UNIVERSITY OF PIRAEUS

BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION DEPARTMENT

MBA -TOURISM MANAGEMENT

MBA THESIS

DIGITAL STRATEGY FOR TOURISM DESTINATIONS

THE CASE STUDY OF ANCIENT OLYMPIA, GREECE

PAPADIMOPOULOS THEMISTOKLIS

∆ΕΜΤ/0928

PIRAEUS, GREECE

NOVEMBER 2011

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Contents

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CHAPTER OVERVIEW..........................................................................................................................................8

CONCEPTUALIZATION OF TOURISM ...................................................................................................9 1.1.1 DEFINITION OF TOURISM...................................................................................................................9 1.1.2 TOURISM DESTINATIONS CHARACTERISTICS ...........................................................................11

1.1.3 TOURISM DESTINATIONS RESOURCES.........................................................................................12

1.1.4 TOURISM DESTINATION CLASSIFICATION..................................................................................13

CONCEPTUALIZATION OF THE INTERNET AND WEB 2.0..............................................................14 1. 2.1 INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................................................14

1. 2.2 WEB 2.0 OR THE READ/WRITE WEB.......................................................................................................14

Web 2.0 characteristics ...............................................................................................................................14

1.2.3 DIGITAL ADS AND ITS TOOLS...................................................................................................................15 1.2.4 TRAVEL SOCIAL NETWORKS....................................................................................................................18 HISTORY OF SOCIAL AND SOCIAL TRAVEL NETWORKS...................................................................................18

CONCEPTUALIZATION OF ONLINE STRATEGY AND ITS RELATION TO THE TOURISM PRODUCT..................................................................................................................................................20

1.3.1 INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................................................20

1.3.2 TRAVEL INDUSTRY AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY.............................................................................20 INFORMATION SEARCH PATTERNS IN TOURISM.................................................................................................21

1.3.3 COMPANIES NEED TO CHANGE THEIR ONLINE STRATEGY.........................................................................21 SYNOPSIS.........................................................................................................................................................23

REFERENCES....................................................................................................................................................24

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CHAPTER OVERVIEW........................................................................................................................................26

2.1 INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................................27

2.2 DESTINATION ONLINE PRESENCE AND VIRTUAL TOURIST: USING DIGITAL IMAGE FOR PROMOTING

DESTINATION ...................................................................................................................................................27

2.2.1. DDEESSTTIINNAATTIIOONNSS WWIITTHH OONNLLIINNEE PPRREESSEENNCCEE .............................................................................................28

2.2.2 DESTINATIONS WITH ONLINE DMO (GENOVA-ITALY ) ..........................................................................28 A DIGITAL STRATEGY FRAMEWORK IN A CULTURAL HERITAGE DESTINATION. GENOA, ITALY .........28 2.2.3 URBAN DESTINATIONS AND CULTURAL HERITAGE............................................................................29 CULTURAL INSTITUTIONS AND ICT ...............................................................................................................30 2.2.5 DIGITAL MANAGEMENT FOR DESTINATION PROMOTION......................................................................30 2.3 ONLINE DESTINATIONS WITH CONSUMER CENTRIC APPROACH- HOLLAND TOURISM BOARD...................32 AAUUGGMMEENNTTEEDD RREEAALLIITTYY AANNDD TTRRAAVVEELL AAPPPPLLIICCAATTIIOONNSS................................................................................33

2.4 DESTINATIONS WITH TARGETED ONLINE CAMPAIGNS -QUEENSLAND - AUSTRALIA «BEST JOB IN THE

WORLD» ......................................................................................................................................................34

2.5 COMPANIES THAT PROMOTE DESTINATIONS THROUGH DIGITAL STRATEGY............................................35

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RREEFFEERREENNCCEESS ................................................................................................................................................38

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CHAPTER OVERVIEW........................................................................................................................................41

3.1 THE NEED OF A PRIMARY RESEARCH...................................................................................................41

3.2 METHODOLOGY ..................................................................................................................................41 ANCIENT OLYMPIA DESTINATION IMAGE THROUGH ONLINE SEARCH -DESK RESEARCH....................................42

3.3 EMPIRICAL PART OF THE STUDY ..............................................................................................45

