Online marketing and e-commerce for tourism: the Open Platform approach
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Online marketing and e-commerce for tourism: the Open Platform approach Andrew Daines Freelance Travel and Tourism Consultant 10 th International Conference on Information Management, Sopot, June 2011
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Presentation given at the 10th International Conference on Information Management, Sopot, Poland, June 2011. Covering development and deployment of the National Tourism Open Platform (EnglandNet) by VisitBritain and UK tourism industry partners.
Transcript of Online marketing and e-commerce for tourism: the Open Platform approach
Online marketing and e-commerce for tourism: the Open Platform approach
Andrew DainesFreelance Travel and Tourism Consultant
10th International Conference on Information Management, Sopot, June 2011
Agenda
• Introducing the UK tourism industry• Development of EnglandNet / National
Tourism Open Platform (NTOP)• Stakeholder relationships and commercial
models• Performance• Future direction, opportunities and challenges
UK Tourism Headlines
• Tourism is worth £115.4 billion to the UK economy, 8.9% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
(source: Deloitte, The economic contribution of the Visitor Economy: UK and the Nations, June 2010)
• UK currently ranks 6th in terms of international arrivals
(source: Deloitte, The economic contribution of the Visitor Economy: UK and the Nations, June 2010)
• In 2010:– 29.6 million overseas visitors spending £16.7 billion– 116 million domestic overnight trips, worth £20.4 billion
Sources: International Passenger Survey / United Kingdom Tourism Survey (UKTS)
UK national tourism organisations• VisitBritain – funded by UK Government
Department for Culture, Media and Sport
Strategic Partners:• VisitEngland – funded by VisitBritain• Visit Wales - incorporated within the Welsh
Assembly Government• VisitScotland – funded by the Scottish
Parliament
Other partners:• Northern Ireland Tourist Board, Isle of Man
Tourism, Guernsey Tourism, Jersey Tourism
Recent and on-going trends
• UK tourism industry fragmentation• Devolution of UK nations• Regionalisation localisation in England• Tourism delivery structural
changes
visitbritain.com…
….at the time of the first International Conference on Information Management
Accommodation data – pre-2005
TRIPS Database
ScotlandTRIPS interface
BTA Overseas offices
Southern England TRIPS interface
Central England TRIPS interface
Northern England TRIPS interface
South West England TRIPS
interface
BTA / ETB TRIPS interface
Wales TRIPS interface
London TRIPS interface
Leased line connections
Britain Visitor Centre
TRIPS database
• Reasonably comprehensive in terms of quantity of data, but limited in depth
• Data collected and managed by, national and regional tourist boards
• Data updated once per year• Extracting data difficult – distribution limited
to visitbritain.com, overseas offices and Britain Visitor Centre
TRIPS product record - visitbritain.com 2000
Evolution of Destination Management Systems (DMSs)• Destination management ‘in a box’• Product database at its core
– Mechanism to collect and manage data
• Product data populates a variety of services• ‘Self-service’ or ‘serviced’ models• Long-standing DMS suppliers:
– Tiscover– New Vision Group (NVG)– New Mind
DMSs emergence in the UK – late 1990s onwards
Destination Management System
Product database
Call centre
Brochure production
Website
Destination Management System
Product database
Kiosk
Website
Tourist Information
Centre
Destination Management System
Product database
Member comms
Website
Hotel TV
Destination Management Systems
• Met the requirements of the destination, in terms of functionality and budget
• Product data much richer than TRIPS• Ability of offer lots of services to tourism
businesses – but limited distribution opportunities available
Overall situation
• Duplication of effort regarding product data management– Confusion for tourism businesses and visitors– Inconsistencies
• No national value-add services (e.g. booking)• Limited distribution of content
• Failure to meet consumer and industry expectations
A call for action• 2001: the year of:
– Foot and Mouth outbreak in the UK– Large parts of country devastated by flooding– Fuel crisis– 9/11 Terrorist Attacks
• 2002: English Tourism Council:– E-tourism in England strategy– Partnership formed with the
10 English regional tourist boards to create EnglandNet(the National Tourism Open Platform)
E-Tourism for England, 2002:Key objectives
• National product database: data collected once only• Bookability of accommodation and other product• Systems flexible, to enable distribution onto new
platforms, e.g. mobile • Integration at a Britain level with systems used in
Wales and Scotland• Global distribution via British Tourist Authority
networks
• The prize: England gains competitive advantage as a destination by serving consumer and industry
EnglandNet:Key objectives at outset
• Investment into Destination Management Systems by Regional Tourist Boards and Destinations should be protected
• Flexibility for Regional Tourist Boards and Destinations to choose their own systems / solutions
• Integration with global players – Global Distribution Systems, Travel Agents, Tour Operators, etc.
