Aileen O'Toole's presentation to Good Food Ireland conference. Specifically covering the 2010 Irish Tourism Industry Confederation (ITIC) research into changing trousim distribution patterns and the role of internet in tourism distribution

1. www.amas.ie
Tourism and travel distribution
in a changed world
Aileen O’Toole,
Managing Director,
AMAS
Good Food Ireland conference
www.amas.ie

2. www.amas.ie
Presentation outline
• Present ITIC research carried out jointly by:
• CHL Consulting
• AMAS
• Specifically consider:
• Changing distribution patterns
• Role of internet in tourism distribution
• Perspectives of Irish and overseas tourism industry
• Provide “takeaways” on:
• Building your distribution channels
• Reputation management
• Online marketing

3. www.amas.ie
About AMAS
Internet consultancy
Assist clients to:
• Plan
• Evaluate
• Manage
• Market their online
channels

4. www.amas.ie
Background

5. www.amas.ie
The digital landscape
Social networks
Content sharing
Syndication
Website(s)
Email newsletters
Social bookmarks
Blogs
User-generated
content
Search engine
profile
Mobile
Extranet

6. www.amas.ie
ITIC research objectives
• Establish how tourism and
travel distribution is evolving
• Identify future trends
• Assess impacts on the Irish
tourism industry
• Make recommendations

7. www.amas.ie
Research methodology
• Online surveys…
• Irish tourism industry: 617 responses
• Irish tour operators :12 responses
• International trade survey: – 75
responses
• Complemented by…
• In-depth interviews with industry experts
• Desk research exploring international
trends
• ITIC workshop

8. www.amas.ie
High response rate across all sectors
Total responses: 617

9. www.amas.ie
Findings

10. www.amas.ie
Tourism and travel distribution channels
SUPPLIERS
Carriers (Air / Sea / Rail etc)
Lodging (Hotels / B&Bs / Self-catering etc)
Car Rental
Other (Visitor Attractions, Events, Restaurants etc)
ONLINE
−Email
−Internet
booking
engine
−Brand
website
−Mobile
−Social media
OFFLINE
−Walk-in
−Phone
ONLINE
−Extranet
−Pegasus
ODD
OFFLINE
−Voice (call centres)
−GDSs
(Amadeus/Galileo/
Sabre/Worldspan
ONLINE
−Tour operators
−OTAs (Expedia,
Orbitz, Travelocity,
etc.)
OFFLINE
−Tour
operators
−Retail travel
agencies
OFFLINE
Incoming Tour
Operators
END USERS
Consumer Tourist Markets
Corporate
Other Travellers
I
N
D
I
R
E
C
T
D
I
R
E
C
T

11. www.amas.ie
Planning an Irish holiday
• Steady increase in use of
internet at research stage
in four principal markets
• In 2008, 7 in 10 visitors
used the internet at
planning stage compared
to just 4 in 10 in 2008
Selected VAS Answers for Key Markets
(2008)
Failte Ireland’s VAS 2002 - 2008
Most important information sources in planning the holiday in Ireland

12. www.amas.ie
Purchasing an Irish holiday
• Steady increase also in online
purchasing across all markets
• In 2008, 8 in 10
holidaymakers visiting
Ireland booked at least some
of their trip online
• This was most marked among
UK visitors.
Use of internet in purchasing
any part of trip to Ireland
Failte Ireland’s SoT survey
Base: Varies from yr to yr but 2,700+

13. www.amas.ie
Purchasing Ireland online
Of those buying online…
• Airline / sea tickets represent the
highest proportion of these
bookings. Online market appears
to be at saturation point
• Over 7 in 10 UK and US visitors
and 6 in 10 French & German
visitors book accommodation
online
• Online car hire purchases are
more likely to be made by
Americans
Failte Ireland’s SoT survey
Base: All those who made an internet purchase

14. www.amas.ie
Online booking capability
• 7 in 10 respondents’
websites have an online
reservation capability.
• This rises to 90% for IHF
member
• Self-catering sector less likely
to have online booking
• Over half of B&Bs and hotels
state that at least 40% of
their bookings were delivered
online in 2009
Websites with online reservation capabilities
Total
(524)
IHF
(138)
B&B
(305)
ISCF
(56)

15. www.amas.ie
Access to product: how Ireland compares
(perspective of 75 in international distributors)

16. www.amas.ie
Internet: perceptions
• Tourism businesses positively
disposed to internet
• 88% said that use of the
internet had increased sales
• 71% said it had led to
improved yields
421 responses

17. www.amas.ie
Trends

18. www.amas.ie
Travellers’ online journey

19. www.amas.ie
Word of mouth goes viral
Ireland in one month on TripAdvisor
• 2,880,747 unique visits
• 5,241,335 page views
• 130,162 reviews
• 50,517 forum topics
• 3,482 lodgings
• 1,633 attractions
• 2,007 restaurants
I trust content of.... Personal
%
Business
%
Trip reviews from people like me 59 65
Trip reviews from experts 57 63

20. www.amas.ie
Mobile

21. www.amas.ie
The takeaways

22. www.amas.ie
Actions: providers
• Own websites important
channel for transactions and
promotion
• Traditional channels, such as
incoming tour operators or
GDSs, cannot be ignored
• Need to continuously review
range of online channels used
• Continuously investment in
skills, technology, marketing
required

23. www.amas.ie
Actions: reputation management
• Monitor presence on sites
such as TripAdvisor
• Actively encourage satisfied
customers to post comments
to these sites, and help them
to do so
• Respond appropriately to
complaints and potentially
damaging comments

24. www.amas.ie
Actions: online marketing
• Be familiar with the range of
platforms, tools and techniques
available
• Ensure online marketing is a core
part of marketing strategy
• Ensure all marketing activity is
integrated into a coherent plan
• Evaluate performance using
measurement tools and analysis
(e.g. Google Analytics)

25. www.amas.ie
Read the full report
Available for download on
ITIC website
www.itic.ie/research
Use the resources:
Appendix 2: glossary of terms
Appendix 3: reputation management
Appendix 4: marketing and site
management

26. www.amas.ie
More reading...
www.amas.ie/blog
http://twitter.com/AMASinternet

27. www.amas.ie
Internet affects offline purchasing

28. www.amas.ie
Thank you