Γ1. RESEARCH TARGETS..................................................................................................................................45 TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION OF RESEARCH- SAMPLING.................................................................45 SAMPLING METHOD ..............................................................................................................................46

SAMPLE SIZE ...........................................................................................................................................46

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QUESTIONNAIRE VARIABLES .................................................................................................................47 Γ3. DATA EDIT FOR ANALYSIS.................................................................................................................48 Γ4. BASIC FINDINGS...............................................................................................................................48

TOURIST PROFILE...................................................................................................................................48

GENERAL TRAVEL PATTERNS ............................................................................................................52 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................................57

REFERENCES....................................................................................................................................................57

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4.1 INTRODUCTION...................................................................................................................................59 4.2 PROPOSAL FOR TARGET MARKETS......................................................................................................60

4.3 PHILOSOPHY AND HYPOTHESES ABOUT AN OLYMPIA ONLINE STRATEGY.......................................66

Existing online demand for Greece.............................................................................................................66

2011 online package trends.........................................................................................................................67

4.4 DIGITAL STRATEGY PROPOSAL FOR OLYMPIA DESTINATION...............................................................70 CCHHAAPPTTEERR SSYYNNOOPPSSIISS ......................................................................................................................................73

EEPPIILLOOGGUUEE.....................................................................................................................................................73

REFERENCES....................................................................................................................................................74

ESSAY REFERENCES..........................................................................................................................................75

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Summary

This MBA thesis examines the current status of online strategy in the dynamic and rapid changing

online and technological environment (the Web). More specifically, the aim of this thesis is to

investigate the level of comprehension of technological tools and their strategic use, from two

perspectives; the academic community (theory and marketing research) and business

(implementation and tools usage).

The line of reasoning of this study builds upon how the combination of literature and the reality of

online promotion tools can lead in a concrete and tangible online strategy proposal for destinations.

Literature review has indicated that there is a gap between real time use and development of Internet

tools from market, and existing relevant published research papers (e.g. internet strategy for

destinations and real case studies).

In the beginning of the thesis, a conceptual framework is created, which is based on both theoretical

and research frameworks including suggestions found in literature on best practices of digital

strategy tools for destinations.

Moreover, secondary research is carried out analyzing international destination case studies for Italy,

the Netherlands, Australia, and Berlin. These destinations are also categorized by their online

strategy’s goals such as online presence, DMO (online destination management), online destination

with services, online campaign/awareness and destination experience as a company’s outside tourism

promotion tool.

The final stage of this research effort is conducted at a site of global cultural heritage importance, an

international tourism destination at its maturity level, Ancient Olympia in Peloponnesus, Greece. For

this essay primary research was conducted on visitors of Ancient Olympia.

This thesis concludes with the formulation of an Internet strategy proposal for the destination of

Ancient Olympia. For this proposal, the demand for Greek destinations has also been taken under

consideration, together with the online behavior of Ancient Olympia’s traditional target markets;

Germany, France and Italy. Finally, a Digital Strategy Matrix for the destinations is presented, which

proposes the better online strategy scenario for Olympia.

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This master thesis MBA in Tourism Management program is about the digital (online) strategy for

the promotion of the tourism product that Olympia as a tourism destination offers.

The scientific fields that are related to the in depth study of the main research goal are the following:

1. Tourism and its products

2. The web, internet and technological applications

3. Strategy and digital strategy

The point where these fields come together is the research focus of this thesis.

More specifically, the research goals are the following:

• Introduce the technological sector latest trends and their connection to the tourism product

• Present the online trends in social travel networks and mobile travel

• Study on the changes that have occurred in the digital promotion of case studies- destinations

• Analyse some best practices in the usage of new technologies in tourism

• Present a Greek destination case study – Olympia

• Conclude to a online strategy proposal for the destination of Olympia

• Contribute to the existing relative literature by adding an example of a cultural heritage

destination

The essay was based onto a primary research on Olympia destination visitors - local stakeholders

(businessmen, inhabitants, hospitality managers) and secondary research related to the latest travel

online and mobile trends and online traveler behavior.

Many from the data used came from international academic bibliography and scientific blogs related

to tourism and online strategy. In this particular thesis there was no research in tourism destination

stakeholders.

