2. The Effectiveness of Convention & Exhibition Websites: S. Myung, A.M. Morrison & J.S. Taylor
l Overcomes barriers of time and distance to perform exhibitions. This scenario is built upon our observations of
activities and provide services. current technologies and the associated discernable trends.
l Compresses the pre-digital world into a ‘Global Village.’ As such we suggest that this scenario is best regarded as
informed speculation.
The convergence of Internet popularity on both the
demand and supply ends of the convention and exhibition The Growth of Convention and Exhibition Industry
business appears to be a ‘win-win’ proposition for all The convention and exhibition industry has developed
involved. Suppliers at the destination are offered a larger into one of the fastest growing segments of tourism, both in a
potential market, together with the opportunity to provide global and country-specific context (Weber 2001). The 2004
faster and better client services. As the Successful Meetings Meetings Market report, published by Meetings and
Survey (2003) indicated, convention and exhibition planners Conventions, estimated that the US corporate, convention,
are increasing their productivity by utilizing the Internet. and association meeting market segments spent US $44.7
As the research cited above confirms, meeting planners billion in 2003. This was an all-time high figure for
are increasingly looking to the Web as a source of information expenditures and 7 per cent more than in 2001 (Meetings
on potential venues. It offers the planner instant access to and Conventions 2004).
the particulars of individual destinations, as well as the The US and the UK are the leading countries in the
ability to peruse this information on their office computers. world for hosting conventions, conferences, and exhibitions.
However, the main hypothesis of this study is that the fast A number of large conferences are held by both domestic
growth in the popularity of the Web has resulted in a and international organizations in the US every year (UIA
fragmented approach to digital destination marketing, 2000). The UK also occupies a primary position in the
particularly in the convention and exhibition sector. Each international convention/meeting industry (UIA 2000). Both
destination tends to have an array of websites that provide countries have been a leader for hosting international and
information on the various components of the convention domestic events, and have been influenced by the general
and exhibition offering. There is seldom, if ever, one trends in tourism, such as increased affluence and
centralized site providing the planner with a ‘one-stop’ propensity to travel and advances in transportation (Weber
shopping/buying opportunity. The convention and and Ladkin 2003). The growth of CE industry has seen it
exhibition centre and CVB/tourist board sites tend to be come to occupy an increasingly important role as a significant
loosely integrated, at best. In addition, other sites provided contributor to many local economies.
by local governments, chambers of commerce, newspapers,
private individuals, and various companies contain more
Using the Internet in Meeting Planning
information for visitors and can often contribute more to
confusing rather than informing planners. Meeting planners are increasingly using the Web as a
resource for researching information about meeting facilities
According to Prideaux (2002: 324), cyber-tourism is ‘an (MPI 2000). Web resources for site selection are far more
electronically stimulated travel experience that is a substitute complete than paper guides due to the extensive databases
for a physical tourism experience.’ For convention and and tools in informatics. The scale of growth in the use of the
meeting planners, the websites of the future have the potential Web by meeting planners is evidenced by reports by
to virtually transport them to the destination where they can organizations such as PlanSoft Corporation that more than
experience meeting facilities, hotels, and major attractions. three million searches for facilities were performed on their
Everything could be experienced in advance, except for the site in 2002 (ICCA 2003). The majority of research on
meals to be served at events, making site selection more convention tourism has focussed on association meeting
convenient and effective. planners and these planners have a great influence on the
selection of both the destination and the specific facility to
The purpose of this study was to investigate the existing be used for an association’s conventions and meetings (Clark
situation in digital destination marketing and identify the et al. 1997; Weber 2001). As reported by Successful Meetings
overall performance and effectiveness of convention and (2003), ninety one per cent of planners used the Internet to
visitors bureau/tourist board and convention and exhibition research meeting sites and the per centage of planners using
(CE) centre websites by focusing on a small group of selected the Web for online registration increased by nearly a quarter,
destinations in the US and the UK, based on the modified to fifty two per cent, and for purchasing airline tickets, it has
Balanced Scorecard (BSC) approach. The paper concludes increased by a third, to thirty seven per cent since 2000.
