The Voice of Travelers Leveraging User-Generated Content for Tourism Development | 2018 © 2018 The World Bank Group 1818 H Street NW Washington, DC 20433 202.473.1000 www.worldbank.org This volume is a product of the staff of the World Bank Group. The World Bank Group refers to the member institutions of the World Bank Group: The World Bank (International Bank for Reconstruction and Development); International Finance Corporation (IFC); and Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), which are separate and distinct legal entities, each organized under its respective Articles of Agreement. We encourage use for educational and noncommercial purposes. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this volume do not necessarily reflect the views of the Directors or Executive Directors of the respective institutions of the World Bank Group or the governments they represent. The World Bank Group does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this work. Rights and Permissions The material in this publication is copyrighted. Copying and/or transmitting portions or all of this work without permission may be a violation of applicable law. The World Bank encourages dissemination of its work and will normally grant permission to reproduce portions of the work promptly. For permission to photocopy or reprint any part of this work, please send a request with complete information to: Copyright Clearance Center Inc. 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, USA phone: 978-750-8400 | fax: 978-750-4470 | web: www.copyright.com All other queries on rights and licenses, including subsidiary rights, should be addressed to: Office of the Publisher, The World Bank Group 1818 H Street NW, Washington, DC 20433, USA fax: 202-522-2422 | email: pubrights@worldbank.org This report was written by Talia Salem and Louise Twining-Ward with contributions from Sally Davey, Gavin Greene, Charlie Ballard, Luisa Hallmann, Alexandra Guo, and Devon Dow. The authors acknowledge the helpful contributions of World Bank Peer Reviewers and the World Bank Global Tourism Team. Send feedback to: tourism@worldbankgroup.org Executive Summary Tourism is growing faster than ever before in emerging and developing economies. In just 10 years, the tourism landscape has changed completely. Digital platforms are changing the way travel is traditionally researched, bought, sold, experienced and shared. Research by Google and Phocuswright suggests that nearly half of travelers are comfortable researching, booking and planning their trip using only a mobile device.1 User-Generated Content (UGC) is fast becoming the most important and widely used source of travel information. This impacts the traveler’s path to purchase and disrupts established travel agencies, guidebooks, conventional marketing approaches and star rating systems. It also presents new opportunities for developing destinations to leverage these platforms for big data and cost-effective performance improvements. Harnessing innovation for the benefit of the poor is one of the most important challenges currently facing development organizations. This growth in review volume and activity on UGC platforms is being driven out of emerging markets. Over the past five years, the average growth rate of reviews posted by travelers from the Middle East, Asia, and Eastern Europe was 21 percent, 18 percent and 10 percent respectively.2 There are 3.2 billion people who use social media; this is up 13 percent from last year and translates to 11 new people using social media every second. Central and Southern Asia are driving this growth.3 The growth of UGC is unprecedented. Managing online reputation is now central to running a thriving tourism business. For many, particularly those in low-income destinations, this is new and unknown territory. Some of key questions for development are: are these technologies accessible, are they leading to more inclusive outcomes, and what are the risks and how are we addressing them? The World Bank Group and TripAdvisor collaborated on this report to support destination management organizations and local suppliers to extract the most value from UGC, while avoiding its pitfalls. This body of work aims to highlight good practices and suggest tools to consider when building plans for managing online reputation; it provides case studies that illuminate effective campaigns and investment. The report is intended for Executive Summary pg | 3 use by those involved in or responsible for the management and/or marketing of a destination or a tourism business, with a focus on the leisure travel market. The market analysis is global; there is also a section dedicated to the Chinese market due its growth potential and different UGC platforms. The aim of the report is to guide businesses and public- sector bodies on how to use UGC to make their marketing budgets go further and to improve the competitiveness of their destinations. The report explores how businesses and destinations can use UGC to reach potential consumers and drive business and explores the future applications of UGC to monitor business and destination health, improve service levels, and boost overall business performance. It also looks at how UGC can help reduce the barriers for low-income destinations to compete in a global arena and create inclusive business opportunities. The Voice of Travelers explores how UGC could lead to more inclusive outcomes for tourism at a global level. The report is designed as a primer on UGC, not as a comprehensive manual. It is designed to start a dialogue on leveraging UGC for inclusive and sustainable tourism development and to identify areas for future work. Executive Summary pg | 4 The report identifies 10 reasons destinations and tourism businesses need to better understand the UGC landscape in order to leverage UGC to achieve stronger development outcomes: 1: Drive Revenue Marketing campaigns incorporating UGC have been shown to drive higher market efficiencies and bookings. For example, in 2017 TripAdvisor bookings alone made up US$546 billion of global tourism spend and US$80 billion additional spend, according to a study by tourism research firm Tourism Economics. The study also found that an increase in TripAdvisor reviews is followed by higher tourism demand.4 2: Increase Access to Market UGC platforms like TripAdvisor, Facebook, Google, Instagram and Twitter offer destinations and businesses an online presence and a direct connection with travel consumers through business accounts. 3: Leverage Consumer Content Destinations and businesses can use the content created by consumers to market their own businesses. People trust their peers 12 times more than they trust brands, which is why brands use UGC in their campaigns.5 4: Build Competence Effectively managing platforms and content takes time, money, and specialized skills including writing, digital marketing, and public relations. Destinations often need to acquire different software platforms to manage content; there are legal implications of UGC use that must be carefully considered. 5: Monitor Performance UGC can provide new and real-time data on consumer behavior, allowing destinations and businesses to improve their performance. Organizations can audit user-generated content to see what kinds of experiences travelers are interested in and what they post about. Executive Summary pg | 5 6: Improve Quality Feedback from customers allows businesses to improve their product offerings. Social platforms provide a forum for customers to provide feedback and raise issues without the social pressure of voicing concerns in person. 7: Predict Performance Research has shown that review ratings are one of the most important predictors of hotel performance. 8: Benchmark competitors UGC and public social media sites offer destinations and businesses the opportunity to benchmark against competitors and aspirational targets. Destinations can see how their competitors perform in different product categories and what other destinations travelers are considering. 9: Influence Online Image and Exposure UGC impacts the way a brand or business is perceived and contributes to what some researchers call Tourist Destination Image (TDI), the image that a traveler has of the destination that is a composite of news, branding, user reviews, and other influences. 10: Measure Marketing Return on Investment User-generated content is updated in real-time and can often reveal new data about a destination more quickly and cost-effectively than surveys or other forms of data. Destinations are always challenged with measuring the ROI of their marketing and management efforts, especially since they are not the end-providers of the travel experience. Executive Summary pg | 6 The report includes a selection of cases studies to illustrate how destinations are currently leveraging UGC. Each case study sheds light on potential applications, but also illustrates that the application of UGC for uses outside of marketing is still nascent. Jordan Tourism is critical to Jordan’s economy, but the country struggles with perception issues due to regional instability. Jordan relies heavily on UGC for much of its marketing and leverages UGC to illustrate that the country is a safe and interesting tourism destination. Bermuda The Bermuda Tourism Authority was looking to strengthen its competitive position and develop new tourism products to compete with regional destinations. The country successfully used insights gleaned from UGC to develop new tourism products. South Africa South Africa Tourism sought to increase awareness of cultural tourism products in the U.S. market. The tourism office hired influencers to launch a UGC campaign to much success and generated engagement and new interest in travel to South Africa. Ireland Tourism Ireland was looking to increase visitation to rural Western Ireland through the development of a new tourism route. The Destination Marketing Organization (DMO) leveraged user reviews and ratings in a marketing campaign to launch the new travel experience. Montreal Tourisme Montréal was looking to build up its brand through new and relevant content to communicate the essence of the city. The DMO curated content from residents and travelers using the hashtag #MTLMoments, and used the content in an effective multichannel campaign to drive interest and visitation to the Canadian city. Executive Summary pg | 7 Scotland VisitScotland wanted to increase visitation from London millennials. To reach this audience, the DMO combined UGC and tour operators into a travel shopping experience that showcased real travel experiences. Hamilton Island Hamilton Island Australia desired to boost their visitor numbers. The team brought UGC to the forefront of their newly redesigned website and saw increases in effectiveness, website visits and social engagement. Puerto Rico The U.S. Island Territory of Puerto Rico was hit with a series of hurricanes, which greatly affected the residents and the local tourism industry. The Puerto Rico Tourism Company successfully used UGC to manage crisis communications and assess product quality on the ground following the hurricanes. Indonesia The WBG group is leveraging UGC to monitor performance as part of its work with the government of Indonesia to improve the competitiveness of the tourism sector. While the project is still in its initial stages, it shows the potential applications for UGC in development work. The report underscores the fact that UGC, the ‘Voice of Travelers’, could be a vehicle to drive more inclusive, competitive and sustainable outcomes in tourism. Destinations no longer need to have multi-million dollar budgets to reach their markets. Smart management of inspirational content shared by visitors, and the use of influencer marketing and online communities, can do some of the heavy lifting. Traditional marketing messages are now much less effective than they used to be, particularly among millennials. More than half of all travelers consult online word-of-mouth (eWOM) before booking rather than guidebooks or tourist-board websites. UGC provides destinations with a source of content for marketing that resonates with other travelers, is economical to leverage, and goes directly to consumers. Executive Summary pg | 8 The report finds that businesses also have a lot to gain from active UGC management. UGC significantly impacts the purchasing behavior of tourists. The report also notes that businesses do not need to feel powerless; responding to reviews, particularly responding to negative reviews positively, has a big impact on consumer choices. The report suggests ways to deepen the understanding of UGC and apply to future research, which was beyond the scope of this report: 1: Analyse qualitative visitor information UGC provides new forms of data and ways to analyze qualitative visitor information. Deeper comparison of qualitative and quantitative data may yield insights that destinations have not had access to previously at scale. Semantic insights, that analyze intent rather than simple web queries, could help destination management by predicting new visitor trends. The case of Bermuda helps to illustrate this. 2: Repositioning or rebranding UGC may help a destination reposition or rebrand itself following conflict or violence: travelers look for reassurance from other travelers about the safety of a destination, especially if it is located in a region where there is conflict. Jordan has effectively used UGC for this purpose. 3: World Bank Group’s Women’s Entrepreneurship Financing Initiative UGC training may provide an opportunity to fast track access to market for tourism destinations and tourism SMEs, many of which are women-owned and managed. Work is currently underway through the Women’s Entrepreneurship Financing Initiative to address this concern. 