Destination Marketing Organization Websites (DMOs) Evaluation and Design What you need to know

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1 Destination Marketing Organization Websites (DMOs) Evaluation and Design What you need to know In Summary: INSIDE Increasing use of Internet by travelers Basic elements of website quality - Navigation - Content - Accessibility Empirical results of website design for DMOs Suggested improvements Conclusion What features a destination website must have Destination websites provide the user with information about the areas tourist activities and the various attractions. During the past 5 years more and more travelers use the Internet to learn more about a destination or to plan their vacation trips. Among the basic elements a website should have are good navigation, useful content and accessibility (small downloading time). In order to learn what elements are being valued the most from travelers in a destination website, a research project was undertaken to investigate the importance and performance of DMO website features. The results revealed that content elements, such as pictures, maps and more detailed information about the destination's various features are valued mostly by travelers. Contact information should also be always available to the user and be placed prominently on the website pages. More interactive features should be used from the various destination websites. In summary, content features along with interactive features were valued the most. Prepared by: Kiki Kaplanidou, PhD student and Dr. Christine Vogt, Associate Professor Department of Community, Agriculture, Recreation and Resource Studies (Former Department of Park, Recreation and Tourism Resources) Michigan State University September 2004 This paper is a result of the collaboration between Travel Michigan and Michigan State University - Department of Community, Agriculture, Recreation and Resource Studies (CARRS)

2 Introduction Increasing use of Internet by travelers The use of the Internet among online travelers is increasing. Although the increase has been small in the past two years, the Travel Industry Association of America estimates that among the million US travelers today, 67% use the Internet (TIA, 2004). Frequent travelers, who take five or more trips annually, have a higher likelihood of using the Internet for planning purposes (TIA, 2004). Among other planning activities, travelers search for maps or driving directions and look for places to stay. Other popular searches in 2004 include things to do, dining and entertainment as well as local events and travel packages information (TIA, 2004). For the past three years the number of travelers that use the Internet for planning purposes has been stable (around 67%) (TIA, 2004). The purpose of this paper is to understand the elements that travelers seek to find in a destination website, which will satisfy their expectations and will increase their desire to visit the destination. The following section reviews the pertinent literature on website design and website quality elements. Basic elements of web site quality Overall website quality is perceived as the result of three design/ technological elements. These involve ease of navigation, technological creativity and accessibility (e.g. downloading times, how easily a user can find/access the website) (Perdue, 2001). However, a destination website is not only the result of the functionality of these three features. The quality of the content, the visual/graphical representation and the presence of interactive elements that engage the user are equally important elements. These elements contribute to the overall website quality (Evans & King, 1999, Doolin, Burgess & Cooper, 2002, Gretzel, Yuan & Fesenmaier, 2000). It is important to understand how users of destination websites perceive these elements and whether the overall website quality is attracting them to visit the destination. The following section will focus on navigation, content and accessibility elements a destination website could incorporate in order to be evaluated positively based on the existing literature on website quality and design. Element #1: Navigation Good navigation is a necessity of a successful website design (Kuegler, 2000). Navigation is a successful movement through a website s pages. A good navigational design includes a list of major sections that can be reached easily from the home page and any other page. An excellent first step in providing a good navigational system is to create and provide a flow chart that shows all major and minor sections of the website and how they link to the home page and with each other (Evans & King, 1999, Kuegler, 2000). Websites need to provide navigation tools that are easy to learn and are designed in such a way that facilitate the user to move through the web pages easier and at the same time keep users engaged in the website for more time (Gretzel, Yuan & Fesenmaier, 2000). Good navigation is usually characterized by organized pages, the presence of the navigation bar on every page and the opportunity to access the home page from every sub page within the website. Users should not feel that they reached a dead end within a website (Head, 1999). Furthermore, an internal website search engine should exist. This option will potentially decrease search time for information and lead to higher levels of satisfaction for the website visitor. There should also be consistency in the layout of the website, graphic vocabulary and key commands (e.g. print, search) so that users do not have to re-learn and remember how each page looks and s (Head, 1999). Consistency should exist among the typeface, the color and size throughout the website. In a study by Zhang, von Dran, Blake & Pipithsuksunt (2001) navigation was rated by consumers among the first three important elements websites need to have. In summary, utilizing a clear, concise graphical navigational system throughout the website make visitors feel at home, in control, and more willing to revisit later (Kuegler, 2000, p. 229). 2