with the discussion of one possible future scenario for the
use of technology in the marketing of conventions and The Internet also has become increasingly important
50 Tourism Recreation Research Vol. 30, No. 3, 2005
3. The Effectiveness of Convention & Exhibition Websites: S. Myung, A.M. Morrison & J.S. Taylor
on the supply side of the convention and exhibition business The final destination experience of visitors and meeting
and now plays a major role in the global distribution of planners is composed of interactions with many attractions,
tourism information and sales. The Internet provides both a regions, resources, groups of facilities and services (Bennett
distribution channel from tourism destinations to meeting 1999; Buhalis 2000; Feng et al. 2003; McNeill 1997; Mill and
planners and also a prime business-to-business Morrison 2002; Williams and Palmer 1999). As the
communication tool. In short, the Internet is revolutionizing organizations with the lead role in marketing destinations,
the distribution of information and sales (WTO Business CVBs are increasingly struggling with an abundance and
Council 1999). complexity of issues in trying to establish an effective online
presence (Fesenmaier and O’Leary 1998; Gretzel et al. 2000).
Bonn et al. (1998) suggested that organizations cannot The importance of achieving such a presence was
overlook the Internet in their marketing mixes due to its highlighted by Ismail et al. (2002), who suggested that the
inherent advantages. These include, for example, economical Internet might prove to be the ideal solution for many DMOs
global accessibility, convenience in updating, real-time since tourists require real-time information and websites can
information service, interactive communications, and unique provide a higher degree of one-to-one marketing. The Internet
customization capabilities. Williams and Palmer (1999) enables both CVBs and convention and exhibition centres to
added that the Internet is a cheap, flexible method of blend publishing, narrowcast, broadcast, and real-time
promoting tourism products overseas, and through its communications, to attract attention, to create a sense of
integration with newly developed destination databases will community, and to act as personal, interactive, a niche, and
initially compete with – but ultimately replace – existing a mass-market medium at same time (Gretzel et al. 2000).
distribution channels. It would appear that the demand and
the supply of convention and exhibition business converge, The Importance of Website Evaluations
in that the suppliers have a larger potential market, together
with the opportunity to provide faster and better client Determining the effectiveness of websites from the
services. For the meeting planners at the demand side, there customer perspective is an essential task in this new age
is the promise of increased productivity through utilizing marketing regime. The formal evaluation of website
the superior information carrying characteristics of the effectiveness is needed because there are significant setup
Internet. and maintenance costs of websites (Tierney 2000). Morrison
et al. (2004) have suggested that website evaluations are
Website Effectiveness Among CVB and Convention/ necessary to facilitate and support continuous
Exhibition Centres improvements in addition to enabling the comparison of site
performance against competitors and industry peers. CVBs
The ultimate focus of any promotional campaign – be are able to increase the sales achieved through conventional
it through traditional channels or the newer ones as offered means of ‘order taking’ by providing information to
by the Web – is brand differentiation (Perdue 2001). Kotler et prospective customers over the Internet (Weeks and Crouch
al. (2002) suggested that the emerging globalization and 1999).
concentration of supply are increasing the level of
competition and leading to the use of new Internet marketing There are six basic justification strategies and resulting
strategies for destinations. To pursue effective destination advantages for having a Web presence: cost reduction,
marketing, it is necessary that specific and differentiated revenue growth, niche marketing, improved customer
strategies should be achieved by convention and visitors satisfaction, quality improvement, and addressing other
bureaus (CVBs) in order to reach different market segments critical business or customer needs (Morrison et al. 1999).
with the most appropriate promotional devices (Formica and However, a Web presence also has a number of
Littlefield 2000). Tourism marketing organizations are disadvantages. Bruner (1998) indicated a bad website is the
increasingly using a central brand image for the promotion same as bad marketing. Perdue (2001) stated that a well-
and distribution of a destination’s multiple products and designed website must allow users to effectively focus on
services under many different cooperative arrangements and the information that they specifically want.
alliances between suppliers (Palmer and Bejou 1995;
Williams and Palmer 1999). The Internet is seen as being Methodology
particularly well suited for experience. Goods with a high
potential for quality differentiation, especially goods that Objectives of the Study
involve a relatively high financial outlay, are infrequently The overall purpose of this study was to investigate
purchased, and are intangible (Perdue 2001; Peterson et al. the current situation in digital destination marketing through
1997). focusing on a small group of selected destinations in the US
Tourism Recreation Research Vol. 30, No. 3, 2005 51
4. The Effectiveness of Convention & Exhibition Websites: S. Myung, A.M. Morrison & J.S. Taylor
and the UK. The specific study objectives were to: 1) Determine BSC approach (Kaplan and Norton 1996), comprised of four
the overall effectiveness of CVB/tourist board and different perspectives for hotel website evaluation: technical,
convention/exhibition centre websites; 2) compare the marketing, internal, and customer. As Morrison et al. (1999)
performance from the technical, customer, marketing stated, the advantage of the BSC approach to Website
effectiveness, and destination/convention centre performance management is that it recognizes that
information perspectives between the two types of websites; performance is a multi-dimensional construct rather than
3) assess the performance of the websites within each type the one-dimensional construct as suggested by other
from the four perspectives; 4) invest the integration or approaches to performance measurement. Since then, further
fragmentation of website information for meeting planners studies have examined and compared the websites of DMOs
between the two types of websites; and 5) based upon the such as national tourism organizations (NTOs), state tourism
analysis of the existing situation, suggest a future scenario organizations (STOs), and CVBs using the modified BSC
of digital strategic alliances that would provide a higher approach.
