0 in the hospitality sector and, finally, on community-based tourism. Fields of expertise: Destination governance and branding Convention site selection criteria and meeting industry Consumer behavior Organization Web site

From train stations to youth hostels and tourism offices, best practices in accessibility are now in place in France, thanks to the Law of February 11, 2005, which promotes the equality of rights and opportunities, participation and citizenship of people with disabilities. This law, in effect, recognizes the principle of accessibility for all, regardless of disability.

What are best practices in tourism accessibility?

According to a report carried out by Kéroul, in cooperation with the Canadian Tourism Commission, best practices in tourism accessibility must:

• Foster accessibility with short-, medium- and long-term actions involving destinations and municipalities as well as tourism organizations.
• Be transferable, that is, reproducible as is or with adaptation.
• Inspire action by highlighting the importance of acting “outside the box,” for example, by bringing together new players and mobilizing them around common issues.
• Encourage involvement of public and private organizations.
• Address real needs.

In France, six criteria were used to help determine the selection of 14 exemplary accessibility projects, out of the 220 submitted to the Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development, Transport and Housing:

• Quality of use
• Quality of urban planning, aesthetics and innovation
• Safety
• Environmental quality
• Governance and cooperation
• Overall structure of the project

The 14 best examples were published in the Compendium of best practices for making cities more accessible (Recueil de belles pratiques et de bons usages en matière d’accessibilité de la cité) and we present some of them below.

Auberge de jeunesse l’Escale

The Escale project meets the needs of all types of impairments: mobility, visual, audio or intellectual. During the construction stage, this youth hostel opted for integrated accessibility, which means adaptations are only perceived by the users who need them. “Ordinary” clients will not notice the following: the pattern of lobby tiles, some of which are coarse-grained, indicates a path; toilets are installed on darker backgrounds so they can be seen by people with visual disabilities; the signage combining text and images was created largely for those with intellectual disabilities; the elevators talk and doors have low threshold heights. The Dunkerque urban community managed to involve all the partners in the project, particularly the development company and the future operator.

Vanoise National Park mountain hut

Plan du Lac, a mountain hut built in the Maurienne valley at an altitude of 2351 m, was designed to be accessible to people with mobility or visual impairments. It features adapted bathrooms, special signage (panels with raised letters, audio tactile tools), inclined surfaces, an exterior ramp and specially arranged furniture. Visitors can also borrow a device that transforms a city wheelchair into an “all-terrain” wheelchair (see picture), as well as audio guides and booklets for people with visual impairments. All the local players—elected officials, technicians and associations—worked very closely together to create Plan du Lac.

Gîtes Les Salicornes

This holiday rental offers two kinds of accommodation: one is adapted for the four types of disabilities, while the other is for mental and hearing disabilities. Access to the lodgings is facilitated by a parking lot with compacted ground, access ramps, an absence of door thresholds and paths with tactile elements in contrasting colours. The bathroom, kitchen and bedrooms are fully adapted, thanks to features like grab bars, contrasting colours, low furniture on wheels, and plugs and light switches positioned at the proper height.

The quality services and high degree of accessibility enable travellers with disabilities to enjoy a vacation home with as much autonomy as possible.

Saint-Cloud/Val d’Or train station

In February 2006, the SNCF (French rail company) created an advisory council of people with disabilities or reduced mobility from eight national associations representing all types of disabilities. The Saint-Cloud/Val d’Or train station project was the result of this cooperation. It includes a new footbridge that overlooks all the tracks and connects the two platforms, which were completely renovated and outfitted, along the edges, with tactile warning strips. Passengers can access the footbridge via elevator or escalator. The train station features the following facilities and accommodations:

• An arrow with an audible alert to help people with visual impairments navigate within the train station
• Double indicator strips that are recognized and reassuring for people with visual, mental or intellectual impairments
• Ramps to facilitate the movements of people with reduced mobility and those encumbered with luggage or strollers
• A virtual character named Jade, who translates any audio announcements into French Sign Language

Source: developpement-durable.gouv.fr

Office de tourism/Vitrine des métiers d’arts in Villedieu-les-Poêles

When the tourism office/showroom for handicrafts was built in Villedieu-les-Poêles, it was designed to be accessible in every way. It features physical accommodations aimed at all disabilities, as well as adapted pedagogical tools for visitors (tactile tours, Braille guides, portable induction loop systems in all the rooms to enable hearing aid users to hear more clearly, etc.) and special staff training. Initially designed for members of the public with disabilities, some of the features are now offered to everyone: guided tours, interactive games for people with intellectual impairments and improvements to the visual comfort of exhibition spaces.