3 Element #2: Content Content in the form of text is considered to be very important for the Internet since it was initially developed to exchange information. A website should have content that satisfies the user and it should be updated at least monthly (Evans & King, 1999). Providing a date for the last update of information is a good idea since it directly communicates to the user when the information was last modified. Content is the king when compared to other website characteristics since usability studies have shown that when a page comes up, the user looks right in the middle for content (Head, 1999). Text can be effectively combined with graphics, video and audio. However, if the users speed of Internet connection is slow, then text has the main role of communicating the information because it downloads faster. The importance of the content is identified in research articles, where it is underlined that content directly influences the perceived image of the destination and creates a virtual experience for the consumer (Gretzel, Yuan & Fesenmaier, 2000). This experience can be further enhanced by providing interactive elements (Doolin, Burgess & Cooper, 2002). Interactive elements can include value-added features such as sending a postcard or internal site search engines. It is crucial that the content is accurate, attractive and easily searchable (Gretzel, Yuan & Fesenmaier, 2000). Furthermore, the presence of contact information is necessary because it offers an opportunity to the visitor to contact the DMO directly and increase interactivity of the visitor with the organization. Text should be kept at a reasonable level depending on the nature of the website. Reproduction of paper-based destination brochures on-line is considered visually unattractive and difficult to read because of too much text, too little graphics and usually not enough punch in their appearance (Hanna & Millar, 1997). Element #3: Accessibility Accessibility can be conceptualized as the ability of the user to easily find a website in the World Wide Web, as well as how fast the website and its web pages download. Download time is a function of the amount of graphics, the type of Internet connection and the web browser. The time it takes to download a web page is usually important to users. If it takes a long time to download it may lead the user to switch websites. Accessibility is facilitated when the website is technically well supported. Another technical element that supports accessibility is the ability of the site to open/download in different browsers. Technical aspects also include how links are ing within a site. If there are dead links, then there is no accessibility to and from a site through a broken link. There should also be no mistakes in the programming of the website (e.g. HTML errors) (National Tourism Offices class project, 2001). The role of consumer experience with the Internet Consumer experience is important regarding website evaluations. The more experienced the user is with Internet use and website usage, the stricter the evaluation of the website may be (Perdue, 2001). It is important to understand how the experience of users with the Internet influences its usage. DMOs can develop and improve their websites based on how experienced their target markets are with the Internet. The organization should consider their target audiences when they are posting information to their website. A DMO website can have various target audiences and user audiences. Target audiences may include the out-of-state or instate travelers, while the user audiences may include residents, emigrants (aiming to keep contact with their home destination), travel agencies that look for information to provide to their own customers and also new residents in the area that do not know what activities, attractions and other area related information is available. Important information should be immediately accessible and close to the home page (Mateos et al, 2001, Evans & King, 1999). Furthermore, content should not have spelling mistakes on the web pages. In summary, content is the most important asset of tourism website and as such great attention should be paid to its development and use. 3

4 EMPIRICAL RESULTS Based on research findings illustrated in the literature, a research project was conducted by Michigan State University and Travel Michigan to evaluate Michigan Destination Marketing websites that were willing to participate in such a project. Aim of the project and approach to research The aim of this research project was to evaluate the design and quality of Michigan s Destination Marketing Organization websites. The websites studied included CVBs, Tourism Councils and Tourism Associations, which are all listed on the Travel Michigan website under the Destination Marketing Organizations category. Out of total 75 websites, 52 websites indicated their interest in participating in an evaluation study. Specifically, an online-survey was conducted by the research company Davidson and Peterson and Associates. The data were collected from a population of 6,790 travelers in the state of Michigan who volunteer on a Research Panel that Travel Michigan maintains. Invitations for this research project were sent in the form of to the participants. From the list of 52 destination websites, a respondent was randomly assigned to a specific website directly. The respondents had the opportunity to evaluate one or two of the 52 participating websites. Upon completion of the first evaluation, they were invited for another evaluation for another randomly selected website. The respondents answered the questionnaire based on the memory perceptions/impressions they had from the website they visited. They could not revisit the website once they finished browsing (they had to close the website browser to answer the questionnaire). The duration of the data collection period was from April 28, 2004, when the first invitations were sent out, through May 9, One reminder was sent to the participants on May 4 th, 2004 to increase the response rate and the total number of evaluations for each of the 52 participating websites. The final response rate was 34% or 2,342 respondents out of 6,790. The results of this study highlight those elements users find important on DMO websites. Also, these elements were benchmarked across the 52 participating websites. Between 35 and 76 first and second evaluations per website were completed. Demographics of respondents The respondents who evaluated all the participating DMO websites consisted mainly of females (69%). The average age of the respondents is 46 years. They spend 14 hours a week, on average, on the Internet. A large proportion of them (57.5%) had fast Internet connection, 26.6% had slow connection, while the rest 16.1% didn t know what type of Internet connection they had or they indicated other. Destination websites followed by travel guides and then by friends and family were among their most preferred sources of travel information for planning vacations. A majority of the respondents were experienced Internet users as 61.6% used the Internet for travel planning purposes for more than three years. A small percentage of the respondents (16.5%) visited the websites prior to the web evaluation research project. A large percentage of the respondents (40.5%) visited the destinations which the websites represented before the research project. The respondents took, on average, between four and five vacation trips that included at least one overnight stay in the state of Michigan during The income breakdown of the respondents is: 6.8% of the respondents were under $25,000 and 24.4% were between $25,000 and $49,999. Less than one-third of the respondents (30.7%) had income between $50,000 and $75,000 while the largest proportion (38%) had more than $75,000 income. 4