level of site integration resulting in greater convenience for
the meeting planner. The Research Instrument
For this study, website evaluation instruments were
Website Evaluation Based upon the BSC Approach developed specifically for CVBs/tourist boards and CE
Kaplan and Norton (1992) introduced the concept of centres by applying the modified BSC approach (Morrison
the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) in a series of articles in the et al. 1999). Both instruments consisted of the four perspectives
Harvard Business Review. They argued that traditional of technical, customer, marketing effectiveness, and
financial accounting measurements such as the Return On destination/CE centre information (Fig. 1). Each of the four
Investment (ROI) and payback period needed to be perspectives had a unique set of evaluation criteria.
supplemented with additional ones reflecting other important
Technical Customer
performance outcomes such as customer satisfaction, internal Perspective Perspective
business process, and the ability to learn and grow. The BSC
approach can be applied to measure, evaluate and guide
activities that take place in specific functional areas of a
business. Martinsons et al. (1999) developed a BSC approach Marketing Effectiveness Destination/CE Centre
for information systems (IS) that can be adapted to IT Perspective Information Perspective
application projects as well as the IS department or
functional area. They measured and evaluated IS activities Fig. 1. The Modified Balanced Scorecard Approach Used
from the following perspectives: business value, user in This Study
orientation, internal process, and future readiness. The technical perspective was evaluated by six
Grembergen and Amelinckx (2002) suggested that the BSC specific criteria: (i) link check; (ii) HTML code errors;
can be used to measure and manage e-business projects and (iii) browser compatibility; (iv) load time; (v) spelling; and
proposed a generic e-business scorecard consisting of four (vi) link popularity. NetMechanic (2003) (http://
perspectives: customer orientation, business contribution, www.netmechanic.com/maintain.htm) was employed to
operational excellence, and future orientation. Here, the develop an accurate evaluation of each site. NetMechanic
customer orientation perspective represents the evaluation uses a five-star rating approach per page.
of the consumer and business clients of the website. The LinkPopularity.com (2003) (http://linkpopularity.com) was
business contribution perspective captures the business employed to check the criterion of link popularity, which is
value created from the e-business investments. The the total number of websites that link to a certain site.
operational excellence perspective represents the e-business LinkPopulatity.com allowed the site to query Google,
processes employed to deliver the demanded services and Altavista and Hotbot. The customer perspective was
the e-business applications. The future orientation evaluated with five criteria: (i) site accessibility; (ii) site
perspective represents the human and technology resources navigation; (iii) visual attractiveness of the site; (iv) currency
needed by the e-business project. of information; and (v) ease of contact. Twenty-one specific
criteria were evaluated with dichotomous yes/no responses.
Morrison et al. (2004) have recommended the modified Perdue (2001) indicated a user’s perception of the quality of
BSC for evaluating tourism and hospitality websites as it is a website might be determined by the ease of navigation,
based on one of the most influential performance technological creativity, and site accessibility. A positive
measurement management tools. Morrison et al. (1999) first experience on a website can increase the time spent at the
suggested a website evaluation approach based upon the site (Hoffman and Novak 1996).