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Research question

Based on the fact that there is no online destination model in the Greek literature, this essay will try

to reply to this question: can Olympia be the first destination –case study with an online strategy,

after knowing the visitors experience?

Research Goal

The thesis goal is dual: first to cover the existing gap in digital strategy regarding Greek destinations

and second create a practical online strategy model for Greek tourism businesses and destinations.

Methodology

In order to reach to a proposed model for a Greek destination, the essay is being done in 3 steps.

The first step is to make an introduction to basic terms and relative concepts to what this essay is

going to analyze and present. The second is to present some other destinations that have an online

image- presence and try to categorize them. The third is to conduct a primary research to visitors and

know the Olympia Customer. And the last step is to propose a strategy that is connected to the above

steps.

Structure

The thesis structure is as following:

- Introduction to basic terms that essay is about

- Quantitative research and classification of destinations online strategy

- Qualitative research at the destination of Ancient Olympia, Greece

- Online strategy marketing proposal for Ancient Olympia

- Conclusion

The following first chapter includes the basic terms that are conceptually associated to the thesis.

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1st Chapter

Introduction to tourism, web and strategy

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In the initial chapter the research fields of the essay are defined.

The scientific fields that are related to the in depth study of the main research goal are the following:

1. Tourism

2. Internet and technological applications

3. Strategy and digital strategy

Technological tools that have been applied to tourism combined with the need for adoption of Small

Medium Enterprises (SME’s) online strategies. This essay tries to be a map towards these changes

for the Greek tourism environment and bridge the gap between tourism foreign bibliography and this

need for Greek businesses.

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CONCEPTUALIZATION OF TOURISM

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Tourism as a phenomenon constitutes one of the biggest industries in international level,

with GDP percentage that reaches to 10-12% and covers over 220 million workplaces. Moreover

with the declaration of the World Travel and Tourism council, or WTTC1, at 1992, tourism is the

largest industry worldwide with every separate economical index: ROI, added value, employment

rates and taxes.

Tourism could be defined as2

"Tourism is a collection of activities, services and industries which deliver a travel

experience comprising transportation, accommodation, eating and drinking establishments, retail

shops, entertainment businesses and other hospitality services provided for individuals or groups

traveling away from home" or

"The sum of the phenomena and relationships arising from the interaction of tourists,

business suppliers, host governments and host communities in the process of attracting and hosting

these tourists and other visitors"

Burkart and Medlik3 propose the following definition for tourism: «the phenomenon that

occurs from temporary visits/ stays away from the permanent place of stay for any reason except the

business activities in the place of stay».

Tourism is not a homogenous market such as car market or baby food. On the contrary it is a

heterogeneous market that is consisted from many sub segments that are related to each other. So if

we accept Smith definition (1988:183), tourism is:

“…the total of all commercial activities that offer products and services for the facilitation of

the commercial and recreation activities away from the usual environment”.

Moreover as tourism could be defines as the amount of relations and phenomena that take

place during a trip (in local or international level) and the stay of persons in a specific place of

residence. The residence place for these people is neither the permanent place of stay nor their work

place.» (Kaspar, 1995/ s.27 / Freyer, 1991, p.15).

The above definition is general and covers the whole spectrum of the tourism phenomenon.

Except from that, there are more that cover for statistical mainly reasons the meaning of tourism

phenomenon.

1 http://www.wttc.org/ 2 Mc Intosh, R.W, Tourism, Principles, Practices, Philosophies, Wiley C.R., Ohio, 1984 3 Tourism: Past, Present and Future, Heinemann, London (1981)

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The sectors and businesses involved in the tourism activity are many and vary both in size

and the level of their involvement. Because of this feature, Holloway (1989) proposes the

classification of involved parties in the below sectors:

• Carriers – with every mean of transport for travel purpose

• Accommodation

• Attractions – attraction that are product of human work (man made). And also in this category is

the service that uses natural attractions)

• Intermediaries – travel agents and tour operators

• Auxiliary services of private sector – like souvenirs traders.

• Auxiliary services of public sector –like tourist information points).