4: Crisis response management UGC may have a role in crisis response management. UGC yields real-time data, which could assist national authorities act quickly in dealing with the wake of a crisis. The case of Puerto Rico highlights this opportunity. This would be delivered in tandem with more proactive content about how past crises have been mitigated. Executive Summary pg | 9 5: Monitoring impact of investment UGC may provide a reliable tool to monitor the impact of WBG investments. The collaboration between WBG and TripAdvisor may provide opportunities to track the “before, during, and after” of, for example, capacity-building or product development activities on businesses and destinations. 6: Managing visitor movement UGC may help destinations better manage visitor numbers and movement. UGC reveals travelers’ behavior in real-time. This holds significant potential both in terms of helping destinations to avoid the problems that come with overcrowding, as well as offering innovative ways to distribute the impact and benefits of tourism across a wider geographic and economic area. This is the first WBG report on UGC and tourism, and it is just a starting point for the WBG’s partnership with TripAdvisor. Next steps may include: the development of UGC diagnostics, training webinars and information sessions for operational staff, crisis-management tools, and exploration into the use of review data for investment impact assessments. As the case studies demonstrate, there is much to be learned from effective UGC management and how this innovation can promote greater inclusion. The WBG is grateful for the partnership with TripAdvisor and looks forward to future opportunities to operationalize the results of this initial work for more inclusive and sustainable tourism. Executive Summary pg | 10 Table of Contents pg | 3-10 Executive Summary pg | 13–16 Definitions and Acronyms pg | 17–20 Introduction Section 1 | UGC: Platforms & the Big Picture pg | 22–23 UGC: Platforms & the Big Picture pg | 24–25 The Power of Word of Mouth (WOM) & e-WOM pg | 26–30 Why UGC Matters Section 2 | UGC, Platforms & Good Practices pg | 32–33 UGC Platforms pg | 34 TripAdvisor Deep Dive pg | 35 Content & Content Creators pg | 36–37 Content Types pg | 37–38 Influencer Marketing pg | 39 UGC Tools & Software pg | 40 UGC in China pg | 41-42 Content Curation & Ownership: Mitigating Risks pg | 43 Credibility and Fraudulent Content Table of Contents (continued) Section 3 | Case Studies pg | 45–46 Jordan’s Multichannel Adoption of UGC pg | 47 Bermuda & Big Data pg | 48 South Africa Tourism’s Influencer Marketing Campaign pg | 49 Tourism Ireland pg | 50 UGC Activation with Tourisme Montreal pg | 51 Scotland’s Instagram Travel Agency pg | 52 UGC drives ROI in Hamilton Island pg | 53 Crisis Communications in Puerto Rico pg | 54 Tourism SMEs Competitiveness in Indonesia pg | 55–56 Conclusions & Next steps pg | 57–63 List of References Figures pg | 23 Figure: 1 | Sources of Travel Information pg | 25 Figure: 2 | Key Sources of Travel Inspiration pg | 27 Figure: 3 | Net Impact of TripAdvisor pg | 29 Figure: 4 | The Virtuous Circle of Guest Engagement pg | 34 Figure: 5 | Number of TripAdvisor Reviews by Region Tables pg | 33 Table: 1 | Major UGC Travel Platforms pg | 39 Table: 2 | UGC and Platform Tools and Resources pg | 43 Table: 3 | The Do’s and Don’ts of Content Curation Definitions & Acronyms* Application Programming Interface (API): allows Digital influencer: an online person or personality two different applications to talk to each other with authority in a certain area or subject who directly. The API is the messenger that delivers the exerts influence over their audience. They can requested information from one digital platform to create an effect, change opinions and behaviors, the other.6 It is used to pull Instagram images, and drive measurable outcomes online.7 reviews, and other UGC off the digital platform and Influencers typically have large audiences on onto platforms like websites and screens. various social media networks and work with brands to share their content or experiences for Automated Rights Management (ARM): system a set fee. Also called social media influencer, key that allows the destination manager to request opinion leader (KOL) or just influencer. a copyright from a content author. Usually delivered via the selected social media platform Digital platform: the combined software and messaging tools, and containing a simple hardware that allows participants to interact automated response system which generates with each other virtually. Examples include an immediate waiver. websites, social media, and mobile applications. Click-through rate (CTR): the percentage of Distribution channel: the link between the people visiting a web page who click on a link to suppliers of travel services and the consumer. It is a particular advertisement. a system of distribution that makes the product available. Completion Rate: number of times that a video plays to its completion. Domestic tourist: a visitor traveling within his/her country of residence whose trip includes an Conversion pixels: a type of computer programming overnight stay outside of their usual area. If a trip language that can be added to a web page to does not include an overnight stay, he/she is track actions that users are taking on website, classified as a same-day visitor or excursionist. including referrals from another web page. Earned media: a measure of online exposure that Destination Management/Marketing a brand does not directly pay for and that is not Organization (DMO): the leading organization, on their owned media channels. Earned media is which may encompass the various authorities, usually made up of professional media coverage stakeholders, and professionals. It facilitates and online word of mouth (eWOM), usually seen tourism sector partnerships formed to work in the form of mentions, shares, reposts, reviews, towards a collective destination vision. recommendations, or content picked up by third-party sites.8 Earned media is an essential part of a digital media strategy and goes along with owned and paid media. *The terms defined are done so in the context and purpose of this document. Definitions are not intended to be universal. Most definitions have been adapted from multiple sources and World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). Definitions & Acronyms pg | 13 Electronic Word of Mouth (eWOM): made up Impression: number of times a website is viewed. of all communications for consumers facilitated The number of impressions of a particular through digital platforms related to the usage advertisement is determined by the number of or characteristics of particular good, service, or times the particular page is located and loaded. its provider. This includes the communications Inbound tourism: the activities of a non-resident between the business and the consumer, as well visitor within the country of reference. as communications between consumers. This transparency is key to giving eWOM its credibility. International tourist: an international traveler who, with respect to the country of reference, is Engagement: social media engagement (a) on a tourism trip and (b) is a non-resident measures the public shares, likes and comments traveling in the country of reference or a resident for an online business’ social media efforts. traveling outside of it. If a trip does not include an Measuring return on investment for social media overnight stay, he/she is classified as a same-day marketing efforts is difficult; engagement is visitor, or excursionist. a blanket metric that doesn’t describe how many users end up purchasing. Meetings industry: meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) is a type of Experiential travel: a form of tourism during which tourism in which large groups, usually planned people focus on experiencing a country, city, or well in advance, are brought together for particular place by connecting to its history, people, a particular purpose. and culture. Net Promoter Score: an index ranging from -100 FIT traveler: stands for Free Independent to 100 that measures the willingness of customer Traveler. This travel industry term refers to those to recommend products or services to others. It travelers who research and book on their own is a proxy for gauging the customer’s overall trips without the assistance of a travel agent or group tour operator. satisfaction with the company’s product or service and the customer’s loyalty to the brand.10 High-involvement purchase: a purchase that Outbound tourism: the activities of a resident carries higher a risk to buyers if they fail, are visitor outside the country of reference. complex, and/or have high price tags. In order to make a purchase decision, consumers engage Online Travel Agency (OTA): online companies in what is called extended problem solving: they that allow customers to book various travel- spend a lot of time comparing different aspects related services, such as transportation and such as the features of the products, prices, and accommodation. Examples include Booking.com, warranties. Travel, a car, a house, and an Expedia and Priceline. insurance policy are examples.9 Definitions & Acronyms pg | 14 Owned media: owned media is any web property Tourism: a social, cultural, and economic or publication that the organization can control phenomenon, which entails the movement of and on which it can publish content. Owned people to countries or places outside their usual media channels connect organizations directly environment for personal or business/professional with their target audiences and can include purposes for more than 24 hours and less than websites, print magazines, blog sites, and social one year. media channels of owned media properties.11 Tourism expenditure: the amount paid for the Owned media channels often do not have built-in acquisition of consumption goods and services, as distribution; many organizations use paid media well as valuables, for own use or to give away, for to increase the exposure of their owned media and during tourism trips. It includes expenditures by channels in order to drive awareness. visitors themselves, as well as expenses that are Paid media: an organization pays for online paid for or reimbursed by others. exposure to a given audience or media through Tourism product: a combination of tangible and paid media. Paid media can be an effective way intangible elements that make up a tourism to boost earned and owned media. experience, such as natural, cultural, and Search Engine Optimization (SEO): the process manmade resources, attractions, facilities, of analyzing web searches not just based on the services, and activities around a specific center words used or answering a simple query but by of interest, which represents the core of the the intent of the words. destination-marketing mix and creates an overall visitor experience including emotional aspects Social media: websites and applications that for the potential customers. A tourism product is enable users to create and share content or to priced and sold through distribution channels participate in social networking. See Web 2.0. and it has a lifecycle. Sustainable tourism: tourism that takes full Tourism segment: a way of describing account of its current and future economic, social, components of visitor demand in accordance and environmental impacts, addressing the needs with common attributes, such as origin, of visitors, the industry, the environment, and host sociodemographic characteristics, and communities. motivations for travel. Segments are often Supply Chain: a tourism supply chain (TSC) is matched with a range of travel services, defined as a network of tourism organizations i.e., transportation, accommodation, activities/ engaged in different activities ranging from the services/products consumed while on travel. supply of different components of tourism Tourist: a visitor (domestic, inbound, or products/services, such as flights and outbound) is classified as a tourist (or overnight accommodation to the distribution and visitor), if his/her trip includes an overnight stay. marketing of the final tourism product at a specific tourism destination. Definitions & Acronyms pg | 15 Tourist Destination Image: the composite of Web 2.0: a term coined in the second phase of image a tourist has of a given destination based world wide web development that represented on perceptions, media consumption, word of major paradigm shifts in technology. These shifts mouth, experiences, and other sources. created platforms like Wikipedia, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and myriad blogs, which allowed Trip: travel by a person from the time of for the creation of user-generated content (UGC) departure from his/her usual residence until he/ and enables everyone to have their say on she returns (round trip). Trips taken by visitors are anything and publish it to the world at large. tourism trips. See UGC. User-generated content (UGC): information Word of Mouth (WOM): oral or written created and shared by individuals through Web communication about a product or service by 2.0 applications. UGC includes any text or visual a past customer to a prospective customer. piece of content created by an individual user See eWOM. that they share with their networks, publicly and/ or privately. This not only includes all social media content, but can also includes product reviews, videos, personal blogs and any other type of online comment created by consumers. Visitor: a traveler taking a trip to a main destination outside his/her usual environment, for less than a year, for any main purpose (business, leisure, or other personal purpose) other than to be employed by a resident entity in the country or place visited. Also referred to as traveler throughout the text. Definitions & Acronyms pg | 16 Introduction Social media and the social web have Today platforms like TripAdvisor, Instagram, fundamentally changed the way companies do Twitter and Facebook have given travelers the business and the way people connect with each opportunity to share their pictures, videos, other. Often referred to as Web 2.0, social media recommendations, opinions, and reviews of their has created an entirely new way for individuals, travel experiences, virtually and in real-time with organizations, and companies to interact. Social their friends, as well as with large global media platforms enable users to post content