Online communication in Spanish destination marketing organizations

Abstract

Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have had a significant impact on both the travel and tourism experience and industry. In particular, Destination Marketing Organizations (DMOs) have found ICT a powerful ally to harmonize and coordinate the activities of local stakeholders, as well as to reach travellers. The aim of this research is to analyse destination brand communication strategies, especially those applied to online communication (official websites, social media and mobile applications). Data was collected from Spanish destinations -regions, provinces and cities -via an online survey addressed to destination brand and communication managers. Results show that destination brand communication is not fully standardised or professionalised yet; online tools (websites, social media and mobile applications) are used tactically and not strategically and the usefulness of social media and official websites is clearly more appreciated by DMO managers than the usefulness of mobile applications.

Desarrollo local y turismo. El impacto socioeconómico de la comunicación digital en Portugal

“…El primero de los trabajos (Fernández-Cavia et al, 2017) tiene como objetivo estudiar las estrategias de comunicación online de los destinos turísticos mediante el empleo de una encuesta dirigida a sus gestores, llegando a la conclusión de que el branding aún no está totalmente estandarizado o profesionalizado. Por otro lado, Míguez-González y Fernández-Cavia (2015) evalúan la dimensión interactiva y social que presenta una muestra de 87 sitios web oficiales de destinos, señalando que estos muestran una clara orientación hacia la interactividad.…”

Local development and tourism. The socio-economic impact of digital communication in Portugal

“…Although they are not specifically focused on the content analysis of local websites, studies like those carried out by Fernández-Cavia et al (2017) and Míguez-González and Fernández-Cavia (2015) contribute to the contextualisation of the research related to ICT and tourism in Spain. The first of these works (Fernández-Cavia et al, 2017) aimed to study the online communication strategies of destinations by means of a survey addressed to their managers, and concluded that branding is not yet fully standardised or professionalised.…”

“…The first of these works (Fernández-Cavia et al, 2017) aimed to study the online communication strategies of destinations by means of a survey addressed to their managers, and concluded that branding is not yet fully standardised or professionalised. On the other hand, Míguez-González and Fernández-Cavia (2015) evaluated the interactive and social dimensions of a sample of 87 official destination websites, and pointed out that they show a clear orientation towards interactivity.…”

Differences of Perceived Image Generated through the Web Site: Empirical Evidence Obtained in Spanish Destinations

“…In a recent study, Fernández-Cavia et al (2016) showed that online communications of tourist destinations are not fully professionalized and standardized, and that DMOs do not use online tools strategically, but tactically. Thus, based on this study and the results obtained, we would emphasize a series of implications which would allow destination managers to achieve better knowledge of the tourists and to develop more efficient communication strategies and promotion.…”