• Core requirement: common approach -interoperability
EnglandNet / National Tourism Open Platform
• Services– National Tourism Product Database (2004)
• Accommodation, attractions, events, activities, destination guides– Interoperability Gateway (2004)
– Polling Service (2005)
– White Label Product Search (2009)
– Product Search / Polling Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) (2009)
– Portable Travel Channel (2010)
– Smartphone Application (2010)
• Core principle: open platform
National Tourism Product Database• 50,000 accommodation products• 12,000 attractions• 6,000 events• 700 activities • 1,000 destination guides
• One product, one owner
• Product owners:– National product owner– National, regional or destination tourism organisation
(default owner)– Marketing Group
Content supply: product owners
National Data Aggregation
National Tourism Product
Database
Interoperability Gateway
VisitBritainDestination
Management Application
Nation / Region /
Destination
Nation / Region /
Destination
Nation / Region /
Destination
National Product Owner
Property Management
System
Marketing Group
Tourism business
Tourism business
Official product ratings / awards
Tourism business
National Product Owner
National Data Consolidation
National Tourism Product
Database
Interoperability Gateway
Nation / Region /
Destination
Destination Management Systems:New MindNew VisionTiscoverTourist-IWorld.NetIn-house / bespoke systems
Bespoke development by Espire on behalf of VisitBritain
Look Book – ‘Polling Service’• Real-time availability and price checking for
accommodation product• Non transactional• Provides a ‘deep link’ to one of 40 sales agents,
where the transaction can be completed• Sales agent partners:
– National, regional and sub-regional tourism organisations
– National Product Owners– Marketing Groups
• Over 16,000 unique pollable products
Polling Service
National Tourism Product
Database
Product search form
Sales Agent systems integration with Polling Service to provide live price and availability data
Polling Service licensed by VisitBritain from Eviivo
Sales Agent
Sales Agent
Sales Agent
Product search results
Sales Agent systems transaction
Sales Agent
Polling Service: key benefits• For the tourism businesses:
– Wide range of sales agents / commercial models• For the consumer:
– Wide range of bookable accommodation product– Opportunity to compare prices
• For VisitBritain:– Opportunity to offer bookability without handling the
transaction• For national product owners / OTAs
– Open platform – routes to market
Global, national and regional distribution
National Tourism Product
Database
Interoperability GatewayRegional
campaign
Cross-regional campaign
Global and national websites
Third party websites
Other online devices
Third party offline
VisitBritainoffline / print
TIC extranet
White Label Product Search deployment
Polling Service deployment
API deployment
Portable Travel Channel
Smartphone Application
Stakeholder relationships
• April 2006 – March 2010 each of the English Regional Development Agencies pay £25,000 per year for access to all NTOP services, including:– Interoperability Gateway for product content– Distribution of product content (inc. visitbritain.com)– Connection of booking services to Polling Service
(RDAs / DMOs liable for no fees / commissions)– Deployment of White Label Product Search– Deployment of Polling Service– Access to APIs– Opportunity to shape future development
Stakeholder agreements
• Master Service Agreement– The general terms of the relationship, including
definitions of terms• Service Level Agreement
– The provision and use of the platform and services• Data Supply Agreement
– Governs how product data is supplied and how the data can be used
• Data Distribution Agreement– Governs how and where data will be displayed
National Tourism Open Platform: commercial models
• White Label Product Search– Ratecard for fees levied to channels deploying White Label
Product Search. Channels retain commissions earned on bookings.
• Product Search / Polling APIs– Ratecard for fees levied to channels deploying Product
Search / Polling APIs. Channels retain commissions earned on bookings.
• Portable Travel Channel– No cost to channels deploying Portable Travel Channel.
Channels retain 30% of commissions earned on bookings.• Smartphone Application
– Fees apply, variety of business models.
National Tourism Open Platform: commercial models
• National Tourism Product Database entry– No cost for tourism businesses– Fees for data extracts
• Interoperability Gateway– No cost levied by VisitBritain, no subsidies to offset
technical development• Polling Service
– Tourism businesses must have account with Sales Agent (cost models vary)
– Negotiated fees / commissions charged to Sales Agents for connection
– Ratecard for fees levied to channels deploying Polling Service
Performance: White Label Product Search
2007/8 2008/9 2009/10 2010/11Number of referrals 17,637 18,929 82,422 272,554Value of referrals (£)
4,588,343 4,161,855 17,015,325 64,274,618
Number of bookings
1,228 2,297 10,898 13,741
Value of bookings (£)
187,982 391,545 1,803,750 2,335,907
Polling Service
Source: VisitBritain, May 2011
Future direction: challenges• April 2010: RDAs collectively withdraw their
support for platform (£225,000 per annum)• From May 2010: Changes in government
landscape; large scale disbanding of regional tourism promotion
• October 2010: Government funding for VisitBritain will be cut by 34% from April 2011
• December 2010: NTOP repositioned within VisitEngland, services maintained (UK-wide)
• 31 May 2011: VisitEngland announces withdrawal of support for NTOP, effective September 2011…the end of the National Tourism Open Platform?
Should consumers turn to Facebook?
Book Norway
• Very similar principles to the UK’s National Tourism Open Platform
• Key functions within public and private sector committed to achieving success– Inc. Innovation Norway, DMOs, accommodation
groups, transport operators• Operated by a private sector company
– Board made up of key stakeholders• One year development, live service launched
April 2011
Conclusions• NTOs can add value by providing leadership and
an environment for collaboration
• Working together isn’t necessarily the easiest or quickest option
• Each stakeholder must have a clear understanding of the role every stakeholder plays
• Stay focused on the end goals and prizes
Sources of information / inspiration
• www.visitbritain.org• www.visitengland.org• www.visitbritain.com
• www.bitreisliv.no• www.visitnorway.com