52 Tourism Recreation Research Vol. 30, No. 3, 2005
5. The Effectiveness of Convention & Exhibition Websites: S. Myung, A.M. Morrison & J.S. Taylor
The marketing effectiveness perspective was evaluated performance from the technical, customer, marketing
with eight criteria: (i) globalization; (ii) marketing effectiveness, and destination information perspectives
segmentation and targeting; (iii) positioning and branding; between the US CVB and the UK tourist board, and between
(iv) tangibilizing the product; (v) market research; (vi) the US CE centre and the UK CE centres, Mann-Whitney U-
relationship marketing and database marketing; (vii) tests was performed. The two-tailed probability test was used
partnership; and (viii) value adding. Each of these specific to detect statistically significant differences between US and
marketing effectiveness criteria were evaluated with UK websites. An analysis was also completed to assess the
dichotomous yes/no responses. Since Internet users have performance of the websites within each type from the four
unique needs and wants, Web technology can customize perspectives. Fisher’s exact tests were conducted to
information for them that is differentiated by regions, determine the degree of integration or fragmentation of
backgrounds, lifestyles, or behaviours. For effective website information for meeting planners within the two
marketing, specific and differentiated strategies should be types of websites.
pursued by CVBs/CE centres in order to appeal to different
market segments most effectively (Formica and Littlefield Results and Discussion
2000). The destination/CE centre information perspective
The overall CVB/tourist board mean evaluation scores
was evaluated with five criteria: (i) attractions, events and
including technical, customer, marketing effectiveness, and
festivals; (ii) facilities and transportation; (iii) general travel
destination/convention information perspectives were
information; (iv) CE centre information; and (v) legal
64.33% and 63.47% for the US and the UK, respectively. The
compliance. These criteria were measured with dichotomous
overall CE centre mean evaluation scores were 58.67% and
yes/no responses. To be successful a DMO must provide a
better information experience than its competitors. 56.24% for the US and the UK, respectively. These overall
Benckendorff and Black (2000) indicated that the Internet mean scores suggested that the websites for CVB and CE
was most useful with tasks such as building visitor centres were not particularly effective and further
awareness, providing customer service, public relations and improvements are needed from all four perspectives.
education. The Mann-Whitney U-test results identifying
performance differences between CVBs/tourist boards and
Research Procedures
CE centres in the US and the UK are shown in Table 1. The
To evaluate and analyze website performance or
effectiveness, this study selected twelve cities for the case Table 1. Comparison of Overall Performance of Two
studies in the US and UK. These cities were selected since Types between the US and UK.
each had its own CVB/tourist board and one main
U.S. CVB UK TB Mann- Sig. (2
identifiable CE centre. These included six CVB and six CE Mean (%) Mean (%) Whitney U tailed)
centre websites in the US and six tourist board and six CE
centre websites in the UK. All the website evaluations were Technical 19.83 (66.11) 23.20 (77.33) 72.000 0.000**
conducted in November 2003 using the same computer Customer 16.56 (78.84) 16.28 (77.52) 640.000 0.927
laboratory in order to avoid a potential bias of speed and site Marketing
17.94 (56.08) 14.92 (46.62) 382.500 0.003**
accessibility. Thirteen trained evaluators assessed the Effectiveness
websites using the modified BSC instruments specifically DCE
21.39 (56.29) 19.92 (52.41) 531.000 0.186
developed for this study. The evaluators were experienced Information
in this area having evaluated a variety of tourism and Total 75.72 (64.33) 74.31 (63.47) 586.000 0.485
hospitality Websites using the modified BSC approach for a U.S. CE UK CE Mann- Sig. (2
project in a graduate level tourism marketing class. Twelve Mean (%) Mean (%) Whitney U tailed)
pairs of the Websites of CVB/tourist board and CE centre in
Technical 21.97 (73.23) 20.85 (69.51) 576.000 0.415
the same city were randomly assigned in thirteen groups of
eight pairs of websites. Six different evaluators evaluated Customer 15.97 (76.07) 15.75 (75.01) 625.500 0.798
each of CVB/tourist board and CE centre website. The order Marketing
12.33 (38.54) 11.83 (36.99) 616.500 0.722
of CVB/tourist board and CE centre websites was randomly Effectiveness
DCE
varied among the thirteen evaluators to counter any bias 15.00 (46.88) 13.92 (43.49) 568.000 0.366
Information
created through sequencing.
Total 65.27 (58.67) 62.35 (56.24) 544.000 0.241
Data Analysis
DCE = destination/convention and exhibition, ** Significantly different
To understand whether there were differences in overall at p £ 0.01
Tourism Recreation Research Vol. 30, No. 3, 2005 53
6. The Effectiveness of Convention & Exhibition Websites: S. Myung, A.M. Morrison & J.S. Taylor
performance results for CVBs and tourist boards showed Common technical problems were found in the areas of link
statistically significant differences in overall performance check, HTML check, and spell check. Link popularity was
for the technical (p < 0.000) and marketing effectiveness (p < also relatively low for CE centres. Link popularity reflects
0.003) perspectives. The results indicated that US CVB the number of sites that are hyperlinked to the subject site.
websites had superior performance from the technical and As this is a key factor in effective Web marketing and in the
marketing effectiveness perspectives than the websites of UK integration of complementary information, it is imperative
tourist boards. However, there were no statistically significant that CE centre sites achieve high levels of link popularity.
differences in the technical, customer, marketing
effectiveness, and destination information scores between The analysis of the customer perspective indicated a
the CE centre websites in the two countries. consistent pattern in CVB/tourist board and CE centre
websites with a high performance in site accessibility.
