CenStates News

SEPTEMBER | TOURISM COCKTAIL
Patrick Remming, Marketing & Research Manager,
Explore St. Louis

In St. Louis, we use a wide variety of primary research and secondary data to help inform our decision making across our sales and marketing efforts. We make sure the following examples are always in the mix.

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CenStates members share some information they learned at the June conference:

The latest Portrait of American Travelers (POAT) study by MMGY Global found that there are really two different segments in the millennial generation. This is due to that generation aging and now the older segment once considered millennials are starting to transition into a different stage in their lives. The older millennials are now 38 years old. For instance, older millennials are seeking relaxation on their vacation while the younger segment travels more for thrill-seeking. The older millennials and young millennials also vary greatly in average spend with the older segment spending $4,558 per trip and younger segments spending $3,648 per trip. They also vary greatly in their use of shared accommodations. 43% of the younger segment have stayed in shared accommodation while only 31% of the older segment has. This seems to indicate a widening gap in travel trends with the millennial generation.

Another interesting finding of the POAT is that obligation vacations are on the rise. These are trips that are the primary reason for traveling is due to a wedding, graduation or anniversary of a friend or relative.

Kirk Hulstein, South Dakota Department of Tourism

Artificial Intelligence (AI) can be defined as the ability of a program to imitate intelligent human behavior. For tourism purposes, AI could be an automated chatbot on a Facebook page or on a website providing responses to questions asked by viewers. The use of an AI system would provide a 24/7 source of knowledge for visitors, potentially affording them a more enjoyable experience since their questions can be answered relatively quickly no matter the circumstances. With the rise of AI-assisted interfaces, we could start to collect and analyze entirely new data sets. The real question is how are we going to turn these new data sets into meaningful and actionable insights?

William Graves, Visit Wichita

In a session on How Data Analytics is Shaping the Future of Our Industry, Ashley McHugh with Memphis Tourism shared some of her insights on the battle between survey results and behavioral data:

SURVEY DATA IS STILL USEFUL…
Our website visitor profile survey can still give us indicators about what our current website visitors want to find. Additionally, we can segment our survey to analyze what nightlife visitors find appealing about Memphis to guide more nuanced content creation across our organization. Relying on this kind of segmentation is more likely to give us strong results than creating generalized conclusions about how the overall preferences of our website visitors will correspond to the in-destination behavior of actual visitors.

…BUT BEHAVIORAL DATA WINS
While our website visitor profile survey can certainly guide our website content creation process, it does not accurately reflect in-destination behavior. Our website seems to attract more potential visitors who are interested in museums, while actual visitors are more likely to go to entertainment districts when they arrive. Because of this data, we are trying to reach our nightlife visitors more effectively with targeted video content and digital ads, attracting them to our website so that we have the opportunity to influence their trip planning process.

Kim Caplinger, Oklahoma Tourism & Recreation Department

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CenStates members share some information they learned at the June conference:

We have long known that Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the wave of the future but the future is now. The session about chatbots for websites was intriguing. Basically, there is a bot that can answer the Q & A questions that one normally posts on a website but this is like having an automated chat rep. VERY cool!

Dee Ann McKinney
Research Director, Missouri Division of Tourism

It is critical to identify the metrics that are linked to increased visitation and spending and focus on those. It is also critical to identify your goals and make sure that the metrics you are tracking lead to those goals. For example, if your goal is to use your website to hand off people to your partners, you don’t care about time on the website – in fact, you want it to be short. But if you are trying to increase the length of time in the destination, you want people to stay on your site and find more things to do. Clearly identifying your goals and the right measures is the first step to success. One of the challenges in marketing right now is the overload of metrics. There are lots of numbers that can be tracked, but many of them lead you in the wrong direction.

Denise Miller
Executive Vice President, SMARInsights

Be strategic with Google searches. Google searches pull personal information from the user and the search terms, so every Google Search is different for every person and every device they use. Google must trust your website to present it to searches, so build your TRA: Trust, Reputation, and Authority. Build your TRA with compelling content, recognition as the influencer and acknowledgment as the authority. Bottom line, we have to connect with the traveler and be trusted by Google.

LuAnn Reinders
Research and Insights Manager, Iowa Tourism Office

The CenStates chapter of the Travel and Tourism Research Association (TTRA) was awarded the Chapter Achievement Award at the 2018 international conference in Miami, Florida on June 28. The chapter was cited for their exceptional work to remain relevant in a constantly changing world. They initiated a strategic plan which includes conducting original research specifically for the central states, education opportunities tailored to the needs of members and expanding chapter reach through board expansion and conference locations. Congratulations!