Moreover tourism segments differ regarding the criteria that are taken into consideration

every time. The main classification varies on the travel motive. So there are two main travel

segments:4

• Holiday- recreation tourism: this category is important in terms of capacity and many varieties.

Also it is larger in terms of resources needed and services offered.

• Business tourism (congress, exhibition, incentive, educational tourism) that is more profitable

than mass tourism. In this category people have as their main objective their participation in

business- scientific meetings and events.

These two main tourism segments have some sub segments, which are the following:

• Sea tourism,- cruises, yachting, sailing etc.

• Culture and heritage tourism, - destinations of important cultural or historic heritage and

meaning. Cultural tourism includes also all the types of travel where people learn the local way

of thinking and customs of the culture that they visit.

• Sport tourism, - like golf, rafting, kayaking etc.

• Eco tourism and rural tourism, - which is related to the evaluation and of the natural scenery,

mountains, that could attract the attention of special visitors segments.

• Health tourism, - spa massage, sea health treatment, with the necessary infrastructure needed

4 Classification according to Tsartas book, EKKE edition, Athens 1989 (in Greek).

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Even if tourism destinations may differ dramatically among them, we can notice some

common points5:

• Tourism destinations consist of a mix of different elements (attractions, accommodation,

access, catering, auxiliary services).

• Tourism destinations are a kind of appealing cultural images that attract people. This

means that in order the potential visitor decides to visit a place and spend his money on

it, it has to have value and be attractive.

• Tourism is consumed in the place that is produced, so destinations are inseparable.

• Tourism destinations have many usages; they do not only exist for tourists but also for

residents and service personnel.

• A tourism destination is not only something that really exists, but also something that is

perceived to exist-an image in the minds of potentials and actual tourists. For this reason

the Destination image is a very important variable for tourism marketing.

It is easy for someone to realize that tourism destinations are very competitive among them in order

to satisfy their customers- visitors. This conclusion comes from the singularity of tourism, according

to which even the most satisfied customer is not always satisfied and repeated customer6. And this

happens because he wants to meet new places from the start of his trip.

5 Cooper and al., Tourism: Principles and Practice, second edition, Longman, New York, 1999 (p.102) 6 Kouremenos A., «Tourism Marketing Research, Piraeus University Courses, in Greek, (2000)

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A destination consists of natural and human phenomena that belong to tourism resources,

which can be divided in four categories:

(i) Natural sites

This category includes climate, the natural environment and all the natural and human

characteristics that could be regarded as travel motives.

(ii) Socio- cultural sites

A tourism destination is definitely something more than a sum of the natural and tourism

characteristics. It also includes the socio- cultural characteristics that complement the uniqueness of

the destination.

(iii) Infrastructure

The road network, the level of tourism services and other factors that are not touristic but

they make visits happen to the destination.

(iv) Accommodation and tourism shopping markets

Tourism local businesses such as hotels and shops consist of the tourism infrastructure for

the service in a destination. In this category there are also car rentals, restaurants and other tourism

services related markets.

Hereby is the classification of the tourism destinations according to World Tourism

Organization (UNWTO).

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Tourism destinations are classified in basic categories that are presented below. Basic categories

consist of urban areas, resorts, and sea routes.

Urban areas

1.1 Capital/ city (e.g. city break tourism)

1.2 Special types/ cultural city (cultural capitals)

1.3 Other cities, towns

Resorts (cities/ villages)

2.1 Recreation Resorts

2.1.1 Health resort (health tourism)

2.1.2 Area close to sea as a recreation area

2.1.3 Area close to river or lake as a recreation area

2.1.4 Mountainous resort

2.2 Seaside resort

2.3 River resort

2.4 Ski resort

2.5 Mountainous resort of alternative type (forest)

Outdoors

3.1 Locations near sea, lake, rivers

3.1.1 Areas close to sea

3.1.2 Areas close to lakes

3.1.3 Areas close to rivers

3.2 Mountains

3.2.1 Highlands

3.2.2 Hills

3.3 Villages and rural areas

Sea, lake or river routes (cruises)

Table 1.1 tourism destination classifications

Source: WTO

After having a short introduction to basic tourism terms that are related to the essay, at the next parts

of the first chapter an introduction to web follows.