Table 2 shows the performance differences from the Clearly, it is important that a site has an easy-to-remember
technical, customer, marketing effectiveness, and domain name/URL. However, even though both types of
destination/CE centre information perspectives for the two websites had relatively good domain names/URLs, the
types of websites. The results indicated that, for both overall domain naming strategies were not parallel; one being
countries, there were statistically significant differences identified as an ‘international conference centre’ with the
between CVB/tourist board and CE centre websites for the city’s name, the other being named after the country and
technical, marketing effectiveness, and destination/CEC being called a ‘conference and exhibition centre.’
information perspectives, but not for the customer Additionally, there are differences in the US and UK English
perspective. For most perspectives, the CVB/tourist board spellings (center and centre), as well as the interchangeability
websites had higher performance scores than their CE centre in use of the terms ‘conference’ and ‘convention.’ This lack
counterparts in both the UK and US. of consistency does not seem to be ideal for meeting planners,
especially for those who are unfamiliar with these particular
Table 2. Comparison of the Performance between Each
destinations. This would seem an obvious area where the
Type within Country
technology inherent in the Internet can be harnessed to create
U.S. CVB U.S. CE Mann- Sig. (2 greater uniformity across the websites regardless of the
Mean (%) Mean (%) Whitney U tailed) search term or spelling used by meeting planners.
Technical 19.83 (66.11) 21.97 (73.23) 234.000 0.000** The weakest performance of the CVB/tourist board and
Customer 16.56 (78.84) 15.97 (76.07) 482.500 0.058 CE centre websites was from the marketing effectiveness
Marketing perspective, with around fifty one per cent of CVB/tourist
17.94 (56.08) 12.33 (38.54) 234.500 0.000**
Effectiveness board and thirty eight per cent of CE centre websites being
DCE deficient. As in every other marketing medium, websites
21.39 (56.29) 15.00 (46.88) 199.500 0.000**
Information
should apply the well-recognized and key marketing
Total 75.72 (64.33) 65.27 (58.67) 273.500 0.000** principles of globalization, market segmentation,
UK TB UK CE Mann- Sig. (2 positioning, partnerships, and relationship marketing
Mean (%) Mean (%) Whitney U tailed) (Kotler et al. 2002). However, both types of websites in each
country need improvement in the areas of globalization,
Technical 23.20 (77.33) 20.85 (69.51) 468.000 0.042*
market segmentation and targeting, positioning and
Customer 16.28 (77.52) 15.75 (75.01) 542.500 0.231 branding, tangibilizing the product, relationship marketing,
Marketing and value adding. For example, providing foreign language
14.92 (46.62) 11.83 (36.99) 406.000 0.006**
Effectiveness
versions of website information is a unique advantage of the
DCE
19.92 (52.41) 13.92 (43.49) 301.500 0.000** Internet supporting globalization by delivering this
Information
Total 74.31 (63.47) 62.35 (56.24) 302.000 0.000**
information worldwide (Bender 1997), the results showed
that only eleven per cent of US CVB and thirty three per cent
DCE = destination/convention and exhibition, ** Significantly different of the UK tourist board websites offered foreign language
at p = 0.01, * Significantly different at p = 0.05 versions. In both countries, the CE centres did not offer any
foreign language versions of their websites.