5 Table 1: Performance evaluation of navigation elements Navigation elements Ratings of 52 MI DMO websites Number of respondents: 2,316 Somewhat and completely agree (%) Mean (1-5 scale, where 1=completely disagree, 5=completely agree) Ease of finding attractions information 94.7% 4.6 Navigation bar was present in every page was helpful 91.1% 4.6 Overall user friendly site 94.0% 4.6 Ease of finding event information 93.5% 4.6 Ease of finding accommodation information 92.7% 4.5 Good navigation layout of the home page 91.6% 4.5 Well organized navigation bar 90.7% 4.5 Ability to move through the website 91.4% 4.5 Website had similar look and feel 87.5% 4.4 Overall, easy navigation of the website 83.6% 4.3 Search options assisted quick information access 84.7% 4.3 Composite navigation score (mean) 4.5 Element #1: Navigation The results in table 1 depict how respondents evaluated the navigation elements of 52 participating destination marketing organization websites. Overall the respondent s ratings regarding navigation elements of all the participating websites were positive. More specifically, most websites performed well in promoting their attractions, events and accommodations since the users could find information about these features easily. Most of the websites were also perceived to have well organized navigation bars, which helped the user move around the website easier. The majority of the websites were thought to be internally consistent in terms of how they looked and the impression they communicated. In those websites where there was an internal search engine, the users evaluated it positively. For those websites that didn t provide a search engine, the users indicated that it would be useful to have one. Element #2: Content The results in table 2 depict how respondents evaluated the content elements of 52 participating destination marketing organization websites. Overall, the respondent s ratings regarding the content of the participating websites were positive. The respondents perceived the text was easy to read and clearly written across most websites. The majority of the websites provided a thorough listing of destination products and services in the navigation bar, as well as, useful links to other information related to the destination features. The results also indicate that the travel information was relatively up-to-date, the content of the destination s features was informative and that it was effectively combined with the existing pictures to describe/ promote the destination. The websites also offered clarity of location/attraction descriptions. The lowest score in this category was about the usefulness of deals and packages information the websites offered. The respondents perceived this information as somewhat useful. This result, however, should be treated with caution because not all website offered that type of information. 5