The grounds of the building were renovated to facilitate access and connect it to downtown and other nearby facilities via a safe, accessible route.

In France, there were 5,000 certified sites in 2011 (30% of rental homes and furnished apartments, 12% of hotels, 17% of holiday accommodations and 10% of heritage sites). In Québec, the Accessible Road includes 170 cultural and tourism establishments such as hotels, theme parks, heritage sites, cultural attractions, tourist information sites, gardens and nature parks. In the United States, tourism accessibility should increase with the March 2012 implementation of new guidelines for places like hotels, airlines and attractions, the goal of which is to increase accessibility for people with disabilities and make it easier for them to travel. There are surely other examples of best practices. Do you know of any? Let us know by leaving us a comment at the bottom of this article.

Sources:

- Kéroul and Canadian Tourism Commission. “Best Practices in Tourism Accessibility for Travellers with Restricted Physical Ability,” APEC Tourism Working Group, October 2003.

- Masson, Annette. “Tourisme et handicaps : déjà 10 ans et 5,000 sites labélisés“, handicap.fr, December 1, 2011.

- Michaud, Annick. “Accessibilité aux divers handicaps : des lauriers pour L’Escale“, La Voix du Nord, March 14, 2012.

- Ministère de l’Écologie, du Développement durable, des Transports et du Logement. “Recueil des belles pratiques and des bons usages“, developpement-durable.gouv.fr, consulted March 23, 2012.

Web sites:

- Gîtes Les Salicornes

- Vanoise National Park

Buildings located in historic areas are given a second life as they welcome visitors eager to learn about and experience local culture. This is the albergo diffuso, an Italian concept that combines the very old with the contemporary.

Concept

An albergo diffuso is a type of accommodation that offers the services of a traditional hotel along with a space that is like a rented private home. One of the special features of this Italian concept is its horizontal structure, which spreads the hotel services over several buildings. For example, the guest rooms and apartments may be located on different streets in the same neighbourhood, while the reception area is located in location X, the restaurant in location Y and other services in location Z, all within a 200-metre radius.

International publications have sometimes described the concept as a hotel-village.

Source: Villa Retrosi

Another distinctive feature of the albergo diffuso is the age of the buildings that compose it. In fact, one of the goals of the concept is to repurpose abandoned buildings, houses and even monuments. The idea is not to build anything new, but to reuse.

Source: Castello di Montignano Relais & Spa

The guidelines of the albergo diffuso model respect the values of sustainable development in many respects:

• Promote local culture: one reason visitors select this type of accommodation is to enjoy an authentic local experience.
• Stimulate the local economy: the creation of an albergo diffuso encourages one or more homeowners to participate in an organization that is usually a cooperative and supports the development of small businesses working in traditional sectors like handicrafts and food preparation.
• Protect the environment: preserving existing buildings and giving them a second life helps safeguard the area’s history and limits the environmental damage that could be caused by new construction.

This type of hospitality is also reminiscent of the old European tradition of hosting tourists in homes.

An increasingly structured concept

To be able to call itself an albergo diffuso, an accommodation must meet several conditions, summarized as follows:

• The idea must be launched by local stakeholders
• Hotel services (reception, restaurant, etc.) must be provided
• There must be a sole management entity: a single entrepreneur or any other efficient form of association, with a cooperative being the most commonly used form
• There must be a minimum of seven rooms, located within 200 metres of each other and made available for a period of at least nine years
• The town or village where the albergo diffuso is located must offer a minimum of services such as a pharmacy, grocery store, etc.
• The albergo diffuso must take root in a lively, welcoming community that is open to sharing experiences with visitors

In the past few years, an association, the Associazione Nazionale Alberghi Diffusi (ADI), has been founded to help its members market themselves. At the same time, the Scuola Internazionale di Specializzazione in Albergo Diffuso, a school specializing in albergo diffuso, offers seminars, training and tools to assist property owners, management companies and local communities who are implementing this concept in their area.

