Understanding the real economic impact of destination marketing is essential for evolving strategy and fostering advocacy. In today’s fast-changing travel landscape, it is crucial for Destination Marketing Organizations (DMOs) and Convention and Visitors Bureaus (CVBs) to adopt a more holistic approach to managing all aspects of a destination. Today, they are more conscious than ever of the economic, social and environmental impacts that affect tourism development. Therefore, destination marketing plans should focus on attracting the right kind of visitor that will genuinely benefit the destination. Destinations need to consistently evaluate and assess their marketing efforts with the right insights to ensure they are achieving their goals and objectives. 

In this blog post, we'll explore the importance of data-driven insights in destination marketing, from campaign strategy to execution: 

Keeping up with travel trends 

Insights from combined air, hotel, and sociodemographic data enable a comprehensive view of a destination's tourism landscape. By analyzing flight searches, bookings and hotel occupancy rates, DMOs and CVBs can identify popular destinations and peak travel times. It is important to know when and where tourists are most likely to book and to visit so they can optimize their promotional activities and resource allocation. They can launch targeted advertising campaigns during peak seasons or develop special offers to attract visitors during off-peak times. 
Additionally, travel data helps DMOs and CVBs understand visitor demographics, such as age, gender, nationality, and travel purpose. This information allows them to segment their audience and create targeted marketing campaigns that resonate with specific groups, such as promoting luxury stays to high-income tourists. 

Elevating destinations’ strategic planning 

DMOs and CVBs embracing travel data enhance their decision-making and drive impactful marketing. By gaining insights into travel trends, visitor preferences, and competitors’ strategies, they can create a cohesive brand, attract visitors, manage overtourism, and tackle seasonality challenges effectively. 

Combining historical data with forward-looking analytics further strengthens their ability to anticipate shifts, proactively adjust strategies, and build a resilient tourism ecosystem. 

Developing and running successful marketing campaigns 

A data-driven approach helps DMOs and CVBs identify the most effective timing and channels for their relevant audience, in line with their budget allocation. 

Programmatic ads, tailored precisely through data insights, ensure higher reach and engagement. An omnichannel approach enhances this by delivering relevant content at each stage of the traveler’s journey, from inspiration to booking and beyond, regardless of the platform they visit or the channel with which they engage.  

This strategic use of audience data and advertising technology not only maximizes campaign efficiency but also enriches the traveler’s experience, fostering stronger connections between destinations and travelers throughout the whole journey. 

Measuring campaign performance to boost chances of success 

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are crucial for DMOs and CVBs to gauge the effectiveness of their marketing campaigns and make data-driven decisions for greater impact. By tracking KPIs, they can measure how well their strategies are performing, identify areas for improvement, and allocate resources more efficiently. 

Tangible KPIs, like measured in-destination arrivals connected to a digital campaign, as well as the average length of stay for these visitors provide a clear picture of campaign outcomes, measurable in tourism dollars generated.  

Some examples of KPIs include: 

• Visitor Numbers: Tracking the number of visitors to the destination, after they have been influenced by campaigns. 
• Website Traffic: Monitoring the number of visits to the DMO or CVB’s website, and their dwell time, driven by campaigns. 
• Social Media Engagement: Measuring likes, shares, comments, and followers on social media platforms, and most importantly, the share of voice of the relevant traveler audience that was achieved. 
• Conversion Rates: Assessing the percentage of visitors who take a desired action, such as booking a trip. 
• Return on Investment (ROI): Calculating the financial return from marketing activities relative to the cost of the campaigns. 

Fostering relationships with stakeholders to make positive, lasting impacts 

Travel data is invaluable for DMOs and CVBs in building strong relationships with partners from the tourism ecosystem. By analyzing unmet search demand for their destinations, DMOs and CVBs can drive negotiations with hotels and/or airlines to open new capacities and align their offerings with these trends. This collaboration can lead to improved services and targeted marketing efforts for greater brand positioning.

Empowering DMOs/CVBs for long-term tourism growth 

At Amadeus, we are dedicated to supporting DMOs and CVBs in shaping the future of tourism. For instance, ’New Orleans Tourism has embarked on a successful data-driven journey by leveraging our Business Intelligence Enhanced Market Segment Report and Amadeus Media Solutions. This has helped them strengthen their marketing strategy and optimize media campaigns aimed at business and leisure travelers, via travel sellers across all GDSs, and consumers through digital advertising. Notably, their first digital advertising campaign, conducted in the first half of 2024, measured in-destination arrivals, and achieved an average cost per arrival of under 5 USD, as reported in the campaign summary. They also maximised brand exposure towards travel agencies with a one-year media campaign that reached over 150% ROAS on average.

Additionally, we assisted EMPROTUR Bariloche, Argentina in leveraging insights for evaluating marketing strategies and informing strategic planning as an answer to unique tourism challenges they face, such as the seasonality of demand. 

As a travel technology provider, we are continuously seeking solutions to assist DMOs and CVBs in achieving their business objectives. Our business intelligence tools such as Navigator360™ and our media solutions are crafted to enable DMOs and CVBs to make data-driven decisions, drive economic growth and improve visitors’ satisfaction. 

Any questions? Please contact Amadeus at https://www.amadeus-hospitality.com/destination-management/.