With regard to the technical perspective, the results
indicated that the UK tourist board sites received Williams and Palmer (1999) indicated that brand image
significantly higher evaluations than their US counterparts. is pivotal in formulating differentiated marketing strategies
However, the convention and exhibition (CE) centre website of destinations and one of the key components in the
performance was relatively even across the two countries. formation of a clear and recognizable brand identity in the
54 Tourism Recreation Research Vol. 30, No. 3, 2005
7. The Effectiveness of Convention & Exhibition Websites: S. Myung, A.M. Morrison & J.S. Taylor
market. The e-marketing cycle starts through animation The CVB/tourist board websites had extensive
(multimedia and context); information (context), and information on destination attractions, events, and festivals
specialized added value (Buhalis 2001). Understanding the as well as for facilities and transportation. However, they
information search behaviour of Internet users is crucial for were lacking in sufficient information of convention and
the success of websites. Kotler et al. (2002) argued that the exhibition centre for meeting and exhibition planners (Table
capability of transmitting colour photographs to millions of 3). By contrast, convention and exhibition centre websites
people around the globe makes the Internet a new and had in-depth information about conventions, conferences,
exciting distribution channel. CVBs/tourist boards and CE and exhibition facilities, sales, and services. These findings
centres can make destination images and products more suggest that there is a fragmentation of information for
tangible through the use of colour photos and videos. The meeting and exhibition planners, particularly in the
results indicated that the websites of the US CVBs had convention and exhibition sector. Website visitors not only
significantly better performance than the UK tourist boards, search for information, but also seek a different kind of
but both types of websites need significant improvements in experience and expect interaction. The experience can be
marketing effectiveness. greatly enhanced through sites that offer interactivity, allow
Table 3. Information Differences for Meeting Planners attention to be focused, and lead to perceived congruence of
in Two Types of Websites skills and challenges (Gretzel et al. 2000). It is likely that
meeting and exhibition planners will use a variety of search
CVB/TB CE Fisher’s
N (%) N (%)
Exact Test strategies and Web resources to find information on specific
Sig. (2 destinations and facilities/venues. Those on the supply side
sided) must anticipate these strategies and make it as easy as
Convention and Exhibition (CE) Centre Information possible for planners to find the information they want.
Sales and services for meeting 54 (75.00) 62 (86.11) 0.140 Planners should have easy access to destination information
planners provided by CVB/tourist board websites and be able to
Online form for Request for 27 (37.50) 19 (26.39) 0.211
compare the services of competitive destinations in order to
Proposal (RFP)
CE centre facilities 50 (69.44) 69 (95.83) 0.000**
make site selection decisions conveniently and effectively.
Room capacities/configurations 25 (34.72) 67 (93.06) 0.000** This study suggests that a better integration of CVB/tourist
of the facilities board and CE websites is needed in the future.
Technical facilities in the CE 17 (23.61) 50 (69.44) 0.000**
centre The Future Scenario: Digital Strategic Alliances
Adjacent car parking facilities 13 (18.06) 31 (43.06) 0.002**
Food and beverage (catering) 15 (20.83) 50 (69.44) 0.000** Having appraised the existing situation, what might
services be the future form of convention and exhibition digital
Disabled visitors to the CE 3 (4.17) 17 (23.61) 0.001** marketing? Attempting to predict the future is an
centre undertaking that is always challenging, as it deals not with
CE’s calendar or schedule of 27 (37.50) 62 (86.11) 0.000** what is uncertain but what is intrinsically unknowable.
upcoming events However, based on the above review of the current situation
CE contacts for sales/marketing 26 (36.11) 44 (61.11) 0.004**
Facility documents be 7 (9.72) 30 (41.67) 0.000**
and harnessing the promise of current technological trends,
downloaded from the site one possible future scenario for convention and exhibition
General Mix Information marketing is described in what follows.
Lodging/accommodation 70 (97.22) 32 (44.44) 0.000**
facilities
Mass Customization through Destination Websites
Restaurant/foodservice 68 (94.44) 30 (41.67) 0.000**
facilities A critical future opportunity resides in the potential to
Shopping facilities 70 (97.22) 18 (25.00) 0.000** provide customers, especially meeting planners or delegates
Entertainment/nightlife 67 (93.06) 17 (23.61) 0.000** with access to convention and exhibition websites that
facilities support individualized information needs. The achievement
Transportation facilities 61 (84.72) 41 (56.94) 0.000**
of this requires the application of the principles enshrined
Maps/directions 59 (81.94) 52 (72.22) 0.234
Destination’s attractions 71 (98.61) 36 (50.00) 0.000** in what has become known as ‘mass customization’ (Pine
Festivals or events in the 71 (98.61) 34 (47.22) 0.000** 1993). Originally developed in the context of manufacturing,
destination many leading service companies, particularly in the financial
Suggested tour itineraries 24 (33.33) 1 (1.39) 0.000** services sector, are now applying this approach in an effort
Travel tips 28 (38.89) 1 (1.39) 0.000** to support a more individualized treatment of customer
** Significantly different at p = 0.01 needs. The generic principles of mass customization are
Tourism Recreation Research Vol. 30, No. 3, 2005 55
8. The Effectiveness of Convention & Exhibition Websites: S. Myung, A.M. Morrison & J.S. Taylor
relevant in both manufacturing and service environments. that the customer is then provided with a website that has
In essence, this requires producers to reorient their operations been specifically compiled from a real-time database and is
away from outputs such as products and services and configured to meet their individual needs. This is referred to
towards means such as the processes or inputs by which as an Electronically Linked Convention Information
these are produced. Database (EL CID).
