ON-LINE FASTEST GROWING SALES CHANNEL FOR TRAVEL AND TOURISM
TOURISM INDUSTRY MUST ADAPT TO SURVIVE, CONFERENCE TOLD
Dublin, 12 October 2006. Ireland, as a holiday destination, has continuously punched above its weight off-line, growing at a faster pace than the rest of the world and Europe. This advantage could potentially be lost in the now totally transparent "eshop" window where it is more difficult to make noise, delegates were told at a major eMarketing conference in Dublin today, organised by Tourism Ireland. Mark Henry, Director of Central Marketing, cautioned that the tourism industry must adapt to survive. "As little as seven years ago, Google, Blogs, 3G meant nothing to the ordinary consumer. Today, they are common currency for our potential customers across the globe. The tourism industry here must move fast to keep up with changed ways of doing business, or it could lose market share."
Tourism Minister, John O"Donoghue TD, who formally opened the conference, said that the challenge for the industry and the agencies was to ensure that all tourism players and products on the island were fully visible and purchasable by potential holidaymakers. "In 2006, an estimated 55% of holidaymakers to the island of Ireland used the internet to plan or book their holiday here. By 2010, Tourism Ireland estimates that the percentage of people using the web to plan or book at least one element of their holiday here will grow to over 75%. Marketing channels have changed and we ignore this at our peril. The inherent charm of so much of the tourism product here is that it is small and independent in nature. But this presents its own challenges. It is essential that the smaller-scale players in the industry make themselves look-able and book-able by overseas consumers on-line. Huge strides have been made in the development of platforms via the discoverireland.com websites, but much more needs to be done. This symposium is therefore timely and welcome."
Recent research undertaken by Tourism Ireland shows that consumers" knowledge and usage of the internet is becoming increasingly sophisticated and demanding. Delegates were told that customers are not just searching for the lowest fare any more; they are seeking information and recommendations on the perfect holiday experience, with User Generated Content becoming increasingly popular and influential as a source of information. In search of the perfect holiday experience, consumers now seek to find the inside track before they arrive.
"Word of mouth and the recommendations of friends have always been key factors influencing the choice of Ireland as a holiday destination. This is now shifting to word of mouth recommendations from strangers across borders." said Mark Henry. "Websites such as IgoUgo and www.flickr.com allow people to access blogs, consumer reviews and feedback, shared videos and podcasts. www.flickr.com already has 375,000 images of Ireland posted on its site by visitors to Ireland. Tourism Ireland"s website acts as a portal for the Irish tourism industry and we are keen to maximise this potential to the fullest. The more information providers have about themselves online, the more business potential available to them."
Several speakers urged the tourism industry to review their marketing budgets to reflect consumers" media usage time. Delegates were told that the market has moved on and the industry is not reacting as quickly as it might. Individual enterprises, for example, are still willing to spend significant money on traditional print advertising and are less likely to consider banner advertising on the same publication"s website and on-line marketing is still very much the poor relation in terms of budgetary allocation.
Tourism Ireland"s Website www.discoverireland.com, attracts approx 14,000 visitors a day to its 35 international websites which are posted in 14 different languages. The website already has received more referrals to date in 2006 than for the whole of 2005. The most popular section of the website last year was the "Plan Your Visit" section (25%), then "Places to Go" (20%) followed by those consumers searching for special offers.
Speakers at the symposium today included:
Mark Brophy, Online Operations Director, Expedia/Hotels.com
Jim Donnelly, Co-Founder, IgoUgo
Michaela Papenhoff, MD, Europe. PhoCusWright
Paul Allen, Head of Research & Planning, Tourism Ireland
Steve Hafner, CEO and Co-Founder, Kayak.com
Bill Walshe, Chief Marketing & Business Innovation Director, Jumeirah Hotel Group
Martin Murray, Chief Executive Officer, Interactive Return
Morgan McKeagney, MD and Co-Founder, iQ Content
Laughlin Rigby Internet Marketing Manager, Tourism Ireland
-ENDS-
Further info:
Fiona Scott, Tourism Ireland 01-476-3427