Tuesday Tea #9 | You Asked For It! Part 2

Are DMOs missing the mark by not adopting booking engines earlier? Find out as we sit down with Jenn Barbee and Kristen Cruz in this week's episode of Tech Travel and Twang's Tuesday Tea. We delve deep into the challenges that Destination Marketing Organizations face when it comes to integrating booking engines and apps into their websites. With consumer habits firmly shaped by platforms like Expedia and Travelocity, DMOs often find themselves struggling to compete. We discuss the crucial balance between the convenience these tools offer and the inherent complexities and costs involved, especially in regional markets with loyal, repeat visitors.

But that's not all—we also tackle the nuanced and often complex nature of DMO marketing strategies. The best solutions are rarely one-size-fits-all, and our conversation emphasizes the need for tailored approaches to meet each destination's unique needs. With a nod to the frequent "it depends" answer in our field, we set the stage for our next segment on the multifaceted world of digital marketing. Whether you're a seasoned marketing professional or simply curious about the inner workings of DMOs, this episode promises a wealth of insights and engaging discussions that you won't want to miss.

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The Tech, Travel, and Twang Podcast is hosted by Co-Founders, Kristen Cruz and Jenn Barbee with Destination Innovate. Learn More! https://destinationinnovate.com/about/

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Chapters

• 0:10 Destination Marketing Strategy Trends
• 13:37 Destination Marketing Strategy Complexity

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:10

Well, hey there, welcome back to Tech Travel and Twang, our Tuesday Tea. You Asked For it. Part Two I'm Jen Barbie here with Kristen Cruz. Hey, Kristen, hey Jen, Good morning, Good morning, you ready to spill some more tea on Part Two.

Speaker 2: 0:24

I'm so ready to spill this tea.

Speaker 1: 0:28

So just a quick. Here's our quick recap of part one is creating space for collaboration, and we're picking this up. These are questions that we received on a little communication mission that Kristen and I went on Just reviving, like what are the biggest problems, what are the burning questions you have? And we're answering those questions in this three-parter. So we're going to pick up with the one we stopped on, which is websites, dmo websites, and we spend lots of money and lots of time on these websites and still I think our stat is what 16% of visitors that come to your destination have ever even seen your DMO website?

Speaker 2: 1:08

Right, which is a crazy stat. I mean, considering all the work a DMO puts into marketing the website, you have to still consider that most of your tourists, your visitors, don't ever even happen upon your website in part of their, as part of their booking journey. So not that we're saying get rid of your website. I think the question is Jen, and maybe yeah, the question overall.

Speaker 1: 1:38

I went on a tangent before I got to our question on the 16%, so I'm coming back around full circle on that. But the question is how important is a booking engine on a CDB website? That's a question.

Speaker 1: 1:52

That is a question and I will answer this real simply. In 2004, you should have done it and we wouldn't have this question today, nor would we have an Expedia or a Travelocity or anything else. So I'll be very short on that soapbox, but we missed a critical opportunity as a DMO industry for booking. And now back to that stat with 16%. You have to ask yourself why. Why a booking engine? Is it? If it's a convenience, fine. But the problem with doing that and saying, oh, it doesn't matter if we book, we just want to offer a convenience, is somebody on your board in a community somewhere is going to think you're accountable for your ADR, your occupancy rates. And now you put yourself into a whole other bag of worms. If you can control it that it is a convenience, then by all means, especially if it's more modern booking engines now that curate itineraries, that curate things to do in packages maybe that's my Maybe offer suggestions on accommodations winery related or foodie related.

Speaker 2: 3:03

Maybe it's suggesting accommodations that are, you know, similar to what that audience would prefer or what that audience typically books, and maybe that takes you to a more convenient way of booking on that hotel website.

