The New CVB Reality

IACVB Convention, Vancouver, 2002The World of Tourism

Anna Pollock

Good News: Destinations are the Dell’s, CISCO’s, Schwab’s of

the travel and tourism sector You could be the key species of the tourism

ecosystem

Bad News: Most of you don’t know it yet!

Good News and Bad News

Own the destination “brand”

Are recognised as the official, impartial, neutral source of information

Could offer a broad spectrum of content

Enjoy a uniquely close relationship with providers

Often also have a Quality Assurance function

Can provide the consumer with “comfort” and support.

Why should DMO’s take the lead?

Lack of resources Lack of skill sets required

Sales Technology

Can’t move fast enough Risk averse culture Role is ambiguous – may be conflicting with their

own “members” or constituents DMO’s serve four sets of customer….

What’s Holding DMO’s Back?

DMO

Visitor

Provider

HostPartner

1. People Power – what does customer-centricity really mean?

2. It’s now a fuzzy, intangible world of experiences – how do you respond?

3. The rules have all changed – new business models are essential

External Dynamics

Information access – everywhere and “always on” makes everyone a competitor,creates commodities

Networking – “communities of interest”, relying on each other for reliable information

Personalisation – one web site is not enough Markets are conversations – how well are you

listening? The new buzz word is co-creation Activism and concern – transparency, values,

ethics

People Power

People in networked markets have figured out that they get far better information and support from one another than from vendors. So much for corporate rhetoric about “adding value” to commoditized products.

Companies that don’t realise their markets are now networked person-to-person, getting smarter as a result and are deeply joined in conversation are missing an opportunity.

Cluetrain Manifesto

www.cluetrain.com

From: a traditional obsession with the product Positioning, pricing, promoting, pushing From paper to web One-way communication Segmentation

To: an infrastructure that enables customers to pull towards them what they want, when they want and where they want it

Marketing: When Push Comes to Pull

Access to relevant content throughout their cycle: dream, plan, search, book,

experience, reflect, recommend, return. Appropriate to their task: browsing, searching,

retrieving, comparing, buying, changing their mind, bragging, complaining – hopefully not….(!)

Appropriate to the device being used: web, mobile, kiosk, TV, print, PDA, phone, off-line

What do Consumers Need?

1. People Power – what does customer-centricity really mean?

2. It’s now a fuzzy, intangible world of experiences – how do you respond?

3. The rules have all changed – new business models are essential

External Dynamics

Our Guest’s Experience

FANTASY

EXPERIENCE

Physical Mental Emotional Spiritual

MEMORY

Fulfil

Enable/enrich

Mould / propagate

RETURN

RECOMMEND

1. Destinations – the keepers of the magic, the dream weavers

2. Destinations – guardians of the “brand”3. You are the Stage Managers and Story

Tellers4. Your purpose – to distill, present and

maintain the essence or soul of a place5. Your task – to enable your guests to

engage and, in so doing, enlarge or enrich themselves

Let me tell you a story……

Who are You, Really?

Let Me Tell You a Story

1. People Power – what does customer-centricity really mean?

2. It’s now a fuzzy, intangible world of experiences – how do you respond?

3. The rules have all changed – new business models are essential

External Dynamics

Where’s the Wealth Coming From?

20th Century 21st Century

company

Entrepreneur, CEO

efficiencies

Competition

Collaborative community

Customer centric team

Experiences

Collaboration

Hard assets Relationship capital

engine

hero

focus

driver

value

•Collaborative Communities

•Business Webs

•Destination Webs

New Wealth Generators

A Destination Web © is an electronically inter-connected community of autonomous but interdependent, travel-related enterprises that collaborate in order to provide value to visitors, profit for providers and partners and benefits to the host community. DestiCorp

New Wealth Generators

Destination Web

Host Community

Host Community

Suppliers

Agents

DMO

Partners

GUEST

Features

1. Participants focus on their core competence Do what you do best, outsource the rest!

2. All participants are wired together

3. All content is digitised

4. Customers pull towards them the content they need to complete a task

5. Participants collaborate to provide value around a specific event

Implications, Strengths & Roles

1. DMO’s continue to be the guardians of the brand.

2. Customers are the unifying force. DMO’s need to re-organise around guests’ needs at every stage in their purchase/ experience cycle

3. This means a greater focus on softer, intangible aspects of customer satisfaction – delivering on the brand promise –while……

Implications, Strengths & Roles

4. Creating or outsourcing powerful, flexible electronic infrastructures and processes that enable all participants to work collaboratively.

5. New role: CVB as “process orchestrator”, the choreographer engaged in a dance with the customer

DestiCorp

A “thinking” consultancy working with leaders to:• Venture out the box• Make sense of the world• Ignite innovation• Dare to be bold and• Know they are not alone……

www.desticorp.com