audiences. In 2017, Instagram reported more publicly and privately, creating virtual than 95 million photos and videos were published communities. The ability to interact with other on their platform every single day,14 and these consumers and create content without a media were “liked” 4.2 billion times a day by other outlet has shifted the power dynamic between users.15 These platforms have resulted in the business and the consumer, democratizing an entirely new kind of travel information: user- digital media.12 This shift in power has affected generated content (UGC), which is often more many industries and has significantly impacted widely used and influential than other sources of the way tourism businesses and destinations content.16 A study in the journal Tourism operate and attract customers. The shift can also Management found that “UGC is perceived provide innovative ways for low-income countries as more trustworthy when compared to content and destinations to become more sustainable, from official destination websites, travel agents, inclusive and competitive. and mass media.” The study revealed that Prior to the advent of online booking and the consumer trust of travel UGC is driven by social web, destinations and travel businesses consumers being able to get a feel for the reached consumers through offline channels, such destination prior to traveling. The trustworthiness as a storefront or brochure, or through media and influence of UGC is not a given and is outlets like magazines and TV channels. determined by many factors including the Destinations and businesses were more in control relevance, quality and usefulness of the of the conversation with their consumers. Third- information, as well as users’ past experiences party destination coverage and business reviews with the online platform.17 were limited to the trained media and hospitality Users creating their own travel content is now the professionals who awarded star ratings, wrote norm and go-to source of travel information. travel features, and stamped seals of approval. Online travel reviews on TripAdvisor have grown Tourist boards spent millions on the development to 660 million in 2018 with more than 255 new of standards, rating systems, and the contributions posted every minute.18 This trend is implementation of inspections. Travelers then apparent on other platforms. In January 2015 shared their travel experiences with their friends OTA Booking.com had 43 million verified reviews, and family through conversations, photo albums and slideshows.13 Introduction pg | 17 which grew to 123 million in July 2017.19 UGC has 2: Rise in social media channels changed the way destinations and businesses Many social media channels have launched in the reach their consumers, and the way those past decade including Instagram, Pinterest, consumers make travel decisions. A study by OTA SinaWeibo, and Snapchat. These platforms have Expedia and comScore, a digital consumer rolled out travel-friendly features such as location behavior research firm, found that in 2016, U.S. tags and filters allowing users to include the travelers alone spent 8.7 billion minutes name and geocoordinates of where they are consuming digital travel content, a 41 percent traveling and the businesses they are frequenting. increase year-on-year.20 Travelers have more options for sharing and viewing travel content than ever before. In parallel, many travel websites and booking UGC is now mainstream and it is an increasing channels have added the ability for users to rate part of tourism marketing strategies. Uploading their experiences and post reviews — increasing content has become second nature for travelers. the prominence of UGC across the internet. There are many factors and trends that have led to the rise of UGC as an invaluable travel 3: Consumers are wary of brand content research and brand marketing tool. Here are Many reports indicate the decline in consumer the most influential: brand trust is a driver for more consumers to use 1: Increased smartphone use UGC as a source of information.24 Havas Group’s 2017 “Meaningful Brands” report found that Nearly 2.4 billion people were projected to use 60 percent of content produced by brands was a smartphone in 2017, a 10.8 percent increase.21 declared to be poor, irrelevant, or failed to deliver.25 Over 32 percent of the global population used a smartphone in 2017.22 Mobile phone adoption 4: Content creation and publishing is easier has greatly increased the amount and types of Content is even easier to create than it used to user-generated content. Travelers now have be. You can publish on multiple platforms with a sophisticated device to shoot travel photos and one click. Single sign-on has allowed users to log videos, edit them, and upload them within into many platforms with one set of usernames seconds, resulting in high-quality, experiential and passwords, allowing them to share content content available for brand use. However, mobile across the web. UGC platforms have developed phones capable of accessing the internet is not intuitive mobile apps which make it easier for equally distributed around the world: 97 percent travelers to upload content with location tags of people living in developed countries have and other useful information while they travel. access to an active mobile-broadband subscription compared to 84 percent in developing countries.23 Introduction pg | 18 5: It’s part of a new interactive tourism 8: Growth of visual content and the ability to experience showcase it Platforms and businesses prompt travelers to Travel is highly visual and social travel platforms share their travel experiences. Facebook asks you have launched many features to better showcase to post a review after checking into somewhere. visual content. Social media first started out as Hotels and restaurants ask you to write a review text posts. Today you can post a photo, video, following your visit. An increasing number of a 360 video, a gif, a fast-moving video of your travelers take pride in providing reviews and trip, and you can stream a live video where consider it part of the travel experience. people can watch your experience in real-time. Many destinations have dabbled in virtual reality 6: The growth of experiential and to bring consumers closer to the travel experience transformative travel from home. Travel media outlet Tnooz says that Travelers are charting their own course to new virtual reality will soon become mainstream.29 and low-income travel destinations in search of connections with local culture and personal 9: Increase in UGC quality transformation.26 These off-beat journeys require Traveler content is becoming higher quality, even more research and thus travelers turn to UGC for close to professional quality. “The line between authentic perspectives of travel. Afar Magazine user-generated content and professional has cites technology and UGC as a major driver of completely blurred.” Susan Wojcicki, Chief Executive this shift. Travelers see the posts from other Officer, YouTube, USA, said in an interview. 30 travelers and can see the location of the post and Consequently, UGC is starting to make its way how the traveler experienced it so that they can into mainstream media channels, for example, replicate the experience themselves.27 Apple’s “Shot with an iPhone” campaign which takes content shot by iPhone users and puts it on 7: Millennials are leading the UGC trend billboards and uses it in print ads. This generation is more influenced by their peers’ social feeds than other age groups. “Millennials 10: Real-time information are very influenced and very motivated by their Consumers are looking for reliable, real-time social networks, more than any other generation,” content. This has contributed to the decline of Peter Cassidy, Founder, Chief Product Officer at print travel media, which has a shelf life. software provider Stackla, said in an interview Destinations and their products are constantly with Travel industry media company Skift. “They evolving and print publications struggle to keep are creating more brand-related content faster pace with this change. Smartphones allow than other generations. It’s a perfect storm of consumers to be more spontaneous. According to creating content and trusting the content.”28 This Think with Google, 85 percent of leisure travelers glut of UGC content can be leveraged by brands decide on activities only after having arrived at in their social and other marketing channels. the destination.31 Introduction pg | 19 The democratization of media has lowered the means to encourage, aggregate and promote costs and technical barriers to entry into digital UGC, and how to spend resources efficiently and marketing. This provides new opportunities for effectively. If they are to remain competitive, low-income countries and SMEs to develop a web destinations and enterprises need to better presence, utilize new sources of data, and understand the benefits and risks of UGC, and connect directly with travel consumers. how to best take advantage of this content and The traditional intermediator has become the platforms it is published on. relatively obsolete. Media companies are In light of these trends and the ubiquity of UGC, struggling to keep pace with the change in social the World Bank Group has partnered with media. Skift cites that many traditional media TripAdvisor to explore harnessing the potential companies didn’t adapt quickly enough to online of UGC for inclusive and sustainable tourism media models and consumers we able to find development in competitive destinations. The many free resources for content.32 A survey by following report offers good practices, tools and Ipsos MORI and TripAdvisor found that only 19 case studies on user-generated content. While percent of travelers use travel guide websites and there is still a lot to be explored, UGC has the 6 percent use the media when travel planning.33 potential to be a powerful resource for low- Many destinations and businesses are already income tourism destinations. taking advantage of this content, but the landscape is constantly evolving and can be challenging to navigate. It is difficult for tourism managers in the public and private sectors to know where to start, how to find the appropriate Introduction pg | 20 section 1 UGC: Platforms & the Big Picture UGC: Platforms & the Big Picture Destinations and tourism businesses are tasked International tourism spending grew to US$1.4 with reaching new travelers every day, because trillion in 2017 — and is likely to continue to rise unlike other industries, travel has fewer repeat as the number of households able to afford clients. Reaching new travelers has become international travel grows.36 While the North increasingly difficult due to the sheer quantity of American and Western European tourism information consumers are faced with and the economies have each grown by over 15 percent increasing number of travel destinations. Skift and 9 percent respectively in the past 10 years, reported on this trend in its The Megatrends the Asian market has increased by more than Defining Travel in 2018 stating, “With more 130 percent, due in part to the newly expanding competition in the travel space, destinations middle class in the region.37 This growth has need more interesting and nuanced content to changed the profile of the typical traveler and reach travelers. This goes beyond pretty pictures.”34 puts destinations in the position of trying to There are also more people traveling than ever attract increasingly diverse travelers with before: in 2017, international arrivals grew to different needs, UGC platforms, and travel styles. 1.3 billion, up 7 percent from 2016 and marking seven years of sustained tourism growth.35 Dan Christian Chief Digital Officer of travel conglomerate Travel Corporation’s (TTC) 38 “User-generated content could not be more important in the travel industry. Everywhere you look, it’s having a significant impact on decision making.” UGC: Platforms & the Big Picture pg | 22 Figure 1: Sources of Travel Information Source: TripAdvisor, 2016 39 CQ12: Which of the following sources of information, if any, did you use to plan your most recent trip? Base: All responders (36,444); Age groups: 18 – 34 (7,173), 35 – 54 (16,540), 55+ (12,731). 