6 Table 2: Performance evaluation of content elements Content elements Ratings of 52 MI DMO websites Number of respondents: 2,319 Somewhat and completely agree (%) Mean (1-5 scale, where 1=completely disagree, 5=completely agree) Text easy to read 94.4% 4.6 Overall clearly written information 92.5% 4.5 Overall satisfying content 90.0% 4.4 Thorough listing of destination products and services 87.6% 4.3 Useful links 87.1% 4.3 Very informative content of destination features 88.0% 4.3 Up to date travel information 80.8% 4.2 Content motivating to visit 80.0% 4.1 Effective combination of content & pictures to position/ market the destination 81.7% 4.1 Pictures motivating to visit 79.6% 4.1 Motivating graphics to keep browsing 73.3% 4.0 Clear descriptions of locations/attractions 76.1% 4.0 Useful deals and packages information 72.1% 3.9 Composite content score (mean) 4.3 Element #3: Accessibility The results in table 3 depict how respondents evaluated the accessibility elements of 52 participating destination marketing organization websites. Both the home page and the websites sub pages downloaded fast. The home pages were perceived to download slightly faster than the sub pages. These results, however, are a function of Internet connection type. Accessibility elements Table 3: Evaluation of accessibility elements Ratings of 52 MI DMO websites Number of respondents: 2,320 Somewhat and completely agree (%) Mean (1-5 scale, where 1=completely disagree, 5=completely agree) Home page downloaded fast 89.1% 4.4 Sub pages downloaded fast 87.9% 4.4 Suggested improvements-importance/ performance analysis Based on an Importance-Performance analysis grid, some elements were perceived as very important by the respondents but they were not excellent in terms of performance. Table 4 indicates where all participating DMOs performed well and where they need to concentrate to improve low performing elements. Explanations of importance-performance evaluation of mean scores All evaluations were toward the positive end of the scales. Based on the ratings of web consumers, the elements that need improvement are those that received higher scores on the importance scale but lower scores on the performance scale. The cut lines regarding recommendations across all participating websites are: importance values above 4.24 and performance values below 4.03, indicating that the elements which have these scores or less, require improvement. 6

7 Table 4: Importance-Performance analysis Ratings of 52 MI DMO websites Number of respondents: 2318 Importance (Scale from 1 to 5, 1=Not at all important, 5= extremely important) Performance (Scale from 1 to 5, 1=poor, 5= excellent) Up to date information Ease of finding info Clear descriptions of attractions Useful info in planning a trip Easy navigation Availability of contact info Detailed destination information Home page download time Picture quality Overall website design appeal Home page design Useful links Recommendations Concentrate here Lower priority Specific recommendations/tips from importance-performance analysis -Make sure the website information is always updated -Facilitate the users to find the information they want (e.g. maps) -Provide clear descriptions of attractions and locations (e.g. provide instructions how to get to a destination) -Provide more maps and pictures -Make the navigation easier to please the users experience -Provide links that lead the user in the right pages and make sure they function properly - Provide text that is appealing to the users and promotes the destination Interactive elements Ability to purchase tourism products/ services Uncluttered pages Lower priority Lower priority Lower priority 7

8 Respondents comments Figure 2 depicts below those elements the respondents would like to see improved on the DMO websites. Not all comments are applicable to all websites. Content was the top suggestion, which may indicate that users want to see more information in the form of text, pictures and maps. Other category was the next, which was an open-ended question asking respondents to suggest improvements. Some of the most common comments were: More maps are needed to show where each destination is located in the state of Michigan. More pictures are needed to communicate what the various areas have to offer. More detailed information is needed regarding accommodation prices and other tourist information such as locations, prices and ing hours. Full contact information should be available and should be placed prominently on the web pages. Internal search engines are needed to reduce the search time for users. Captions in the photos that show where the location depicted in the pictures are needed. Avoid strong colors and too many graphics. Provide links that function properly and lead the user to the pertinent page. Show the user that the information is up-to-date. Avoid the combination of dark colors for both font and background to facilitate reading. Pay attention to detail (e.g. avoid spelling mistakes). Create exciting home pages (applicable to some of the websites). Finally the third suggestion was about interactivity. Interactivity includes elements that make the user play with a website keeping him/her engaged in a pleasant way and leading him/her to the proper information. Figure 2: Elements respondents would like to see improved across all websites Other Accesibility Home page content Interactivity Layout Measures of website usage, satisfaction and intent to travel to the destination based on the website experience In order to understand how satisfied the users were with the website they visited, four questions were asked regarding satisfaction with overall website experience, and quality, the website s usefulness in planning a trip, and their intent to travel to the featured destination based on their website experience. Table 5 shows that overall the ratings regarding satisfaction with website usage and experience were good. Table 5: Overall measures of website usage and satisfaction Ratings of 52 MI DMO websites Number of respondents: 2,329 Somewhat and extremely (%) a: scale from 1-5, 1=extremely dissatisfied, 5=extremely satisfied b: scale from 1-5, 1=not at all useful, 5=extremely useful c: scale from 1-5, 1=very unlikely 5=very likely Mean Satisfaction with website experience a 92.9% 4.4 Satisfaction with website quality a 91.2% 4.4 Website usefulness in planning a trip b 83.0% 4.2 Intent to visit the destination based on website experience 77.8% 4.0 Content 24.1 Navigation 8.1 8