Examples

The tiny medieval village of Smerillo is a centre of poetry that hosts the festival Le Parole della Montagna (“the words of the mountain”). Since 1998, the local authorities have been inviting certain homeowners to renovate their properties so they could be part of an albergo diffuso. Despite its population of 400, Smerillo can accommodate 60 visitors.

Source: Smerillo Albergo Diffuso

Le grotte della civita is an unusual example of the albergo diffuso concept; the 18 rooms are located in hillside caves! The goal of this albergo diffuso was to conserve Matera, a historic Apennine village in central southern Italy, and preserve its local heritage.

Source: Le grotte della civita

An exportable concept

The albergo diffuso model may be copied in other countries by adapting it to the host region. Moreover, the Business Innovation Centre of the Lazio Region, BIC Lazio, and the ADI offer technical assistance to the various countries that would like to implement this approach.

Will the albergo diffuso concept make its way to Quebec? It would be one way to revitalize certain villages affected by the rural exodus, repurpose some of the buildings from our religious heritage or even develop a network of accommodations in Quebec’s Far North.

—————————————

Comment – Giacomo Del Chiappa

Albergo diffuso represents a particular type of hospitality which help to achieve a sustainable tourism development (economic, environmental and sociocultural) of area that usually are abandoned. Indeed, albergo diffuso is usually considers as a way to recover the competitiveness of rural area which are interested by progressive flows of people leaving the rural area (emigrating) attracted from the more sparkling urban area. By this way, albergo diffuso is consider as a way to achieve a sustainable tourism development, creating job opportunities for local people, recovering the builindings, allowing to preserve and exploit the local authenticity and identity thus having the possibility to satisfy the needs of those travelers, the so called responsible tourists, (even more numerous) that travel looking for the possibility to be in touch with local authenticity, identity and culture in its various espressions (food, wine, cooking style, handcraft, etc) . Several examples could be done. One of this is Santo Stefano Sessanio located in the “Gran Sasso” national park in Abruzzo region. There everything is done to preserve local authenticity: research was done to understand how the old house were built, rooms has wool mattresses made as in the past and embroidered sheets accordingly the local traditions. Acccording with Kihgreln, the architect who developed this albergo diffuso, today the real estate in the village has been tripled.

Giacomo Del Chiappa – Assistant Professor in Marketing, Faculty of Economics, University of Sassari

Giacomo Del Chiappa received a Ph.D in “Marketing and Business Administration” at the Faculty of Economics of the University of Milan-Bicocca. He was Visiting Scholar at the University of Melbourne (Australia). He is Assistant Professor in Marketing at the University of Sassari, Faculty of Economics. He teaches in the areas of “Tourism Management and Marketing” and “Destination Management” for the Degree in Tourism Marketing and Management, based in Olbia (Sardinia). He is a member of the editorial board of the journal “Tourism Analysis” and referee for international journals. His research topics are related to destination governance and branding, convention site selection criteria and meeting industry and, finally, consumer behavior in tourism. In this latter field his studies are concentrated on responsible tourism, on web 2.0 in the hospitality sector and, finally, on community-based tourism. Fields of expertise: Destination governance and branding Convention site selection criteria and meeting industry Consumer behavior Organization Web site

Sources:

• Giordano Dichter, Giancarlo Dall’Ara. “Albergo diffuso – Developing tourism through innovation and tradition.”

• Marinela Dropulic, Aleksandra Krajnovic, Pavlo Ruzic. “Albergo diffuso hotels – A solution to sustainable development of tourism,” March 2008.

• M. Droli, S.I.S.A.D®. (International School Specializing in the Albergo Diffuso). “The albergo diffuso in Italy – The strengths of Friuli Venezia Giulia and innovative proposals,” March 22, 2007.