44% 38% 38% 35% 35% 35% 27% 27% 27% 22% 19% 14% 12% 13% 13% 9% word of mouth content posted content posted content posted by travelers by friends + family by businesses Global 18 – 34 35 – 54 55+ 36% 33% 34% 32% 28% 18 – 24 24 – 34 35 – 49 50 – 64 65+ Use of guidebooks UGC: Platforms & the Big Picture pg | 23 The Power of Word of Mouth (WOM) & e-WOM Word-of-Mouth marketing has long had a strong opinions of those who have visited before them influence on the consumer decision-making because travel is not a tangible product that can process. It is even more important in a high- be tested before committing to a purchase: a car involvement purchase like travel, which has great can be test-driven, a vacation cannot. Furthermore, financial and emotional importance and which eWOM is especially important to consumers can pose risks if mistakes are made. Consumers during the initial travel research phase as it helps perceive WOM as more credible than a company’s them narrow down their choices,44 and is also marketing materials, because the content is not heavily used to research more expensive and being distorted by company/organization important travel purchases like accommodation.45 interests.40 According to a survey of more than According to the TripBarometer Survey conducted 30,000 EU travelers, UGC was used by up to by Ipsos, 46 percent of respondents used 35 percent of respondents. Only 17 percent of TripAdvisor, 28 percent used search-engine reviews respondents used information offered by (e.g. reviews on Google), and 23 percent of a service provider or destination.41 Despite this, travelers used content posted by other travelers destinations continue to pour millions of when deciding on their destination.46 TripAdvisor marketing dollars into their websites, magazines was found to be the key source of information at and other official marketing channels. many stages of the planning and booking of Technology has enabled WOM to be published a journey, with users often browsing TripAdvisor online and has enabled consumers to share their without a specific holiday in mind — giving opinions beyond their social circles to the online destinations an opportunity to influence consumers. communities created by platforms like As further evidence of the importance of UGC, TripAdvisor, Facebook, Instagram, and Google. comScore found that 74 percent of worldwide OTAs have followed suit by allowing consumers online travel bookers visited TripAdvisor, and to rate and write reviews for hotel properties, 57 percent of hotel-specific bookers visit TripAdvisor making this UGC hyper relevant to the end user. first before making a purchase.47 The impact of This phenomenon has given rise to what is called UGC is even more apparent when looking at the eWOM.42 Today digital platforms are driving this travel behaviors of millennials, 89 percent of trend by giving consumers a free platform on whom plan travel activities based on content which travelers are able to share opinions of the published online by their peers.48 An Adweek places they have visited.43 survey found that 52 percent of Facebook users UGC and eWOM allows travel researchers to get think about travel while on the platform even a sense of what an experience would be like when they are not planning a vacation, and this before they make a financial commitment to number increases to 87 percent for millennials purchase. Consumers are keen to research the who use the social network for travel inspiration.49 The Power of Word of Mouth (WOM) & e-WOM pg | 24 Figure 2: Key Sources of Travel Inspiration Source: Ipsos Ipsos MORI and TripAdvisor (2017). TripBarometer 2016/17    44% of travelelers used 22% of travelelers used content posted by family + friends TripAdvisor when deciding on their destination   22% of travelelers used 38% of travelelers used media when deciding on word-of-mouth information their destination  26% of travelelers used travel guide websites Millennial travelers are also driving content perceived value. A Facebook study of Instagram creation trends according to a study by Chase users found that 61 percent of Instagrammers use Marriott Rewards. Nearly all (97 percent) of the platform to “travel like a local” and to find millennial travelers post on social networks and things to do on when traveling to a new place.51 share experiences while traveling, 73 percent This may offer opportunities for less-developed post at least once a day.50 destinations to expand their tourism value chain. Potential customers are most likely forming User-generated content impacts the purchasing an image of a product or service before they behavior of tourists. Knowledge of the digital experience it. That image can be different from landscape coupled with the right strategies and what the destination or business is using in their tactics will help destinations and businesses messaging — if the consumer sees the brand become more competitive and use their messaging at all. UGC is also not perceived as marketing and product development resources sales material, but rather genuine shared more effectively. experience. This increases the level of trust and The Power of Word of Mouth (WOM) & e-WOM pg | 25 Why UGC Matters Here are the top 10 reasons why UGC and social #TravelForReal to generate UGC for use in its travel platforms matter to destinations and to marketing channels. The hotel chain saw tourism businesses: a 62 percent increase in social engagement and a four-fold increase in their revenue from 1: Drive Revenues bookings after deploying the UGC content in In 2017, TripAdvisor was responsible for their marketing.55 Similarly, group tour operator US$546 billion of global tourism spend according Busabout had similar results when incorporating to a study by tourism research firm Tourism UGC across its website, online map, social Economics. US$80 billion (15 percent) would not channels, and other marketing channels. The have occurred without TripAdvisor. This influence company saw a 12 percent increase in website has grown at a 7.4 percent annual average rate traffic and a 9 percent increase in bookings and over the last ten years.53 The study also found realized a 62 percent savings in content costs.56 that increases in TripAdvisor reviews are followed by higher tourism demand and increased nights 2: Increase Access to Market at the destination. As the industry publication Platforms like TripAdvisor, Facebook, and Twitter Hotel Management puts it: “That means TripAdvisor offer destinations and businesses an online leads travelers to a longer length of stay. That presence and a direct connection to travel impact also pertains to travelers who were already consumers through business accounts. Travel planning trips or who were already in destinations organizations can create business accounts to and TripAdvisor use caused them to stay communicate their value proposition, conduct additional nights, thereby creating extra spend.”54 paid advertising campaigns, engage with the The power of UGC extends beyond TripAdvisor to travel audiences, and respond to customer other UGC platforms and booking channels, and inquiries on each platform. There is always a cost: to the content itself. Many destinations and whether it is time spent engaging on each businesses have leveraged UGC in their marketing platform or advertising spend. But the playing campaigns to both drive revenue and reduce the field is becoming more level and destinations no costs of content. For example, Loews Hotels longer need multimillion dollar marketing launched a travel campaign with the hashtag budgets to be successful. “In less than a decade, UGC has evolved from reviews posted on websites into multiple-platform initiatives that are a primary and powerful mainstay of the digital and social media marketing strategies of many brands in travel.” Source: Travel Research Firm Phocuswright52 Why UGC Matters pg | 26 Figure3: Net impact of TripAdvisor length of stay (nights) Source: Tourism Economics US$ (billions) 160 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 New trips Average length of Value Net overall & destinations stay (nights) for money revenue impact 1: Information in TripAdvisor 2: Reviews and scores 3: Travelers are able to find 4: Net positive impact as new reviews cause additional trips encourage longer stays in new savings with a clearer trips and longer stays offset cost worldwide, including to new destinations and properties. understanding of destination savings for destinations. Spend desitinations. quality. Partly offset as per trip rises even as spend per individual properties can offer day falls. a premium for quality. 3: Leverage Consumer Content Smart management of travel content shared by Destinations and businesses can leverage the visitors and online communities can become an content created by consumers to market their effective marketing message. Tourism Ohio businesses. Consumers trust other people 12 (@Ohiogram) saw 10 percent higher engagement times more than they trust brands, which is why when using UGC.58 brands use UGC in their campaigns.57 Many new Jordan Tourism Board North America relies destinations and businesses do not have a lot of heavily on UGC to communicate its value and the high-quality content to use in marketing security of the product. “UGC is the most themselves. By using increasingly sophisticated important thing to our organization in reaching cameras on mobile phones, visitors to a destination travelers in North America. It is gold for us and it can now quickly create content which represents is free,” says Samer Abu Taleb, Trade Partnerships the perspective of the traveler. Visual content & Consumer Marketing Manager at Jordan curation platforms, such as Crowdriff allow travel Tourism Board, North America. For more details businesses and destinations to source publicly on how Jordan leverages UGC, see the case study available content legally for use on their channels. in Section Three. Why UGC Matters pg | 27 4: Build Competence data on their performance, see Table 2 for further Effectively and efficiently managing platforms information. The WBG group is also leveraging and content takes time, money, and specialized UGC to monitor performance as part of its work skills. The skills needed include writing, digital with the government of Indonesia to improve the marketing, and public relations. Destinations competitiveness of the tourism sector. While the often need to acquire different software project is still in its early stages, the case study in platforms to manage content (see Table 2) and Section 3 shows the potential applications for hire new talent to curate and create online UGC in development work. content that maintain and grow these channels. 6: Improve Quality Missteps on social media are public and can have Feedback from customers allows businesses to serious consequences. Global hotel conglomerate improve their product offerings. Social platforms Marriott International’s websites were shut down are a forum for customers to provide real-time in China in part due to an employee liking another feedback and raise issues without the social user’s post, which declared Tibet and Hong Kong pressure of voicing concerns in person. This to be independent countries, from Marriott’s provides a free way to understand what issues official Twitter account.59 United Airlines came need to be addressed which helps make under fire after multiple instances of mishandling businesses much more efficient and successful. social media in relation to several high-profile Hotels are using UGC to identify and correct events that went viral on social media through service issues. Furthermore, online reviews can be user content, primarily on Twitter. A recent used to assess the impact of team training, graphic post was accidently tweeted out by US service quality, and investment in upgrading. For Airways, which resulted in negative press for the example, a hotel investing in customer service airline.60 Additionally, destinations and businesses training might monitor reviews before and after need to navigate the legalities of sharing UGC the training to see whether there was a change in and data privacy (see page 40 for more details). sentiment and score. The Puerto Rico Tourism 5: Monitor Performance with Big Data Company used UGC to assess product quality on UGC can also provide new and real-time data on the ground following a series of hurricanes that consumer behavior, allowing destinations and hit the U.S. island territory. Learn how Puerto Rico businesses to improve their performance. used UGC and TripAdvisor to manage crisis Organizations can audit user-generated content communications following the natural disaster in via listening tools and aggregators to see what Section 3. kinds of experiences travelers are interested in and what they post about. This information can be used for product development, marketing insights, destination management, and benchmarking. Various tools have emerged to help destinations and businesses manage the Why UGC Matters pg | 28 7: Predict Performance reviews, particularly negative reviews, appears Research has shown that review ratings are one positively related to the consumer’s view of the of the most important predictors of hotel hotel, as measured by increases in the TripAdvisor performance. A recent study by Cornell score.”62 Another study found that accommodations Hospitality Quarterly found a close correlation that respond to over “50 percent of social media between a hotel’s review ratings and its financial reviews grow occupancy rates at more than twice performance. A similar correlation was found the rate of properties that tend to ignore between high response to negative comments reviews.”63 Despite the evidence pointing to the and financial performance.61 The study also importance of online reviews and the impact that found that managerial responses to UGC on managerial responses have on customer OTAs and UGC platforms also improved hotel perception, many businesses don’t engage with performance and managerial response rate online reviews nor do they have a policy for correlated with increased sales. “Responding to managing them. Figure 4: The Virtuous Circle of Guest Engagement Source: TripAdvisor  Traveler books hotel   More travelers find hotel Review solicited on TripAdvisor from every guest The “Virtuous Circle” of Guest Engagement   Better reviews and more Hotel reviews guest visibility on TripAdvisor feedback  Improvements to hotel based on feedback Why UGC Matters pg | 29 8: Benchmark Competitors a composite of news, branding, user reviews, UGC and public social media sites offer and other information. This image has an impact destinations and businesses the opportunity to on the consumer’s decision to visit a destination.65 benchmark against competitors and aspirational Reviews are also often used by booking platforms targets. Destinations can see how their competitors to determine the order in which to list businesses. perform in different product categories and what The online travel agency (OTA) Expedia, for their competitor’s travelers are considering. example, lists properties according to reviews: Benchmarking against other destinations’ or properties with more positive ratings are ranked businesses’ social media sites helps allows insight higher than properties with low or no ratings. into which content travelers are most receptive Expedia recommends that properties pay to. Keeping track of “shared” and “liked” social attention to reviews and learn from their media posts gives a good indication of consumer customers’ feedback to improve business trends and ultimately helps make marketing more practices.66 Aggregated UGC can also be filtered targeted. Managers can also keep track of to select content aligned to brand values or competitors’ social media activities. Global travel destination strategies. sites such as TripAdvisor can tap into a vast 10: Measure Marketing Return on Investment (ROI) amount of user data to help destinations User-generated