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CONCEPTUALIZATION OF THE INTERNET AND WEB 2.0

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The web started its commercial use with the use of static pages for the promotion of products,

business and organizations. Since its first use, thousands of applications and different software tools

have been created, resulting to a dynamic lifetime.

Practically the biggest shift came with the user involvement in the process of content provider. The

new role of user from passive reader to active content contributor has brought a change in the web.

User is a content provider –value co creator today. Especially in tourism this change is far more

important, because of the fact that the users opinion that is expressed online can result into more

bookings or bookings cancellation.

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Web 2.0, when it was used for the first time7 as a term, it was a philosophical term mostly and

approach to the web. Today it is used8 to describe the relation of the user with the web. This relation

is based on the growing ability of the user to share information, to co create content online and co-

work with each other.

This trend is continually become stronger with the rapid technological development and the usage of

new devices (Kindle by Amazon.com, iPad Apple etc). it is referring to a web new dimension, a

dynamic platform that people with no special skills in web development or IT can really work online.

New tools except from being the new trend, are most of the times free, or open source and of course

so easy to use.

Web 2.0 characteristics

US scholars claim that we live in the Information Age, so Information search is a very common

search in the worldwide web. Search is one of the most important functions that are related to the

internet and user behavior, as the user search things online.

7 Tim O'Reilly, O'Reilly Media Web 2.0 conference, 2004 8 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_2.0

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Web 2.0 overpasses the limits of a computer platform and its user. WebPages and network are up to

the instant interaction of the user and content creation and share.

User is allowed to change his online working environment and intervene in the content, create his

webpage with personal preferences. Some main applications of web 2.0 are social media, wikis (wiki

platforms)9 and blogs10. Many of the interactions are known, such as Facebook.com, twitter.com,

Youtube.com. Web 2.0 functions are search, tagging, linking among webpages easily links ή η

content authoring, where is some wikis users can create articles and cowork, edit, or delete them

(there is an open community approach to web 2.0). Also users can upload their own videos, photos

and all this information can be related directly with the social media.

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Today online advertisement is totally interactive in the social media environment, where campaigns

ask from the users to interact, that users choose, select, vote or somehow contribute in the web 2.0

environment. In this essay it has to be presented in brief the basic tools and terms that are related to

the issue, such as Google Adwords, search engine optimization, (SEO) and a description of social

media most common applications.

Google Adwords

Google has developed a powerful tool- channel to control business presence and user search in the

web. Google AdWords is Google's main advertising product and main source of revenue. Google's

total advertising revenues were USD$28 billion in 2010. AdWords offers pay-per-click (PPC)

advertising, cost-per-thousand (CPM) advertising, and site-targeted advertising for text, banner, and

rich-media ads. The AdWords program includes local, national, and international distribution.

SEO- Search Engine Optimization

A very common search tool is Search engine optimization -SEO11. SEO is the process of improving

the visibility of a website or web page in search engines via the "natural," or un-paid ("organic" or

"algorithmic"), search results.

9 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki 10 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blog 11 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Search_engine_optimization

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SEO uses techniques that are related to the website design and creation in order the processes that are

used by the search engines being adapted to the special webpage goal. What is being most well

preserved by search engines is 1) thematic related content (e.g. with the use of a blog) also 2) page

importance and rating in content, visits and reference from other partiers. SEO implementation also

includes processes and techniques not related with the webpage. SEO primary target is the increase

of visits in the webpage via visits that are related to the search engines, relative to the webpage

content and have value for the user. The content online needs to have value for the user is order to be

promoted by the search engines, since users will promote it online as well.

In general, the earlier (or higher ranked on the search results page), and more frequently a site

appears in the search results list, the more visitors it will receive from the search engine's users. SEO

may target different kinds of search, including image search, local search, video search, academic

search, news search and industry-specific vertical search engines.

As an Internet marketing strategy, SEO considers how search engines work, what people search for,

the actual search terms or keywords typed into search engines and which search engines are

preferred by their targeted audience. Optimizing a website may involve editing its content

and HTML and associated coding to both increase its relevance to specific keywords and to remove

barriers to the indexing activities of search engines. Promoting a site to increase the number

of backlinks, or inbound links, is another SEO tactic.