Speaker 2: 3:16

But yeah, I totally agree. We've trained our entire consumer mindset that Expedia and Travelocity and Hotelscom those are the places you go to book your accommodations, or, if not, it's Airbnb or Vrbo and you just that's where you go. And I don't think any DMOs amount of money to market their booking engine will ever be bigger than an Expedia or Travelocity or Hotelscom. That's already training everyone to book there Plus. I mean, I think the other thing that's important now is you have to think about there's so many more rewards and benefits being offered by these booking engines now to travelers. There's point systems, there's cash redemption You're able to, you know there's tie-ins with Amex and various cardholders. There's so many layers to unravel that and to even have relevancy at the DMO website level for a booking engine just doesn't make sense anymore now too, because booking engine doesn't only mean booking a hotel room anymore.

Speaker 1: 4:27

There's so many layers. Our gds is not simple, it's not flat. I mean you mentioned those things. It makes a lot of sense, like why are they there booking? Are we booking concert tickets? Are we booking only hotel rooms? I mean, when you say booking, what do you mean? And I think what that is is you have to go back and ask yourself do we have an e-commerce component that makes sense versus just calling it a booking engine? Do we have something that makes sense to our audience? And you got to look at a lot of things, especially number one website traffic. Like if you're not getting, if you don't have major campaigns running a lot of traffic in there, you're going to spend more on that e-com, you're going to spend more on that e-comm. You're going to spend more on that booking strategy than you are ever going to get back.

Speaker 2: 5:09

Yeah, yeah, I agree. That's a lot of question in a question.

Speaker 1: 5:15

That's a lot of question in a question and you'll love the follow-up. Is having an app for our destination still important?

Speaker 2: 5:26

That's a tricky question, because at what point in the journey? Okay, so here's where I feel like there's relevancy and irrelevancy. I feel like, if you are a destination that has a lot of repeat visitation and most of those destinations are regional drive marketplaces, right Like a DFW, you know they pull traffic. Dallas pulls traffic from number of suburbs around the Metroplex. They pull traffic. Dallas pulls traffic from a number of suburbs around the Metroplex consistently. And so maybe having an app available while you're in destination that you're familiar with, where you can easily sort things going on or things to do or places to eat or parts, districts of the city and what there is to do there, that might feel more relevant. But I think, in terms of pre-marketing to visitors, I don't know that an app is relevant and I don't honestly we have not dealt with apps in such a long time I don't even know what the cost to maintain an app looks like these days. Is that a factor in something that you feel like? Is there a return there?

Speaker 1: 6:34

Yeah, no, I think I agree with everything you say and there's only, like to me, one app that makes sense pre-travel, and it's like a Disney. Right, you have your countdown, you're still planning A complex vacation makes sense for a pre-app, but you're right, I feel like from a consumer standpoint, you might use it in destination, but you probably. So what kind of data are we really getting? I mean, you can get that in the in destination data without having the app piece of it now, so it would again be convenience. It would probably be better to contribute to more popular apps, making sure your information's up to date for apps that they normally use, versus trying to do your own app. I just feel like that is it was I don't know shiny new object. I'm not sure it ever really would have been something that I would have suggested in a kit of marketing tools.

Speaker 2: 7:30

Yeah, I think the other parts of that could be what you're trying to do on the app and if you are at, like, if you are giving things away, if there's you know coupons, if there's discounts, if there's promos, if there's you know something you have to show in market, maybe that is where you could consider an app. But again, like I don't think a lot of destinations are still doing those types of things Not their own.

Speaker 1: 7:51

What they are doing, though that, of course, we've done as well with some of our clients is like the trails. So Bandwango does create an app for those trails, and that makes sense because it's an active you know, it's an active piece of doing something. You need that app to complete that trail or whatnot. So that makes a lot of sense, and I think that's where the app piece goes.

Speaker 2: 8:21

But again, that's a lot of sense and I think that's where the app piece goes. But again, that's a third party app. That's not you investing in designing and building an app like a website, all by yourself and maintaining it Like maintaining an app and maintaining a website to me seems extra, like that's extra, that's too much it is.

Speaker 1: 8:31

It is, if you remember, we did some early apps before, and again it's changed a lot now. But you're talking about having to deal with, not like a web browser, where you can deal with something that's universal, but you're dealing with Android versus iPhone versus whatever it's like. You're versioning so many of those things too. So, yeah, I'd say, save your money, sunset that app and put it into something that is maybe a little needs, a little more attention, a little more love.

