With the internet being the number one search tool, it is important that your potential visitors are properly introduced to your place when they fill out such key words as “visiting”, “tourists” and the name of your city (e.g. “Rotterdam”). This means that your organization should understand people’s search behavior at two levels:

(1) The internet. Find out how different tourist profiles search on the internet. Get in touch with different segments (e.g. day trip tourists, short-break tourist, business traveler, Culture, Shopping, domestic, foreign visitor) and ask them about their search strategy. What search words do they use and, in response, which websites do search engines show? Is your destination website included on the first page? Does it help to make use of Google Trends and Adwords tools?

(2) Your website. Also here it is important that you try to look at your own website from the perspective of the visitor. What are they searching for on your website? How easy is it for them to actually find this information? Next, in the era of infotainment, an issue that becomes increasingly relevant is how enjoyable visiting your website is (Van der Heijden 2004)?

Once these basics of web evaluation are covered, the next step is to look at how well the website is integrated in your experience concept. Remember, your place experience already starts on the web! Hence, is your website only the sum of its functional parts (such as a list of accommodation, attractions and transport) or does is contribute to the marketing of different value matches? In the future it is expected that websites become even more accessible by means of mobile technology. This means that it becomes key for destination brand managers to understand the interaction between the virtual and physical environment, before, during and after the trip. A good example of the latest state of the art application is augmented reality.

van der Heijden, H. (2004). User acceptance of hedonic information systems. MIS Quarterly, 28(4), 695-704.

http://www.destinationwebwatch.org/