The purpose of this paper is to highlight the importance of incorporating user generated content (UGC) in the e‐marketing strategies and activities of destination management…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to highlight the importance of incorporating user generated content (UGC) in the e‐marketing strategies and activities of destination management organizations (DMOs) and debate the possibilities that UGC offers in terms of market research and aiming at improved consumer profile and segmentation to increase destinations' competitive advantages.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper analyzes good practice examples of the integration UGC in the e‐marketing strategies of destination DMOs at national and local level and highlights the limited number of DMOs which develop market research using UGC.
Findings
An increasing number of DMOs have incorporated UGC in their e‐marketing strategies. Most DMOs now actively display in their web sites spaces dedicated to text and video UGC. Nonetheless, very few are using content analysis to better understand and profile the visitors' to their destinations and the enormous value of such information in terms of profiling and segmenting visitors' has not yet been integrated in the market research activities of DMOs.
Originality/value
The paper highlights the potential that UGC has to better understand the profile and satisfaction of the various segments of visitors to a destination.
Details
Keywords
Hamed Mohammed Almuhrzi and Hamed Ibrahim Al-Azri
The purpose of this conference report is to provide an overview of the Second UNWTO/UNESCO World Conference on Tourism and Culture: Fostering Sustainable Development.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this conference report is to provide an overview of the Second UNWTO/UNESCO World Conference on Tourism and Culture: Fostering Sustainable Development.
Design/methodology/approach
This is a conference report that provides an overview of the Second UNWTO/UNESCO World Conference on Tourism and Culture: Fostering Sustainable Development. Based on the authors’ involvement in setting the scene for the conference and their attendance, they follow a thematic content analysis procedure to extract and synthesize the most important issues and concerns being discussed during the discussions and commentaries of the conference.
Findings
The report presents an overview of the conference, the main outcomes of its sessions and the main reoccurring themes during the conference’s sessions.
Originality/value
This is the first conference report on the Second UNWTO/UNESCO World Conference on Tourism and Culture: Fostering Sustainable Development.