content is updated in real-time understand which destinations they are competing and can often reveal new data about a destination against and where they are falling short. Such more quickly and cost effectively than surveys or competitive destination analyses reveal which other forms of information. Destinations are destinations users are looking at in the same always challenged with measuring the ROI of search session, where those users come from, and their marketing, training, and management what role seasonality plays in their search efforts, especially since they are not the end patterns. For example, Resonance Consultancy, providers of the travel experience. Destination a U.S. consulting firm specializing in tourism, real managers often rely on visitor arrivals and spend estate, and economic development, has numbers, but those numbers are difficult to leveraged TripAdvisor data and other data attribute directly to local efforts and that data sources to create the Caribbean Tourism Quality is often only collected annually. UGC can reveal Index, which is used to benchmark different interest in a destination, how businesses are tourism destinations and assist its client Bermuda performing, tourism management issues, the Tourism Authority (see case study 2).64 effectiveness of business training sessions, and 9: Influences Online Image and Exposure other data. UGC impacts the way a brand or business is perceived and listed. For destinations, review content contributes to what some researchers call Tourist Destination Image (TDI) or the image that a traveler has of the destination that is Why UGC Matters pg | 30 section 2 UGC, Platforms & Good Practices UGC, Platforms & Good Practices UGC Platforms The impact of user-generated content on travel USA, Line is prevalent in Japan, HolidayCheck is destinations depends on the strength and reach popular in Germany, and VK is popular in Russia of online platforms used to publish it. There are as is Odnoklassniki. It is important to determine 3.2 billion people who use social media; this is up a business or destination’s appropriate target 13 percent from last year and translates to audiences and find out which platforms these 11 new people using social media every second. audiences use before investing in any UGC Central and Southern Asia are driving this channel. growth.67 Facebook is taking advantage of that The following is an overview of the major public growth and is now the leading social network in UGC platforms with the largest global audiences 91 percent of the world.68 UGC platforms keep and biggest impact on the travel industry. This list emerging and many market-specific social does not include peer-to-peer messaging apps channels have great relevance and impact: Yelp like WhatsApp. is one of the largest UGC/review channels in the Enver Duminy Cape Town Tourism CEO “As Cape Town Tourism, a method we have found to be very effective is harnessing the age old power of word of mouth — we’ve created strong social media platforms to allow visitors to share their experiences, which are then read by a multitude of potential visitors; and we also use other social sharing platforms like TripAdvisor as listening tools. We’ll pick up on conversations the various markets are having about the destination and then create content on our blog and social media platforms that speak to what they’re searching for.” 69 UGC Platforms pg | 32 Table 1: Major UGC Travel Platforms Channel Audience Size Reach UGC Function Blogs 2+ million blog posts pub- Globally, various providers globally Long-from travel content and tips from bloggers, lished daily70 influencers and other content creators. Facebook 1.45 billion daily active users Global excluding China, North Korea Crowd-source travel tips, share articles, upload on average for March 2018 and Iran and various temporary bans photos and videos of trips, live stream travel experiences, check in to travel destinations and 2.20 billion monthly active experiences, and post user reviews. Much of UGC users as of March 31, 201871 content from consumers is posted privately. Instagram 800 million+ monthly active Global, except China Real-time content, live video and photos via Insta- accounts gram stories, photos, videos and more. 500 million+ daily active accounts72 SnapChat 158 million users spending Number one iphone App in 13 countries Real-time content, live video, stories, short text 25–30 mins a day and number 2 or 3 in 15 others and more. Content is short term and constantly renewed. TripAdvisor 455 million average monthly 49 markets Reviews, photos, Q&A and forum posts are added unique visitors by users for hotels, restaurants and attractions. Twitter 330 Million monthly active Global excluding China, North Korea Travelers share photos, tweet at brands and engage users73 and Iran and various temporary bans with travel influencers. WeChat 1 billion user accounts Primarily Greater China Post content, engage with brand accounts, book travel, message friends while traveling and more. 902 million daily users74 Weibo 340 million active monthly Primarily Greater China Publish text, image and video posts, influencers use users75 this platform to talk about travel YouTube 1 billion+ users76 Global excluding China, North Korea Travel guides, video blogs, short destination clips, and Iran and various temporary bans packing guides and more. UGC Platforms pg | 33 TripAdvisor Deep Dive TripAdvisor is the largest digital travel platform in April of this year. Over the past five years, the worldwide. It had an average of 456 million average growth rate of reviews posted by monthly users accessing the site in Q2 2018, travelers from the Middle East, Asia, and Eastern reaching one in 11 traveler researchers.77 While Europe was 21 percent, 18 percent and 10 percent originally most popular in mature tourism markets, respectively. Travel buyers who use TripAdvisor emerging markets are getting increased are considerably more active during the path to exposure on the platform. In April 2017, travelers purchase and take 29 percent longer to research from Western Europe added approximately one their vacations compared to buyers who don’t million reviews to TripAdvisor. More than twice as use TripAdvisor.78 many reviews were added by the same audience Figure 5: Number of TripAdvisor Reviews by Region Source: TripAdvisor, Number of collected user reviews, Sept. 2012 – March 2018 350,000,000 300,000,000 250,000,000 200,000,000 150,000,000 100,000,000 50,000,000 0 2 2 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 5 5 5 5 6 6 6 6 7 7 7 7 8 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 .2 .2 .2 .2 .2 .2 .2 .2 .2 .2 .2 .2 .2 .2 .2 .2 .2 .2 .2 .2 .2 .2 .2 09 12 03 06 09 12 03 06 09 12 03 06 06 12 03 06 09 12 03 06 09 12 03 Western Europe North America South America Asia South Pacific Eastern Europe Middle East Africa Central America TripAdvisor Deep Dive pg | 34 Content & Content Creators Anyone can create content: individuals, female travelers. Niche websites and content also businesses, and professional content creators like allow destinations and businesses to be hyper- writers, bloggers, or influencers. However, users targeted in reaching these audiences with their need access to a computer or mobile device, value proposition and open areas for partnership. strong communication ability, the necessary technology skills and a reliable internet connection to create content. These prerequisites Given this landscape, here are some of the can limit the user base and the perspectives of common reasons travelers post UGC: UGC. There is still a digital gender gap: in two- Altruism: travelers want to help other travelers thirds of countries worldwide, internet usage like them. Many travelers see value in the reviews rates are higher for men than for women.79 they read and so post their own reviews about However, the tide is changing as TripAdvisor, their own experiences to continue the “virtuous Facebook and other UGC websites are becoming circle” of sharing. increasingly accessed on mobile and the platforms have developed easier to use ‘light’ “Humble brag”: sharing great experiences online applications. Users can now find a greater may sometimes be another way to boast and number of voices and perspectives represented improve social status. online, making UGC more inclusive to various travel audiences. To become “instafamous”: related to the humble brag, travelers often share their content online to The variety is represented in the different kinds get “likes.” Many use popular hashtags because of travel blogs, travel hashtags and content for they hope to be featured online and they want to different areas of the world and travel needs. help their content go viral so they can gain Travel audiences like solo women, adventure advertising revenue. travelers, family travelers, people with cognitive or physical disabilities, and LGBTQ travelers Updating family and friends back home: instead publish their content online, which reflects their of delivering a slide show when they get home, perspective and travel needs. Travelers in these travelers can now update and share with their demographics often seek out this content loved ones as they go, sharing their travel because they find UGC more trustworthy than experiences in real-time. other sources of content and find UGC more reliable if the information is relevant to them and Document their vacation: many travelers publish their travel needs.80 For example, LBGTQ content about their vacations to help them travelers often rely on UGC to find LGBTQ-safe remember where they went, what they did, and to and friendly destinations.81 There are thousands later relive their meIpsos MORIes. This varies from of posts on Instagram tagged with the ‘solo sharing moments via single images to progressive female’ hashtag and offer travel tips for other stories with multiple images, video, and location check ins. Content & Content Creators pg | 35 Content Types Vast amounts of content are created every day, Content: offering insights and content to showcase different Reviews: a combination of ratings, text and images travel experiences. For example, 308 million (and (depending on the platform), user reviews share counting) Instagram posts have been tagged travelers’ direct impressions of a destination, tour, with #travel to date, hundreds of Twitter posts hotel or travel experience. They can be found on are tagged with #travel every hour, and 300 hours TripAdvisor, OTAs, Facebook, Google and other of video are uploaded every minute on YouTube.82 travel sites. Most importantly, this content is posted in real- time, turning each traveler’s trip into a live Travel Tips: travel tips tend to be geared towards experience communicated to an audience who the destination instead of towards a supplier. knows and trusts them. Platforms such as Travelers share insights on their experiences, the Instagram Stories define and package travel best places to go, ideal times to visit, and places experiences into a story format ideal for to avoid. This content is posted on TripAdvisor, marketing. The content is nearly always blogs, and other travel forums. geotagged, via GPS on smartphones, or by direct Pictures: many social media users upload images check-ins, allowing this content to be linked of their vacations in real-time during their vacations. directly to destinations and businesses. The use of The images are often of hotel rooms, food, and location data and hashtags allows UGC to be tour experiences. They offer an unfiltered view of aggregated and discovered by marketers for the vacation. This is the most commonly curated their use. This content is also a rich information type of content and is found on virtually every source yielding such valuable consumer behavior UGC platform. data as travel destinations, activity preferences, travel styles, and booking windows that can be Blogs or long-format articles: detailed accounts used to improve destination marketing and of travel experiences including activities, hotels, product development. travel tips, and other experiences are often The audience for this content is not passive: they self-published on blogs or in other fora. This engage with this content via likes, comments, shares, content is ideal for social sharing and offers an video message replies, and emojis. These public and opportunity for sponsorship or other forms of private actions are measurable as vital statistics collaboration. for audience response, preferences, and trends. Content Types pg | 36 Videos: ranging from seconds-long videos on is concluded. Live video content is becoming an SnapChat or Instagram stories to feature-length increasingly popular way to share content both videos and webisodes, there are countless hours for consumers and brands. Platforms like of travel videos posted online. They range from Facebook are investing in growing this market. low-tech cell phone videos to high production- Timelapses, boomerangs, and gifs: content quality YouTube videos. creators are also using mobile applications to Live videos and social posts: many social networks create videos with unique features, such as have launched live versions of video, allowing actions on loop, videos which speed up or slow users to broadcast on location. These videos are down the action to show a journey. There are broadcast in real-time and are often stored on other forms of rich media which can be used by the platform for users to view after the broadcast brands to appear “on trend.” Influencer Marketing Destinations and brands are increasingly attractions. “Influencers speak to their audiences investing in user-generated content for hire, also and their audiences trust them. Once they come known as influencer marketing. Both mature and back from Jordan, influencers continuously talk emerging destinations gravitate towards this kind about Jordan and we see large ROI from that,” of content because it can showcase the local says Samer Abu Taleb, Trade Partnerships & experience in a more authentic way through an Consumer Marketing Manager at Jordan Tourism influencer’s unique lens. Influencers also give Board, North America. destinations a new audience, such as their However, working with influencers can be followers if they run a successful blog, although complicated, costly and risky. In contrast to this varies according to the influencer. Influencers traditional travel media and public relations can be especially helpful to low-income destinations. efforts, influencers are most often independent They can create high-quality, experiential content content creators who manage their own channels about a destination, which is something that new and audience. It is difficult to control their destinations struggle with. They also increase message and the norms of the travel press don’t awareness of new destinations as many travelers always apply. There are many professional either don’t know about these destinations or are influencers working in travel, but there are also wary of traveling there because of preconceived some scammers. Destinations should be on the notions. The Jordan Tourism Board leverages lookout for fraudulent traffic, inflated or paid-for influencers in their marketing to communicate fan numbers, and off-brand content. the security of Jordan and to share their unique Influancer Marketing pg | 37 It is important for destinations to approach at the outset. The more influential the influencer influencer marketing with a plan and with is (i.e., the larger their fan base and engagement a cost-benefit analysis to other forms of levels) the more they will charge. Some destinations marketing. To maximize results and mitigate now treat influencers as suppliers and do not risks, it is recommended that influencer pre-finance their travel and production. Instead marketers follow these steps: they buy their content after it has been produced based on quality and alignment with brand goals. 