This volume provides specific answers to hard questions about how to create valid metrics to measure the effectiveness of tourism advertising and the usefulness of destination marketing websites. An extensive literature review describes 40+ years of research on the effectiveness of tourism advertising and the slow advancement to using valid impact metrics - field experiments with alternative ad treatment and placements. Several authors undertake information-usefulness audits on DMO (destination management office) websites and provide practical check lists. Tourism website comparisons include: Maine, Massachusetts and New York; Genoa, Marseilles and Valencia; France, Spain and Portugal; and China, Poland, Russia and Thailand, against each other as well as the Lonely Planet websites. Content analysis of consumer-generated advertisements that promote visits to third places, in this case Starbucks coffee shops and Chipotle restaurants, makes an intriguing study. The final paper gives a thick description of the dynamics of the government's role in shaping China's domestic, inbound, and outbound tourism industry and contributes to building a behavioral theory of government-firm relationships.
Author(s): Arch G. Woodside
Publisher: Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Year: 2010
Language: English
Pages: 184
Preface......Page 1
ADVANCES IN CULTURE, TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY RESEARCH......Page 3
3......Page 4
Editorial board......Page 5
List of contributors......Page 9
6......Page 10
Tourism advertising and marketing performance metrics......Page 11
Introduction: what CEOs and legislators want to know about tourism marketing programs......Page 12
Standard practices in measuring tourism advertising and marketing effectiveness......Page 13
Fatal flaws in conversion studies as indicators of advertising causing visits......Page 14
Additional serious flaws in conversion studies for comparing alternative campaigns and media vehicles performances......Page 16
Quasi and true experiments useful for measuring the impacts of advertising and marketing programs......Page 17
Do destination marketing websites provide useful information for their website visitors?......Page 21
DMO executives and scholars working together......Page 22
References......Page 23
Information usefulness auditing of tourism destination websites: Assessing Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Francisco’s performance......Page 25
Los Angeles......Page 26
San Diego......Page 27
Booking a vacation......Page 28
Digital and print materials......Page 29
Media components: social media and video......Page 33
Conclusion......Page 34
References......Page 35
Six drivers for high-user satisfaction of tourism websites: Performance auditing of Maine, Massachusetts, and New York’s direct marketing strategies......Page 37
Introduction......Page 38
The six drivers of user satisfaction......Page 39
Rating Method......Page 43
Tourist Details Results......Page 44
Appearance and Usability Results......Page 46
Deals and Promotions Results......Page 47
Segment Marketing Results......Page 48
Foreign Focus Results......Page 50
Social Media Results......Page 51
Conclusions, limitations, call for future research......Page 52
Second Analysis to Check for Reliability......Page 53
References......Page 54
Are tourism websites useful for travelers? Applying an information audit rubric for Mediterranean tourism destination websites......Page 56
Literature......Page 57
Valencia, Spain......Page 59
Marseille, France......Page 60
Genoa, Italy......Page 62
Ranking......Page 63
Conclusion and implications in tourism market......Page 65
References......Page 66
Introduction......Page 68
Tourism through the Internet......Page 69
Study of three different Web sites......Page 70
France......Page 71
Spain......Page 73
Portugal......Page 74
Conclusions......Page 75
References......Page 77
Usefulness of Government and Private Destination Websites......Page 78
Introduction......Page 79
Visa versus nonvisa required destinations: The traveling American’s dilemma......Page 81
Government DMO websites in comparison to private sector websites......Page 82
Internet marketing success - Poland defies odds while China meets expectations......Page 85
Market mediums fail to address handicap and disabled tourism......Page 87
Reflections and conclusion......Page 88
Websites:......Page 89
For China......Page 90
China Private Sector Rubric......Page 96
For China......Page 101
For Macau......Page 103
Residence Permit......Page 104
Poland Government Rubric......Page 105
Poland Private Sector Rubric......Page 112
Thailand Government Sponsored Rubric......Page 118
Thailand Private Sector Rubric......Page 127
Russia Government Sponsored Rubric......Page 132
Russia Private Sector Rubric......Page 137
June......Page 138
Visas......Page 143
Registration......Page 144
Business Visa......Page 145
Visa Extensions & Changes......Page 146
Consumer-generated advertisements: Examining and creating executions for Starbucks and Chipotle commercials......Page 147
Literature review......Page 148
Propositions......Page 150
Results......Page 151
Discussion......Page 154
References......Page 155
Toward a behavioral theory of government-firm relationship behavior: Thick description of the dynamics of government’s role in shaping China’s domestic, inbound, and outbound tourism industry......Page 156
Introduction......Page 157
Study background......Page 158
Evolution of travel agency regulations in China......Page 159
Major changes in the 2009 Travel Agency Act......Page 163
Impacts on regional tourism......Page 165
Conclusion and implications......Page 168
References......Page 169