• Michèle Prévost, “L’hôtel diffus – Un concept d’hébergement rural qui se développe en Italie.” Espaces 295, September 2011.

Websites:

• Associazione Nazionale Alberghi Diffusi

• Bic Lazio

• Scuola Internazionale di Specializzazione in Albergo Diffuso

In the past few years, mountain resorts have been engaged in a mad scramble to become four-season tourist destinations. Gone are the days when mountain resorts relied solely on skiing to maximize the return on their investment. According to a 2011 survey conducted by Ski Area Management (SAM) magazine of 100 North American ski resorts, 44% of them operate year-round.

With an eye to financial and environmental concerns, tourism providers are vying with one another to develop inventive products and services to meet an increasingly diverse demand. This article discusses some of the trends and best practices adopted by mountain resorts as they redefine themselves.

A broad range of recreational activities

Summer activities are more and more popular with mountain resort clients. (Please see: La tentation quatre-saisons des stations de ski). One-quarter of the resorts surveyed by SAM reported that summer operations accounted for at least 20% of their annual revenue. Mountain biking is currently the most popular summer attraction on offer (61%) (see: Le vélo de montagne représente-t-il un potentiel touristique sous-exploité?), after business meetings (64%) and weddings (81%).

In the next two years, the resorts surveyed plan to focus more on family-oriented activities rather than traditional activities like tennis and golf (see Figure 1). A little less than half of the destinations surveyed are planning to add ziplines (42%), and nearly one-quarter plan to build alpine coasters (23%) or a ropes course (22%).

Climbing walls and bungee jumping are becoming more popular, as are skate parks, water parks and mini golf. In fact, the Massif du Sud area in the Chaudière-Appalaches region now calls itself a “four-season adventure sports outfitter.”

New customer segments

Many resorts rent out their facilities for business and festive events. The Banff Centre, located in the heart of Banff National Park, now courts the meetings, incentives, conventions and events (MICE) market. Some resorts, like Crystal Mountain in the northwest United States and Mont Sainte-Anne in Québec, actively target the destination wedding segment during the summer and rent out the facilities located on their summits.

Source: Crystalmountainresort.com

Package deals: An ideal solution

Increasingly, resorts are turning to package deals. Packages help make a destination attractive to new visitors, increase business during the off season and draw regional clientele who are interested in shorter stays. In addition, packages fulfil the varied needs of multi-generational travellers and non-skiers.

Relaxing getaways

Spas have become synonymous with the mountain resort experience. Health and wellness are now part of resort marketing and can even provide the raison d’être for a get-together, such as this year’s Wanderlust yoga festival held at Squaw Valley USA, California.

Source: First Track

Some resorts are improving their culinary offerings, sourcing food from a variety of providers and focussing on regional products. Last winter, the Samoëns ski resort in the French Alps organized its first Winemakers’ Week. Winemakers from various regions in France set up kiosks and presented workshops to introduce tourists to their wines. In Québec, Mont Saint-Sauveur recently began a major renovation of its bar and restaurant to offer patrons a wide variety of healthy foods and ensure that the bistro is the area’s trendiest restaurant.

Online marketing, mobile apps and new technology

Web marketing is now one of the most vital promotional channels available and some resorts are using it to great advantage. Wild Mountain in Minnesota posted a deal on LivingSocial, a group purchasing site, offering a discount package of lift tickets and equipment rental. The goal was to attract a new clientele of novice skiers.

Source: Livingsocial

Snowbird in Utah, one of the first resorts to develop its own app, has implemented a social media strategy by including a community page on its site where visitors can share content.

Source: SnowBird

Brighton Resort in Utah has installed two automatic cameras on one run to photograph skiers and snowboarders, who can then download their performances on the resort’s Facebook page.

Vail Resorts has created EpicMix, an application for either mobile or online use that enables clients of its five ski resorts to share their stats on their social networks. The information provided is extensive and includes rate of descent, skier and snowboarder ranking, weather and real-time location of contacts. Last winter, 100,000 people activated an EpicMix account and 40% downloaded the mobile app.