1: Define the goals Just like any marketing campaign, articulate the 5: Make an influencer media kit goals before working with any influencer in any Make it easier for the chosen influencer(s) to capacity. Make sure that the influencer campaign engage with the destination by providing a social is coordinated with overall marketing efforts in media kit. Include essential information, fun facts, other channels. images, hashtags, and social media handles in one document. 2: Identify potential influencers and analyze their target audiences 6: Execute the campaign Determine which audience segments to target Set up the campaign and follow along with the and find influencers who meet the needs of the posts to foster engagement, monitor compliance, campaign. Many destinations seek the assistance and ensure on-brand messaging. Brands sometimes of an influencer marketing agency or of influencer opt for a social media takeover, where the marketing tools (see Table 2). influencer posts on the brand’s channels or the influencer shares the content from the influencer. 3: Review potential influencers’ content Make sure to include a note if content has been Reach is not the only factor when selecting an sponsored or is an advertisement. influencer. Make sure the selected influencer(s) fits the brand’s tone, feel, audience, and 7: Evaluate campaign. Measure actual engagement with Conduct post-campaign analysis. How did the their content. Also request proof, via tracking campaign perform in relation to the goals that or conversion pixels, that their content has were set? What was learned from this campaign generated provable leads to travel suppliers. that can be applied to other campaigns? Did the influencer meet the terms of the agreement? It is 4: Scope and negotiate important to track the results by directing links to Set up the terms of the agreement or contract. measurable landing pages with tracking codes Include as many specifics as possible covering and use conversion pixels. compensation, travel, and costs covered, number of posts, content types, reporting parameters, and content rights so that deliverables are clear Influancer Marketing pg | 38 UGC Tools & Software Software and other tools can assist tourism user-generated content, manage online organizations in navigating and managing the reputation, aggregate data and more depending UGC landscape. They can be used to monitor on organizational needs. An overview of tools is brand performance, organize and manage provided below: Table 2: UGC and Platform Tools and Resources Tool/Software Use Case Additional Features Sample Suppliers Software in Action Social Monitor brand/destination Influencer identification, Radian 6, Crimson Tour operators use social Listening83 sentiment and mentions of your determine your net promoter Hexagon, listening to connect with organization, destination and score Sprout Social potential clients product Content Identify, source, secure and Some platforms include Chute, Crowdriff, Destination Canada uses Curation store user-generated travel legal permissions and direct Curata, Olapic, Crowdriff to curate travelers’ content for a destination’s use publishing Stackla, Tint images of Canada and share in marketing and branding them with partner destinations activities Social Media Organize, manage and publish Some software also stores Hootsuite, Percolate, Many Western DMOs use Management on social media channels assets, publishes to blogs and SproutSocial, a variety of management tools allows for paid advertising TweetDeck, etc Reputation Manage and monitor your Respond to comments and ReviewPro How YHA New Zealand Management online reputation across upload images Guest Revu climbed TripAdvisor rankings a variety of platforms Data Bring in data from various Automatically published Simply Measured, Travel Utah uses data dash- & Analytics sources like Google Analytics, reports, data visualization Tableau, DataHero, boards to pull in content from paid media, Facebook, Twitter, and virtual dashboards Microsoft Power BI many sources email marketing Digital Asset Stores, catalogues and shares Many tools allow you to create Acquia, Barberstock, Brand USA uses MediaValet to Management your organization’s digital galleries, take downloads, Libris, MediaValet, store, organize, share and track (DAM) assets share assets and press rooms WebDam its multimedia UGC Tools & Software pg | 39 UGC in China China is predicted to become the largest outbound WeChat is everything: With more than one billion tourism market in 2022 at 128 million tourism users and 900 million daily active users, WeChat trips.84 Destinations and businesses are already is the most used app in China. It is called an trying to attract these important travel consumers, “everything-in-one” platform as its functionality but the digital marketing landscape and mimics a combination of Facebook, WhatsApp, consumer behaviors are very different in China. PayPal, Uber and e-commerce sites.88 Launched Many platforms such as Google,Facebook, in 2017, WeChat’s new in-platform app, Mini YouTube, Instagram and messaging tools likes Program, enables even more possibilities for WhatsApp are restricted in China as the internet brands on WeChat. The platform has become is highly regulated. This makes China’s digital a way of life for Chinese citizens and big brands landscape unique and mysterious to foreign are often replacing their entire website with brands. Destinations that are marketing in China a WeChat channel as more than 50 percent of are using more traditional means. They are users spend more than 90 minutes a day on missing out on the growing number of FIT travelers, the platform.89 who are typically younger, more tech savvy, and Video: Micro-videos (less than 2 minutes) and live more adventurous than their parents. Accounting streaming have become extremely popular in for 60 percent of the country’s foreign travelers in China over the past two years. The new micro- 2016, 18 to 34-year-olds take 82 million trips video and live streaming platform Douyin grew to abroad and spend more than US$150 billion.85 100 million users within a year and had more than UGC is king: UGC is highly valued in China and is one billion daily video views.90 seen as more effective than other forms of TripAdvisor: one of the few platforms not marketing. FIT travelers turn to WeChat, video restricted in China, and the Chinese audience on platforms, UGC travel channels such as Mafengwo TripAdvisor is growing year to year. The number and Fliggy, and other social media channels to of Chinese travelers using TripAdvisor as a source find information, plan, book, and guide them to research and book both leisure and business through their trips. Research found that while trips to destinations outside of China has risen by planning their overseas trips, 72 percent of Chinese 39 percent since 2016. Additionally, the number travelers are influenced by digital media such as of reviews shared by Chinese travelers on travel websites, social media platforms, online TripAdvisor has seen an increase of 41 percent over travel agencies, and social trip planning platforms.86 the past five years. A recent study conducted by Mobile first: Mobile users account for 97.5 percent Oxford Economics showed that TripAdvisor of all Internet users according to CINIC’s 2017 influenced 12 percent of the total Chinese report.87 This means successful brands are inbound travel market in 2017.91 mobile-first. It is vital for an account’s content to be optimized for mobile. UGC in China pg | 40 Content Curation & Ownership: Mitigating Risks The use of UGC has legal implications. While 4: False Statements UGC is a valuable resource for travel organizations Sometimes users post false claims or inaccurate when posted publicly, UGC often falls into a legal statements about travel destinations, business gray area as it is posted by individuals and not by or other facts in their content. It is always a best official organizations. Destinations and practice to check the content before posting. businesses need to be informed on the risks of UGC before engaging with the content. Some of the legal considerations include: 92 Content curation guidelines should be created for each organization and be determined by each 1: Ownership and Licensing organization’s legal framework. Check the country’s Who owns UGC and how are the rights to use it copyright laws and/or the organization’s legal granted to the destination or business. Many counsel on the appropriate laws and regulations travelers are happy to share images of their before launching any content curation activities. vacations with DMOs and other travel When a user signs up to use a UGC platform, they companies, but improperly using this content can are presented with the terms of service, which put a destination or travel company at risk. outlines the terms of engagement for the Depending on the organizational charter, DMOs, platform including content sharing. NTOs and other tourism organizations might There are generally three types of content fall under public domain or regulations that apply curation: on platform, off platform, and between to the government. platforms (API embedded). The type of content 2: Privacy curation dictates what kinds of legal permissions are needed. Destination managers are most While images may be posted publicly on social media, legally protected when they ask their users for people represented in those travel pictures may permission to use their content, especially photos not have consented to be photographed and for and videos. This serves the purpose of legal that photograph to be used in destination marketing. protection and builds a relationship between the 3: Monetization brand and consumer. Advanced Social Media For-profit organizations need to be especially aggregators, such as Crowdriff and Stackla offer cautious when using UGC. They must be diligent what is called Automated Rights Management about securing permissions for UGC as different (ARM), which allows the content manager to laws apply to intellectual property when it is used systematically request the copyright from the for commercial purposes. It is also recommended author with set terms and conditions, which is that they ask users for permission to use their content. delivered via the selected social media platform messaging tools and contains a simple automated response system which generates an immediate waiver. Content Curation & Ownership: Mitigating Risks pg | 41 On-Platform Curation & Publishing “On-platform curation” is the most common and However, on Instagram, content sharing is not as requires the least effort and legal protection, as straightforward. The application does not allow social media is shared easily between users on the users to share in the same way that other channels same social platform. With one click, destinations do, so it is a good practice to ask for permission. can share a traveler’s public Facebook post or Some brands ask for permission by creating and retweet (share) a travel influencer’s Twitter post. advertising a specific branded hashtag related On YouTube, brands can place videos from other to their destination like #TravelAlberta, accounts on their own channel’s playlist. These #Colombiaissabrosura, #MeetSouthAfrica actions generally require no prior permission. or #ShareYourJordan. Off-Platform Publishing “Off-platform curation” takes place when a piece of content by asking for permission in a destination or brand downloads content from a comment or by having users agree to their a social platform like Instagram or Twitter, and terms and conditions using Automated-Rights uses it on another platform outside of that social Management as outlined above. While having channel, such as a website or a print ad. This users agree to terms and conditions is more off-platform use typically requires the content involved than using comments or hashtags, the owner’s permission. YouTube is an outlier, as process offers destinations and businesses videos are easily and legally embedded on greater protection because it discloses the websites without requiring permission. This can potential use of the content. This process can be be very useful for destinations or SMEs with limited facilitated by using the content curation tools content. Organizations can get permission to use in Table 2. API Content Embed An Application Programming Interface (API) in your website