9 Conclusion of the research project Overall, the respondents perceptions regarding the various features and elements of the websites design and quality were positive. Some final implications of this research are: Although most of the website elements were positively rated, there are some areas that need to be improved to reach excellence ratings. Improvements are crucial to the development of a destination tourism website. The data suggests that more detailed descriptions about the destination features and improvements regarding the presentation of information (e.g. more pictures) could further advance the website and increase user satisfaction. Interactivity could be further improved by adding search box options and offering, for example, more interactive maps and destination videos. Evolved websites are quite interactive and through interactivity they potentially manage to engage and keep the visitor on their website longer. It is more efficient to have contact information in a prominent place on the web pages to facilitate the users in locating and using it. Almost all respondents indicated high levels of satisfaction with the overall experience of using the DMO websites (93%). The overall quality of the websites was positively perceived as 91% of the respondents rated it as very good. The websites usefulness in terms of planning a trip influenced 83% of the respondents to indicate higher satisfaction levels. Finally, 80% indicated their intent to travel to various destinations based on their overall website experience. This result should be treated with caution and should be considered in relation to the sample characteristics. For example, the results regarding intent to travel to the destination based on the respondents overall website experience might be a combination of other reasons apart from website experience, such as visit friends and relatives, being a loyal/repeat visitor to the destination areas or reside close by (e.g. 66.5% of the respondents reside in Michigan). Also, the sample of respondents might not be a representative sample of the population since they volunteered in participating in the Travel panel this research project used for the data collection. Final tips-combination of findings What a destination website must have The analysis of the data showed that there are certain content elements that should exist on every destination website. These are: A state map should exist on the homepage to show the traveler where the destination is located in the state of Michigan. The map can be interactive in terms of showing distances from bigger cities in the state of Michigan. The contact information should be placed prominently on the home page in order to facilitate the users in finding it, should they need to contact the DMO directly. A last update of information date is needed on every web page to inform the users about when the information was last updated. Whenever a picture is used in a website, a caption should be accompany it to communicate to the users where this area is located. Most times, users see a picture and would like to go there but they do not know where this place is. Interactive elements such as interactive maps and internal search engines should be used to engage the user. Links that properly and send the user to the right page. A home button should exist on every page that leads the user back to the home page easily and does not create the feeling of being lost in a website. There should be consistency in the way the links open. This means that all links should either open in a new window or on the same window. The advantage of opening a new window is that the users will be able to return the DMO website easier. The more pictures a destination website incorporates in its content the better it seems to be since it showcases the destination s beauty and local character. Future steps It is important to follow up on how the website progresses over time after incorporating the suggested changes. Future follow up research on the website features covered on this paper could indicate how the websites progress over time and adopt to user preferences. 9

10 References Doolin, B., Burgess, L., & Cooper, J. (2002). Evaluating the use of the web for tourism marketing: A case study from New Zealand. Tourism Management, 23, Evans, J. R., & King, V.E. (1999). Business-to-Business Marketing and the World Wide Web: Planning managing and assessing web sites. Industrial Marketing Management, 28, Gretzel, U., Yuan, Y., & Fesenmaier, D. R. (2000). Preparing for the new economy: Advertising strategies and change in Destination Marketing Organizations. Journal of Travel Research, 39, (November), Hanna, J.R.P. & Millar, R.J. (1997). Promoting tourism on the Internet. Tourism Management, 18 (7), Head, A. (1999). Web redemption and the promise of usability. Online, 23(6), Kuegler, J.T. (2000). Web Advertising and Marketing. Roseville, California: Prima Tech. National Tourism Offices, HTM 315 Class project (n.d.) Retrieved from: htm on October 12, Perdue, R. (2001). Internet Site Evaluations: The influence of behavioral experience, existing images and selected website characteristics. Journal of Travel and Tourism Marketing, 11(2/3), This is the fifth paper of the new Marketing and Research paper series created by Travel Michigan and the MSU Dept of Community, Agriculture, Recreation and Resource Studies to better inform Michigan s tourism industry on marketing research topics. The topics of the first four research papers were on conversion studies, word-of-mouth, destination branding, and website evaluation: terminology and measurement. You can view these papers at the following web address: travelmichigannews.org/ Research.htm Travel Industry Association of America (TIA) (2004). Travelers use of the internet, 2004 edition. Zhang, P., von Dran, G.M., Blake, P., & Pipithsuksunt, V. (2001). Important design features in different web site domains. Human Resources Abstracts, 37 (4),