Social networking platforms

Online marketing in tourism is supported from the traditional reservation systems that travel

businesses use. There are platforms that integrate web 2.0 applications and online promotions tolls

that are tourism related (information, booking). Users can share their preferences and choices with

their friends and promote the most valuable local businesses.

A social networking service is an online service, platform, or site that focuses on building and

reflecting of social networks or social relations among people, who, for example, share interests

and/or activities and people with similar or somewhat similar interests, backgrounds and/or activities

make their own communities. A social network service consists of a representation of each user

(often a profile), his/her social links, and a variety of additional services. Most social network

services are web-based and provide means for users to interact over the Internet, such as e-

mail and instant messaging. Online community services are sometimes considered as a social

network service, though in a broader sense, social network service usually means an individual-

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centered service whereas online community services are group-centered. Social networking sites

allow users to share ideas, activities, events, and interests within their individual networks.

A brief reference- classification of such platforms

• RSS feeds

• blogs12

• Online magazines - Open Source platforms

• podcasts (sound) and videos such as Youtube or vimeo13

• Tagging – categorizing content, using twitter hastags etc

• mash-ups –for the aggregation of different sources of content

• geotagging- geo categorization (google maps, foursquare, flickr.com etc

• Wikis- content that users can co work (create, edit) online in parallel

• Linkedin – for the professionals, that you can find colleagues, partners and search new

business ventures online

• Cloud computing14, is the delivery of computing as a service rather than a product, whereby

shared resources, software, and information are provided to computers and other devices as

a utility(like the electricity grid) over a network (typically the Internet)

All the above-mentioned tools are continually updated to have more features and choices for the

users and their communities.

12 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blog 13 Vimeo is a respectful community of creative people who are passionate about sharing the videos they make. We provide the best tools and highest quality video in the universe. 14 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_computing

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Definition of social networks

“We define social network sites as web-based services that allow individuals to (1) construct a public

or semi-public profile within a bounded system, (2) articulate a list of other users with whom they

share a connection, and (3) view and traverse their list of connections and those made by others

within the system. The nature and nomenclature of these connections may vary from site to site15”.

HHIISSTTOORRYY OOFF SSOOCCIIAALL AANNDD SSOOCCIIAALL TTRRAAVVEELL NNEETTWWOORRKKSS

The first recognizable social network site (SixDegrees.com) was launched in 1997. SixDegrees.com

allowed users to create profiles, list their Friends and, beginning in 1998, surf the Friends lists. AIM

and ICQ buddy lists supported lists of Friends, although those Friends were not visible to others.

SixDegrees was the first to combine these features. After SixDegrees.com there were more social

network sites (SNS) but the mainstream was MySpace - especially when teenagers began joining

MySpace en masse in 2004.

Alongside these open services, other SNSs launched to support niche demographics before

expanding to a broader audience. Unlike previous SNSs, Facebook was designed to support distinct

college networks only. Facebook began in early 2004 as a Harvard-only SNS (Cassidy, 2006). To

join, a user had to have a harvard.edu email address. Unlike other SNSs, Facebook users are unable

to make their full profiles public to all users. “Another feature that differentiates Facebook is the

ability for outside developers to build ‘‘Applications’’ which allow users to personalize their profiles

and perform other tasks, such as compare movie preferences and chart travel histories16”.

Facebook is currently the largest social network using the English language; there are also large non-

English networks such as VKontakte (in Russian), and Qzone and RenRen (in Chinese).

Social travel networks

Various Web 2.0 products and applications allow Internet users to create and produce content, built

relations and also offer new services. It is said before that the technology progress affects directly

tourism and academic research follows the technology and user trends. Travel social networks such

15 Moyd, Ellison, Social Network Sites: Definition, History, and Scholarship, 2007 16 Moyd, Ellison, Social Network Sites: Definition, History, and Scholarship, 2007

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as tripadvisor17 are the main sources of information nowadays for the travelers and their importance

is high regarding the online traveler’s decision.

Social Travel networks started in 1995 with Cruise Critic as a feature of America Online. At 1999

Virtual Tourist followed and 2000 Tripadvisor was the last of the big travel networks. Today both

three of these brands belong to Expedia.