so they appear in the same format allows two different applications to talk to each as on the original platform. For example, TripAdvisor other directly. Content can be embedded on allows organizations to embed user reviews a website using an API from a social media site. relating to their business on their own website. For example, you can embed social media posts Content Curation & Ownership: Mitigating Risks pg | 42 Credibility & Fraudulent Content It is important to ensure all content posted experience. When encouraging travelers to write directly is by a credible source and that there are reviews, be careful not to encourage people to no issues concerning ownership. All posts need to give a specific rating. Doing so may infringe the adhere to platform guidelines. All reviews must host platform’s content policies and guidelines. be authored and submitted following a genuine Table 3: The Do’s and Don’ts of Content Curation DOs DON’Ts Credit the user or account when sharing UGC Post content as if it were created by your organization Ask for permission in a comment or providing Terms and Take content without asking for permission to use Conditions for use (this includes privately posted content and photos of minors as they cannot provide consent) Contextualize the content with additional information Include inaccurate information about the experience. about the UGC showcased to the reader can learn more (Check your facts!) about the experience Search for content using hashtags, location tags, handles Post content that is not actually of your destination and more or brand Share other brands’ or partner content Use content offline or in a channel that rights were not granted for Track assets used with written consent Publicly share private content Watch videos or content all the way through before sharing Post content with copywritten music or other content without permission Outline the organization’s entire use case in T&C’s so that Share UGC with partners or businesses that do not have the organization and its partners are legally covered rights to use it Credibility & Fraudulent Content pg | 43 section 3 Case Studies Section three includes a selection of case studies that highlight destinations and brands that have successfully leveraged UGC to increase traveler awareness and strengthen competitiveness. The case studies are indicative, not comprehensive. It proved challenging to find case studies of UGC used to improve specific products or to address specific development challenges. The potential is there, however, and will be the focus of future research. Most case studies showcase the destinations’ approach to marketing, but a few include broader applications of UGC, which are likely to increase in importance in the future. case study 1: Jordan’s Multichannel Adoption of UGC Tourism is one of Jordan’s most important In fact, JTB has adopted UGC in most of their economic sectors. Travel and tourism made up communications. JTB North America launched 19.4 percent of the country’s GDP in 2016 and an entire website and social media campaign is forecasted to rise by 4.4 percent in 2017 to dedicated to UGC: #MyJordanJourney and its 22.3 percent in 2027.93 But Jordan suffers from website MyJordanJourney.com features UGC, being “the quiet house in a noisy neighborhood,” testimonials, and other traveler content to as Janine Jervis, deputy director of the Jordan showcase the product to both consumers and the Tourism Board North America, puts it.94 The travel trade. JTB also leverages residents’ content Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is as part of UGC. The tourism board deploys the constantly plagued with news of violence and civil content of real people and shares it with their unrest, which impacts travelers’ perception of audiences so that people can imagine themselves Jordan as a tourism destination and reduces in Jordan. TripAdvisor is a key partner for Jordan visitation. Reassuring the travelers that Jordan as well. is safe for visitors is of the utmost importance. Samer Abu Taleb Trade Partnerships & Consumer Marketing Manager at Jordan Tourism Board, North America: 95 “How do you tell the traveler that is scared and worried about the Middle East that we have a secure product? (...) UGC is critical to instilling trust in visitors and communicating Jordan’s value proposition. It is so much more effective than having a campaign. (...) We have also embraced TripAdvisor throughout our communications because the reviews are awesome. People trust TripAdvisor because they are able to read reviews of what other travelers have experienced. It has helped us communicate the product of Jordan.” Case Studies: Jordan pg | 45 Jordan Tourism Board’s head office has invested in a social media aggregation system via Stackla and uses this tool to gather, select, and share visitor photos under their #ShareYourJordan hashtag. The system also helps them to identify visitors whose content and photos receive the highest volume of engagement and engage with them as potential future ambassadors and influencers. The tool is also being used to create social hubs on a newly developed website. UGC also played a role in Jordan’s recently launched product: the Jordan Trail. This 680km hiking trail, which was developed through a partnership with USAID, connects travelers with important historical sites and 52 towns and villages. It increases the country’s rural tourism Instagram photos from hikers on a large LCD product and incorporates homestays. To launch screen featured above their booth. It updated the trail, JTB partnered with the travel trade, continuously in real-time, creating a moving marketing partners, and social media influencers, mosaic of images from the trail. UGC has been and curated content from travelers. The Jordan so effective for the country that they have seen Tourism Board also hired digital marketing an all-time high in visitation. When a Canadian influencer Andrew Evans to join the annual hike tourist was shot at a tourist site in 2016, the with the Jordan Trail Association and share his tourism board had many partners send them experience. JTB used Stackla’s hashtag feature messages saying that they know this was an to source and aggregate Andrew and the other isolated incident. “Our ‘ambassadors’ replied to hikers’ photos on the hike and built daily bad comments from people on our social accounts Instagram Stories from these compiled images. without us even asking them,” says Abu Taleb. The hike was timed with ITB in Berlin. The tourism board used Stackla to create a living wall of Case Studies: Jordan pg | 46 case study 2: Bermuda & Big Data While not geographically located in the Caribbean Following the public information sessions and Sea, the British Territory of the Bermuda is part entrepreneurship program, several new food of the Caribbean Community and competes tours became available to visitors. directly with many Caribbean tourism destinations, which offer similar sun and sand • Wild Herbs & Plants of Bermuda Foraging Tour products. The Bermuda Tourism Authority was • Long Story Short Bike and Food Experience looking for ways to improve its product development and diversification. “If you get • Variety of culinary experiences via the Winnow people to a destination and you are not delivering, app (and bookable in visitor centers) that is not success. We are just the DMO; we • Wadson’s Farm farm-to-table experience with don’t own the delivery,” says Erin Smith, Vice local hotels President of Research and Business Intelligence of the Bermuda Tourism Authority (BTA). Working • Bermuda Food Tours with Resonance Consultancy, the DMO used TripAdvisor and other UGC to evaluate its current • Take A Bite out of Bermuda Food Tours product offerings and product quality to better deliver on the brand promise. At the same time, BTA started integrating culinary tourism and Bermuda-specific cuisine When BTA conducted an initial Tourism Quality into its existing activities. During the established Index assessment with Resonance, the country restaurant weeks, the BTA encouraged local was last in their competitive set when it came to restaurants to feature Bermuda-inspired menus culinary tourism experiences. While Bermuda and post on social media. BTA hosted familiarization excels in restaurant experiences from the consumers’ tours, press trips, events, and groups which perspective, there was no Bermuda food or drink featured farm-to-table and sea-to-table offerings. information easily accessible to consumers online. BTA also created local fish sandwich competitions The DMO decided to invest in culinary tourism to and a new food truck festival. The BTA believes both support its culinary traditions and to keep the island is far more now competitive in this pace with increased interest in food tourism. space than it was four years ago when BTA was The DMO’s product and experiences team focused founded.96 Strong reviews from consumers helped on educating the tourism industry stakeholders accelerate interest in expanded product choices. and entrepreneurs on this gap in tourism experiences through public information sessions. They also adapted an existing investment fund to give priority to new businesses that sought to fill the culinary tourism gap. Case Studies: Bermuda pg | 47 case study 3: South Africa Tourism’s Influencer Marketing Campaign South Africa Tourism (SAT) launched an Influencer The campaign inspired the creation of more UGC and User-Generated Content campaign to raise content and at press time, #MeetSouthAfrica awareness of their cultural tourism product and was used in more than 310,000 Instagram posts. to honor of the 25th anniversary of Nelson Sparkloft, South Africa Tourism’s U.S. Social Agency, Mandela’s release from prison. continues to work with SAT on influencers and launched a new digital campaign with influencers In the campaign, entitled #MeetSouthAfrica, called #WOWSouthAfrica.97 SAT worked with four U.S. influencers who shared their South African travel experiences on their social channels. The content was also shared on SAT’s social accounts; it increased travelers’ use of #MeetSouthAfrica. The campaign resulted in: • The 139 shared photos, generating over 15.4 million impressions (views) and 178K engagements (likes) • The number of followers of the @VisitSouthAfrica Instagram account grew by over 30 percent and engagement on the account rose over 54 percent • Globally, during the two-week duration of the tour, the #MeetSouthAfrica hashtag generated over 26 million impressions (7 million more impressions per week than average) • Influencers published 10 blog posts for a combined readership of over 60,000 • There were 528,486 cross-platform video views Case Studies: South Africa pg | 48 case study 4: Tourism Ireland Fáilte Ireland, Ireland’s National Tourism guide and shape their travels. TripAdvisor Development Authority, sought to boost delivered this video campaign to its users via international tourism to western Ireland following various products including a targeted advertising recession and decreased international visitation. media player within the core site experience of Tourism has long been an important part of the TripAdvisor, as well as a video advertising product economy in the west of Ireland and accommodation on Facebook and Instagram to capture users and hospitality sectors are key drivers of outside of travel research and to push them employment. The region’s rugged landscape, towards research and booking behavior. Users traditional culture and heritage, towns and who clicked on the advertisement after watching villages with character and friendly people are at the video were driven to TripAdvisor pages to the core of the region’s appeal, but the destination start their research. is quite fragmented and tourism promotion didn’t The video content was very well received with extend beyond administrative boundaries.98 a very high completion rate, a click-through rate To boost international tourism and local many times higher than a standard campaign’s cooperation, tourism authorities, in partnership benchmark performance, and a lively series of with local and regional governments, launched in positive replies and ‘likes’ on Facebook and 2014 a coastal tourism route called Wild Atlantic Instagram. Just one year after the initial Way. The 2,500 km coastal tourism route campaign launch, Ireland saw an 11 percent connects the cities in western Ireland through increase in international visitors who brought maps, signposting, and a distinct brand. Fáilte €4.2 million to the local economy.99 The initiative Ireland worked with Tourism Ireland, the was so successful Fáilte Ireland is launching organization dedicated to marketing the entire another such brand for the Midlands under the island of Ireland overseas, and many other Hidden Heartlands brand.100 organizations in order to promote the new route. Tourism Ireland partnered with TripAdvisor to reach British and other international consumers with a set of customer videos featuring key sites along the route. TripAdvisor overlaid each point of interest with a user review and overall bubble rating from the website as pictured below. The user rating and reviews leverage the power of the TripAdvisor brand and the general trust and dependence users have on its review content to Case Studies: Ireland pg | 49 case study 5: UGC Activation with Tourisme Montreal In 2013, Tourisme Montréal, the DMO for the city hashtag.102 Tourisme Montreal used the campaign, of Montreal, Canada, launched the “Montreal hashtag, and its content to create a multichannel Moments” campaign and corresponding marketing campaign featuring spontaneous #MTLMOMENTS hashtag. The marketing moments from residents and visitors to showcase campaign asks visitors and residents to be the real Montreal. “destination ambassadors” by using the hashtag This campaign was highly successful and won many #MTLMOMENTS when they post on social media awards, including Canada’s prestigious digital outlets about their time in Montreal.101 marketing awards Boomerang. In its first year, over 30,000 #MTLMOMENTS were shared via Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. Visitor