Speaker 2: 9:01

Right, and maybe it's just getting your website where you want it, because I feel like, if you feel like you need an app, maybe there's some website work that you've got to do.

Speaker 1: 9:11

That's a really good point. That's a really good point, yeah, and, like I said before, a lot of people built their own apps too, because the data collection wasn't as mature as it is now. Right, I feel like that's made a big difference too. Okay, cool. So part two, our last question for part two before we get into the big monster question for our part three. So part two Monster question for our part three. So part two no-transcript.

Speaker 2: 9:46

I don't know that there's a right mix, like I don't know that there's a right formula for it that fits exactly the destination.

Speaker 2: 9:55

But I would say that it really depends on the capabilities and the needs for the in-house team, for the in-house team. If you have an agency that isn't local and can't do a lot of the local pickup you know whether that's capturing assets consistently or doing story content for you in real time and that sort of thing then maybe your in-house team should be a little larger than your outsource team just to make up for that slack, make up for that local feed on the street need. This really depends on what you, as a destination, truly need in terms of your marketing program. Not everyone's marketing makeup is the same and so not everyone's team is the same. So I don don't, so I don't think there is a an exact formula. I don't think, as a DMO leader, you can go to another DMO and leader and go hey, what's your ratio? Oh, that'll work for me, let me adopt that ratio and it worked for you the same way. I think it's. There's going to be so many differences.

Speaker 1: 11:01

Yeah, I think it would be. For me, it would be like decide what you need in house, team wise in terms of, like, what do we need in terms of leadership? Right, we need this kind of leadership. This kind of leadership and I love the part that you brought up about the feet on the street, because that's always a challenge, for, especially if you're tapping into a national agency you want to get their, you know their experience with multiple destinations over the US, but they're probably not going to be able to get a lot of local assets and creative without very high fees.

Speaker 1: 11:33

So get that together and then look at what is the gap and where can you create more efficiencies for your core team. So you've got your core team, that's your in-house team. What can you do? So your outsource team? That's as if you had a lot more let's say, a lot more infrastructure money. So you were going to build a business off of your core team. How do you support them? Is that executing social media, because that's you know your core team needs to focus on these larger strategic initiatives. Is that content creation you want to outsource? Is that you know vendor management on a different level you want to outsource? Is that editing you want to outsource. So I would look at again for me. I just look at my DMO and my team as my business and these are the leaders that I'm going to trust in my business, and then whatever we have to fund for them past, that is how I would look at outsourcing.

Speaker 2: 12:25

Agreed, Agreed. I think also there's so many DMOs that still only can only hire in the destination for their team, Like they don't necessarily have like a hybrid or remote workforce, and so that makes things a lot harder. So maybe you're you're asking that question to solve the talent pool need that you have in your destination. You know, some places may not have as much from a creative or a graphics or a video photography. You know talent pool as others do, and so you may need to outsource some of that because you may not have that kind of talent. Some of the more rural destinations I can see, you know, coming coming up to having some talent pool issues because they're just working with just a naturally much smaller population size.

Speaker 1: 13:11

Right, right, that's a really good point.

Speaker 2: 13:14

So I think there's so many ways to ask the question, based on the makeup of your needs as a marketing organization, your talent pool, and then maybe also like budget, you know, because again outsourcing costs a little more than insourcing. So, depending on what you're outsourcing to, can cost less than insourcing.

Speaker 1: 13:37

So again, there's so many scenarios to this, so many scenarios, and what I'm, what I'm finding in our cadence in this second part now, is really, these questions are all answered with it depends, because it has to be very prescriptive. I think we're so used to going to these conferences and we're looking for a solution to a problem and seeing what other DMO has done this so we can meet too and that's the best practice. But the answer always is it depends.

Speaker 2: 14:07

It's so prescriptive, but the answer always is it depends. It's so prescriptive. It really is. It's. Everything is just. There's so many factors to so many things, especially your marketing team and your marketing strategy.

Speaker 1: 14:25

So yeah, it's not a one size fits all, unfortunately, but these are really good questions. They are really good questions and I cannot. We will let you wait for part three, which is a very interesting one. We are going to talk digital marketing, all things.