Source: Epicmix

New technology has also had an enormous impact on resort operations. At the beginning of the 2011-2012 winter season, Mont Saint-Sauveur and Mont Avila will be installing a radio-frequency identification (RFID) system on their lifts to detect skiers’ cards so they don’t have to show them, just like the system already in place at Le Massif in Charlevoix.

A wide variety of lodging options

A great number of privately owned mountain resort rentals are available online. In Québec and British Columbia, such properties represent approximately 60% of the ads listed on HomeAway. These rentals help increase a destination’s potential customer base and many resort managers feel this type of accommodation complements rental condos and hotel rooms.

However, such rentals have not slowed the real estate developments of groups like Intrawest, Boyne Resorts, Aspen Skiing and Vail Resort. Furthermore, many people are buying second homes located at the base of ski mountains. Finally, resorts are also developing new projects. At Le Massif in Charlevoix, the La Ferme hotel complex will open for business in the spring of 2012, and Mont Sainte-Anne is planning to build a new four-season resort in the next few years.

Source: Le Massif de Charlevoix

Sustainable development as a key element of restructuring

The Whistler resort community has developed a long-term plan, entitled Whistler 2020. It defines various priorities and strategies for achieving the sustainable development of the resort and uses indicators to monitor its progress on its Website.

Source: Whistler 2020

The Quebec Golf Course Owners Association (ATGQ) launched a sustainable development initiative this summer with the creation of the ParTROIS program. This measure helps golf clubs take steps towards eco-sustainable certification.

The National Ski Areas Association in the United States recently added a new component to Sustainable Slopes, its environmental charter for ski areas. Called the Climate Challenge, this friendly competition aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. With the help of experts, the employees of the eight resorts participating in the voluntary program took action to fight climate change.

Clientele looking for new experiences, threats of global warming, technological advances and the popularity of social media: the industry does not lack for challenges. However, it is these very issues that have led ski resorts to develop innovative ways of maintaining their attractiveness, and the recent projects launched in Québec hold the promise of a bright future for mountain destinations.

Sources:

- Bast, Morgan. “EpicMix gets nearly 100,000 activations in first season”, buzz.snow.com, April 22, 2011.

- Bergeron, Patricia. «Réaménagement à la base de la montagne- Mont Saint Sauveur se peaufine», carnetduski.com, 13 juillet 2011.

- Kahl, Rick. “Condos on the Cheap,” Ski Area Management, Vol. 50, No. 2, March 2011, p. 54.

- Morrison, Alastair M. “International Trends in Mountain Tourism, Marketing and Development,” Belle Tourism Consulting, 2010.

- Rufo, Samantha, Ken Castle, and Katie Bailey. “Best/Worst Marketing 2010-2011,” Ski Area Management, Vol. 50, No. 3, May 2011, p. 41-45.

- Ski Area Management. “Sustainable Slopes Report Highlights Resorts’ Green Efforts” saminfo.com, July 8, 2011.

- Ski Area Management. “Summer in the Mountains,” Vol. 50, No. 3, May 2011, p. 46-47.

- Urban Land Institute. “Ten Resorts Trends”, www.uli.org, consulted July 13, 2011.

- Watson, Tom. “Brighton offers freestylers an ancillary stoke,” National Ski Areas Association, Vol. 19, No. 3, July 2011.

- Wine Tourism in France. “L’oenotourisme, nouveau sport d’hiver”, winetourisminfrance.com, December 29, 2010.

- World Tourism Organization. “UNWTO congress to debate the future of snow and mountain tourism” www2.unwto.org, March 31, 2011.

See also:

Les activités hors saison pour les centres de villégiature: tendances et nouveautés

La tentation quatre-saisons des stations de ski

What is CRM?

The goal of CRM is to collect as much information about one’s clients as possible, and to combine these individual pieces of information into targeted, personalized marketing initiatives in order to recruit and retain clients and encourage them to spend more.

Interhome and the reassessment of previous practices

Interhome has offices in 20 countries. Each year, it rents over 20,000 vacation homes and apartments to over 500,000 guests, for over 7 million overnight stays and sales of 120 million euros.