traffic to the DMO’s responsive website has increased by 22 percent and Tourisme Montréal’s YouTube channel recorded close to two million visits. In addition to its marketing success, the content of the campaign changed the way the destination marketed itself going forward. “#MTLMOMENTS marks a turning point in the way Tourisme Montréal presents the city to visitors. Rather than imposing a vision of what we think they should see, we let people do the talking and show us their Montréal. We’ve reached out to employees, members, and Montrealers to share their love for their city. Their Source: Tourisme Montreal good moments are the best way to convince tourists to come visit,” former Emmanuelle Legault, Vice President of Marketing at Tourisme Montréal, To generate buzz and awareness, the DMO mailed said in a press release.103 postcard-size cutout frames to local business and media influencers. They also worked with the city The success of this campaign fed into the to place large permanent frames in key points development of the DMO’s new brand focusing around the city so people could pose and take on moments and various consumer experiences.104 photos of themselves through the frames. The The campaign and hashtag is still in use today frames prominently featured ##MTLMOMENTS has more 1.5 million tags on Instagram. The DMO on it to encourage locals and visitors to share also features it on their website www.mtl.org/en/ their experiences online using the campaign explore/mtlmoments. Case Studies: Montreal pg | 50 case study 6: Scotland’s Instagram Travel Agency VisitScotland has kept abreast of consumer VisitScotland leveraged these and other insights trends to reach new audiences. The DMO found to create an innovative marketing campaign that nearly two-thirds of Instagram users use the inspired by UGC to reach millennials in London. It app to plan their vacations.105 According to tapped into millennials’ reliance on UGC and their a survey conducted by Stackla, 97 percent of desire for authentic travel experiences. In millennials say they would share a positive travel October 2017, the DMO created a pop-up travel experience on social media, and 57 percent of agency using user-generated content tagged millennials have made travel plans based on social with the country’s hashtag #ScotSpirit instead media images or videos they saw a friend post.106 of the traditional brochures and catalogues. During the week of the temporary pop-up Instagram travel agency, VisitScotland saw a spike in the number of Instagram followers. The campaign also generated 192 pieces of media coverage including such high-profile media outlets as the BBC, Metro and London Evening Standard, furthering the campaign’s reach. VisitScotland has seen the volume of overnight visits by London millennial audiences to Scotland grow by 34 percent from 2013 to 2016 following the UGC campaign.107 #Scotspirit Instagram Travel Agency, London © VisitScotland/Mikael Buck Laura Mitchell Assistant PR Manager at VisitScotland: “We know that 92 percent of consumers trust earned media above all other advertising so it was important for us to use real people’s meIpsos MORIes and experiences of being in Scotland in a really visual and creative way (...) Stackla helps us curate UGC and allows us to segment that content by themes like region, food and drinks, or history and heritage. This helps to showcase a breadth of regions and the wealth of things to see and do in Scotland for our audiences to see.” 108 Case Studies: Scotland pg | 51 case study 7: UGC drives ROI in Hamilton Island Hamilton Island, Great Barrier reef, in Australia has Hamilton Island decided to bring UGC to the used UGC to grow their tourism. “We’ve been very forefront of their newly redesigned website. lucky that visitors have always wanted to share and Curated from #HamiltonIsland social hub interact with us,” says Aida Merdovic, Director of powered by Stackla, the site features posts from Online for Hamilton Island in an interview with visitors and offers potential visitors a real-time Stackla. Merdovic reports seeing about 4,500 view of island, which they can filter by activities, hashtagged Instagram posts about the island accommodation, events, and more. each month. The benefits of UGC has spread to offline channels The tourism organization is integrating user- and has inspired employees as well. Hamilton generated content throughout its communications. Island features unfiltered social content on screens Hamilton Island spotlights guest perspectives, in their Sydney reservations center to remind the allowing their voices — and authentic travel team of the experience they are selling.109 content — to be the focal point in brand messaging throughout the path to purchase. Aida Merdovic Director of Online for Hamilton Island: In an interview with Stackla “We nearly doubled our ROI for social in the month following the launch of our new website. We have seen the growth rate of guest engagement and follower numbers on social media almost double week on week across all platforms as well.” Case Studies: Hamilton Island pg | 52 case study 8: Crisis Communications in Puerto Rico The U.S. Island Territory of Puerto Rico was hit Puerto Rico updated the destination’s post- very heavily after hurricanes Maria and Irma in hurricane TripAdvisor presence by: September 2017. News spread about the impact of these natural disasters, the island’s loss of • Uploading photos and videos with the date on them to show that they had been shot power and the state of affairs. As Puerto Rico post-hurricane Irma; worked to recover, there was little accurate information about the current condition of the • Creating articles and content collections to island and its readiness for tourism. “The island has highlight conditions on the ground; and been officially open for tourism since December,” Carla Campos, acting executive director of the • Mobilizing locals and guests to share reviews on Puerto Rico Tourism Company (PRTC) said in lodging, restaurants, attractions etc. an interview with CNN. “San Juan Port started welcoming leisure cruises just two weeks after The DMO also worked with TripAdvisor to leverage Hurricane María and areas around the island like the TripAdvisor travel community. They monitored Culebra, Ponce, Mayagüez, Cabo Rojo, Rincón, TripAdvisor forums for questions or posts and Vieques are also back in business.” 110 Despite responded with advice and information to correct roughly 80 percent of Puerto Rico’s hotels and misperceptions on conditions. PRTC also leveraged restaurants being back in business by February recent UGC to showcase current experiences 2018, Puerto Rico still appeared to be closed for through the traveler reviews. Puerto Rico tourism business in the eyes of the consumer.111 has also used UGC in many of past campaigns and it is featured prominently on their website PRTC worked with TripAdvisor to correct seepuertorico.com. The DMO allowed the current misconceptions, assess product quality, and experiences of the travelers to tell the destination’s leverage UGC to showcase real tourism story online. Puerto Rico curated content that experiences. TripAdvisor provided Premium showcased the best things to see and do in Puerto Destination Partnerships for hurricane-impacted Rico now. All of this activity had promising early destinations to provide better market access results: consumers spent 30,000 hours engaging and enhanced features. with Puerto Rico content and viewed 3,250 photos and videos.112 Case Studies: Puerto Rico pg | 53 case study 9: Tourism SMEs Competitiveness in Indonesia With its vast cultural resources, beautiful natural In addition, the data from UGC will be used by setting and proximity to key tourism source markets, the Ministry to monitor and evaluate service and Indonesia has the potential to grow their tourism quality standards of tourism firms, identify areas sector. The WBG is working with the Government needing improvement in each destination, and of Indonesia to improve the competitiveness of tailor practical training to enable tourism firms the tourism sector in the largest-ever WBG to meet higher overall standards. tourism project. Research showed that tourism The WBG is working closely with TripAdvisor and SMEs in Indonesia faced two key challenges: the Ministry of Tourism to analyze the present relatively low access to the market; and a need performance of Tourism SMEs in each priority to improve the quality of the services they provide. destinations. The data is informing the design To address these challenges, the project will of and type of interventions needed, as well as enable the Ministry of Tourism to assist local firms establishing the baselines and targets for future in selected locations by using data obtained from program monitoring. The program will be mobilized UGC and the TripAdvisor website to develop during FY19. It will be the first time that the a series of workshops that will improve these impact of the World Bank project has been firms’ online presence and engagement — critical monitored and assessed over time using UGC for any tourism firm to remain competitive and and if successful could be used in many other to maximize its access to markets. similar projects elsewhere. Case Studies: Indonesia pg | 54 Conclusions & Next Steps Conclusions & Next Steps The world of digital tourism marketing is fast This report has provided readers with a primer on evolving around user-generated content. Those UGC and hopefully sparked increased interest to destinations and businesses that are seizing this learn more. It should be clear now that businesses opportunity are not always the ones spending the and destinations should take advantage of these most on marketing. There is now an opportunity trends, and what tools and techniques are for even low-income destinations to make available to leverage UGC for development a significant difference through smart digital impacts. Low-income tourism destinations can campaigns based on UGC. Case studies reveal also leverage the data and insights gleaned that destinations that tap into the power of UGC from UGC to improve destination management, to tell their story have managed to increase product offerings, industry insights and awareness of their product. Jordan successfully marketing. UGC and the data it yields can relies on UGC to tell its story of a secure, provide less costly alternatives to traditional compelling destination to decrease consumer tourism marketing like trade fairs and mass-media anxiety about traveling to the Middle East. campaigns and costly and time-intensive surveys. Puerto Rico leveraged UGC to communicate that However, there is much still to learn about how to the island was open for business after natural use UGC for development impact and to further disasters. Bermuda used data collected from UGC level the playing field for low-income destinations. to stay at pace with consumer demand and launch The space shows exciting potential as a new culinary tourism product. Indonesia will demonstrated by Bermuda’s creative use of UGC leverage UGC and its platforms for data and to and the design of interventions from the WBG train and monitor the success of their tourism SMEs. Indonesia project. However, there is little research on this subject beyond its use for marketing and few available case studies, but there is room for innovation and insights learned through doing. Conclusions & Next Steps pg | 55 The potential applications of UGC are large UGC may help destinations better manage but require more research. Some key areas to visitor numbers and movement: UGC reveals explore include: travelers’ behavior in real-time. This holds significant potential both in terms of helping UGC provides new forms of data and ways to destinations to avoid the problems that come with analyze qualitative visitor information: UGC overcrowding, as well as offering innovative ways reveals travelers’ behavior in real time. This holds to distribute the impact and benefits of tourism significant potential both in terms of destinations across a wider geographic and economic area. avoiding the problems that come with overcrowding, as well as building new opportunities to distribute the impact and benefits of tourism across a wider This is the first WBG report on UGC and tourism, geographic and economic area. and it is just a starting point of the possibilities of UGC to help make travel more inclusive and UGC training may provide an opportunity to sustainable. Next steps may include: the fast track access to market for tourism development of UGC diagnostic assessments, the destinations and tourism SMEs, many of which development of destination and business training are women-owned and managed webinars and information sessions; the design of UGC may have a role in crisis response a UGC and destination dashboard; and an management: UGC yields real-time data, which investigation of ways to use UGC to assess could deliver ‘live’ data to national authorities investment impact. The WBG is grateful for the dealing with the wake of a crisis. This would be partnership with TripAdvisor and looks forward delivered in tandem with more proactive content to future opportunities to operationalize the about how past crises have been mitigated. results of this initial work for more inclusive and sustainable tourism. UGC may provide a reliable tool to monitor the impact of WBG investments: The collaboration Questions and expressions of interest can be sent between WBG and TripAdvisor may provide to: tourism@worldbankgroup.com. opportunities to track the “before, during, and after” of, for example, capacity-building or product development activities on businesses and destinations. Conclusions & Next Steps pg | 56 List of References 1 Think with Google. (February 2018). How smartphones influence the entire travel journey in the U.S. and abroad Retrieved from https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/consumer-insights/consumer-travel-smartphone-usage/ 2 comScore and TripAdvisor. (2017) Worldwide Travel Path to Purchase 2017: Analysis Based on April - September 2017 Data Periods. 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