Traditionally, organizations started with the desired Thus, whether it is a meeting planner or a delegate
outputs and then developed the means to produce these in a who visits the website, they would initially be accessing the
consistent and standardized fashion. Inherent in this user interface of the EL CID (the filter). This would be their
approach is rigidity, as it results in producing standardized first point of contact and would, through a series of key
products or services with features considered to be commonly prompts, ascertain the customer’s exact information needs.
desired across an organization’s identified market segments. These are then passed to the Complier that then interacts
Historically, given available technology, this was the only with the Destination Database to gather and deliver the
economically viable basis upon which organizations could information relevant to that specific customer. In effect this
complete and it is encapsulated in the system we know as means that the website has the type of functionality normally
mass production. Here the producer’s emphasis was upon found in an expert system type of application. The technology
achieving economies of scale and, for as long as expanding embodied in the filter would be capable of quickly segregating
mass markets existed, this was a successful formula. customer enquires and apply a series of increasingly specific
filtering mechanisms while remaining sufficiently flexible
In the late 20th century, spiralling levels of competition, to respond to the idiosyncratic information requirements of
coupled with increasing market fragmentation, forced individual customers.
producers to tear up the old rulebook. First in manufacturing,
then in more and more service sectors, mass production Taken to its extreme, it is envisaged that this technology
thinking has been abandoned in favour of a new paradigm would be capable of handling in real time Requests for
that is more in keeping with the new market conditions. Mass Proposals (RFPs). If the EL CID is to be capable of handling
customization demands that producers standardize the RFPs, its database will have to hold the real-time availability
elemental (processes and inputs) aspects and then combine of all the component elements. This would enable meeting
these to produce the output that meets the specific needs of planners to quickly identify and qualify suitable potential
an individual customer. Here it is not economies of scale, venues in relation to their specific needs. It would mean that
but rather economies of scope, that provide the key to success. when meeting planners actually begin to discuss their
Through the application of new technologies and requirements with a particular destination, they have already
management techniques it has been possible to achieve the established basic suitability and availability. This would
hitherto impossible – the combining of low costs with include everything from available meeting/exhibition space
customized outputs. to accommodation provision, transportation, and general
destination tourism facilities. For both planners and
Electronically Linked Convention Information Database (EL destinations, this has obvious efficiencies and benefits as it
CID) dramatically reduces the transaction costs traditionally
In the context of convention and exhibition websites, incurred in the traditional paper-based RFP system.
the key inputs are the blocks of information held on a
centralized database. This would include all the relevant Once a conference or exhibition has committed to a
and available information on the destination including, for destination, the EL CID would be capable of handling the
example: the convention and exhibition facility/venue; requirements of delegates or exhibitors wishing to attend
destination attractions, events, and festivals; the event. For example, by accessing the EL CID, a delegate
accommodation, restaurant facilities; transportation and would be able to reserve and pay for everything from airfares,
infrastructure; general travel information, and so on. These car rental, and accommodation through to sightseeing tours.
represent the components that are subsequently combined This would be a true ‘one-stop shop’ in both name and
to deliver the information exactly as is required by the function. Where specific packages and rates have been
customer. This would be achieved by the use of a assembled for a particular event, EL CID’s filter would
sophisticated front-end complier that, through a filtering identify these and ensure that these were immediately
process consisting of key question prompts, identifies, selects available to a delegate. Once again, the key features are
and assembles from the database the appropriate reduced transaction costs and improved efficiency. True to
information package for that specific customer. The result is principles of mass customization, the EL CID would retain
56 Tourism Recreation Research Vol. 30, No. 3, 2005
9. The Effectiveness of Convention & Exhibition Websites: S. Myung, A.M. Morrison & J.S. Taylor
sufficient flexibility to ensure that the individual preferences Conclusion and Implications
of customers were met in terms of facilities and price levels.