In order to promote an inventory of this size to such a large number of potential clients, Interhome uses a variety of communication, promotion and sales methods including distribution networks, advertising, a sales force, catalogue, and the internet. Although the company’s management team believes this number of methods is unavoidable, it is also convinced that using them prevents it from developing an accurate assessment of the profile and habits of its clients.Reflecting on this fact, Interhome’s managers began to ask themselves whether the impressive catalogues listing all the available homes were, in fact, relevant or effective. Producing them involved costs which were not necessarily offset by the relatively low reservation (or conversion) rate. The company also realized that client‑related information was distributed throughout a number of databases.

Know your client

It was then that Interhome decided to invest in CRM in order to consolidate and improve its client‑related information. This new database stores three different kinds of information:

1. history of the consumer’s contact with the company (catalogue orders, reservations, comments and complaints, etc.);
2. data collected during each consumer contact (visiting the site, requesting information, reserving a home, etc.) regarding his/her vacation preferences;
3. complementary information obtained via surveys (lifestyle, purchasing habits, household composition, habits and leisure activities, etc.).

Thanks to this information, Interhome was able to develop a system that creates a profile for each customer. These profiles list the customer’s profile, his/her loyalty index and the complete history of his/her interactions with the company.

The information this system records includes:

• prior expenditures
• preferred destinations
• preferred travel periods
• favourite type of accommodation
• family situation: number of children and their ages
• leisure activities, interests and motivating factors
• preferred method of communication

CRM enables companies to gather the information they need to create detailed consumer profiles which they can then use to implement marketing strategies based on personalized offers.

1‑to‑1 marketing

In order to bring consumer preferences in line with their offer, Interhome developed a new method of classifying residences based on the client’s stated preferences: spa, family, sports, comfort, pleasure, rest, snow and dream destination.

Interhome analyzed the client profile in order to identify the product categories likely to interest him/her. It then analyzed the characteristics of each vacation home (location, accommodation capacity, price, availability, etc.) so it can propose to each of its clients places that are perfectly suited to their preferences.

Henceforth, instead of receiving an exhaustive catalogue, the client receives a brochure listing no more than 8 prospective residences that both fulfill his/her requirements and are available during his/her preferred travel periods. This also enables Interhome to prioritize homes that will generate the highest profit margins.

This personalized brochure is either mailed or e‑mailed depending on the customer’s stated preferences. Automatic follow‑ups are generated by the system and all reservations can be made through Interhome’s website. It goes without saying that all action (requests for information, reservations, etc.) generated by this mailing will be added to the client’s profile, thus further increasing Interhome’s effectiveness.

Telling results!

Lehmann emphasized that the cost per reservation is 10 times lower with the personalized, or “1 to 1” marketing approach than it is with the undifferentiated, catalogue approach. Some of the results he mentioned are as follows:

1. a 30% reservation rate following a request for information (as opposed to a 7% rate with the catalogue);
2. the average rate is one reservation for every 12 direct mail messages, a higher‑than‑average conversion rate for direct marketing;
3. significant savings on postage, since two‑thirds of mailings are done electronically;
4. a savings of 500,000 euros on the cost of printing catalogues;
5. because the company was able to prioritize homes that would generate the highest profit margins as well as profitable complementary sales (transportation, car rentals, ski tickets, trips, packages, etc.), revenue per reservation increased by up to 30%;
6. every year, over 200,000 new client‑related information items are added to the database.

During his presentation, Lehmann did not reveal how much his company spent to develop such an effective CRM system but the results he presented lead one to believe that the move was a profitable one.

Will other tourism companies follow suit?

Many tourism companies have already gathered a significant amount of information about their clients and a number of these companies would probably benefit from adopting the same type of CRM that Interhome did. After all, client data is a gold mine; once data is collected, all the company has to do is put the data to work to make its marketing efforts more targeted and effective.

Source:

* Lehmann, Simon, “Best Practices in CRM & Personalisation, 1 to 1 Marketing @ Interhome,” PhoCusWright conference – ITB Travel Technology, Berlin, March 8, 2007.