Watson et al. (2004) have argued that, ‘the currently
highly fragmented multitude of information systems
Managing the EL CID
supporting tourism greatly increases the tourist’s search
The development of an EL CID does not just entail the costs, and while touring there is almost no information
application of new technology, but also radical systems support.’ The current study, in addition to
organizational change in destination management. From the highlighting performance shortcomings in DMO and CE
description above, it should be obvious that the development websites, has identified a significant level of information
and maintenance of an EL CID entails extensive fragmentation within the digital resources of convention and
consolidation of all the supply-side elements involved in exhibition destinations. Greater integration of DMO and CE
the delivery of a successful conference or exhibition. This websites is needed in providing the mass customization
represents a major opportunity to resolve some of the present required by increasingly tech-savvy meeting planners. The
information and organizational difficulties previously futurist, Cetron (2004) feels that opportunities and trials will
identified. One obvious solution would be that the be manifold in the meetings and expositions sector of the
management and maintenance of the EL CID be undertaken tourism and hospitality market. He also noted the increasing
by an organization based upon the functional consolidation demand for wireless Internet access to Web-based
of the marketing activities of CVB/tourist board and the information and via e-mail. In the exciting new era of cyber-
convention/exhibition centre. The remit of this new tourism, those destinations that evolve their digital
organization – the Electronic Convention and Visitor Bureau information resources to match these emerging travellers and
(ECVB) – would be to establish and maintain the database meeting planning needs will be the winners. Achieving
and website interface of the EL CID. This would involve success requires further investment in creating a ‘one-stop
recruitment of suppliers and establishing the necessary shopping’ venue online coupled with more partnerships
organizational and technical protocols to support the within convention and exhibition destinations.
efficient and effective functioning of the EL CID.
Greater integration of digital convention and exhibition
This implies a significant level of cooperation between information resources is not the only challenge facing
the public and private sectors at destinations. From an destinations in the connected world of the future. This study
economic development perspective, the success of such an has demonstrated that DMO and CE websites are also not
initiative has well understood benefits for a given destination. performing at an adequately high level of performance. In
Accordingly, it would seem reasonable that the initial particular, these websites are poorly applying key marketing
development of an EL CID might be publicly financed on principles in the design and presentation of information.
much the same basis that many convention and exhibition This situation tends to exacerbate the problems caused by
centres have been. Thereafter, however, it would seem equally the fragmentation of convention and exhibition information.
reasonable that the private sector contribute to the running Weber and Ladkin (2003: 130), using a Delphi panel of
costs of the EL CID. A number of practical models of how convention and meeting experts in Australia and the UK,
this might be achieved already exist in the recruitment and confirmed that superior websites and online booking
operating practices of many marketing consortia in tourism resources were key marketing issues and requirements for
and hospitality. the future of this sector. More effective websites in the future
should be cooperatively planned by Web designers and
The EL CID Website should provide the meeting marketers from both the DMOs and convention/exhibition
planner with a very realistic cybertourism experience of the centres, rather than being separately developed as has been
destination. For example, they should be able to ‘walk the rule in the past.
through’ the main convention and meeting rooms, see typical
hotel rooms, look at the dishes to be served at meal times, While the transatlantic comparison in this research
and experience the destination’s major attractions. These identified many similarities between the UK and US websites,
virtual tours of all the destination’s facilities and attractions there were important performance differences. The US
will be more convenient and efficient for meeting planners, websites outperformed the British websites as marketing
while building more realistic expectations of what tools, while the British DMO Websites were technically
destinations have to offer. Similarly, once the meeting site is superior. While it may not be a common practice today to
selected, delegates should be able to have these virtual assess and benchmark websites of similar organizations in
experiences before visiting the meeting destination. other countries, this comparison should be highly
Tourism Recreation Research Vol. 30, No. 3, 2005 57
10. The Effectiveness of Convention & Exhibition Websites: S. Myung, A.M. Morrison & J.S. Taylor
educational and beneficial for these two types of The future scenario painted in this study – the
organizations on both sides of the Atlantic. Future research Electronically Linked Convention Information Database
is needed to extend this study to a broader range of similar (ELCID) – appears to be a good solution to proactively
organizations for a full understanding of the performance of anticipate the information needs of meeting planners. As
DMOs and convention/exhibition centre websites. A the first real Web generation of 18-24-year-olds eventually
standardized website evaluation instrument validated by enters the professional ranks, they will be even quicker to
destination marketing and meeting experts could be used click away from destination websites that do not offer this
for setting the website evaluation benchmarks. one-stop shopping and cyber-tourism experience.
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Accepted: April 27, 2005
Tourism Recreation Research Vol. 30, No. 3, 2005 59