The most valuable and important function of networks is the option to communicate and interact

instant among them. The rapid development of new applications (foursquare, google places) and

their integration demands the continuous re approach for companies to their business strategies. So

tourism is one of the main industries that was affected directly from the technological revolution in

online marketing.

So the message conveyed by the large industry tourism exhibitions is the following:

Congruence among travel online networks and travelers preferences knowledge before their arrival in the

destination

The following text essay presents the online strategy perspectives related to destinations.

17 http://www.tripadvisor.com/

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CONCEPTUALIZATION OF ONLINE STRATEGY AND ITS RELATION TO THE

TOURISM PRODUCT

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"Strategy is the direction and scope of an organization over the long-term: which

achieves advantage for the organization through its configuration of resources within a

challenging environment, to meet the needs of markets and to fulfill stakeholder expectations18".

“Strategy or business strategy defines the way for an organization to actualize their vision and fulfill

their mission. It is essential for business strategy that both the vision and the mission are

communicated across an organization to provide visibility, understanding and purpose towards the

achievement of the common goal (also referred as vision).19”

In this essay we are also interested in the relation with the Information Communication technology.

“Today, Information Technology (IT) plays a critical role for businesses. IT means (e.g. products,

services, systems, hardware, software, etc.) are used to enhance business operations for improving

the quality of products and services offered to customers and how businesses are run, aiming at

improving the efficiency and effectiveness of providing the aforementioned products and services.

Additionally, IT means are also the products and services provided by businesses, constituting their

main line of business20”.

In the following pages we will examine the relation of travel industry and the information technology

strategy.

11..33..22 TTRRAAVVEELL IINNDDUUSSTTRRYY AANNDD IINNFFOORRMMAATTIIOONN TTEECCHHNNOOLLOOGGYY

Search is one of the most important things in the relation between user and digital information. Users

today are more or less educated on searching information online, after the wide use of search

engines. Starting with the oldest lycos.com, altavista.com, yahoo.com and continuing with the most

agile like Google.com, Mahalo.com, with personal emails, filters and personal search preferences for

the users. In tourism search, information search starts with destinations and technological

compatibilities became more and more, information became more multiple with accommodation,

tickets, packages, offers, etc.

18 Johnson and Scholes 19 Constantinos Giannoulis, Modeling Business Strategy For Business-IT Alignment, p.10, Stockholm 2011 20 Constantinos Giannoulis, Modeling Business Strategy For Business-IT Alignment, p.10, Stockholm 2011

21

IINNFFOORRMMAATTIIOONN SSEEAARRCCHH PPAATTTTEERRNNSS IINN TTOOUURRIISSMM

Besides from web, more technological devices, such as GPS, mobile phones, and smartphones have

improved the way people travel and the offered tourism services.

Travelers use GPS is order to get easy information from local businesses (also Local Business

Services) and get familiar with the location they are and visit. Technology spread gave the

opportunity to the users to information access via their personal and mobile phones and devices.

Digital applications and changes in user behavior

The Mobile technology gave travelers the opportunity to check in their hotel and airport flights; a

feature that gave them also the security in case of emergency. The integration of standard processes

and technology gave the option to the service providers to reduce costs and improve consumer

experiences. For example, the airline industry used mobile check-in with the integration of check-in

process to the smartphone. In June 2007 airline companies started using the e boarding pass where

barcodes where sent directly to customers mobile phones in Montreal, Canada. Customer scans his

image in a kiosk and moves to security check. Today most of the airlines are using such check in

applications.

Mobile check in has made some countries that their people want to test such innovative applications

to create some test bases for that reason. Finland and Japan are two examples (Baxter,

2007). Mobile check-in increases effectives both of the services and the customer satisfaction. It is

much easier for a traveller to use mobile check in without standing in long queues at the airports and

it also reduces human resources costs for the airline carriers.

11..33..33 CCOOMMPPAANNIIEESS NNEEEEDD TTOO CCHHAANNGGEE TTHHEEIIRR OONNLLIINNEE SSTTRRAATTEEGGYY

Since users started to use the network not only for information search and content search but for

usages such as buying tickets online, they created the need for companies to adopt new technologies.

Not only that, but companies had to study this changing behavior of online users and redefine their

strategy.

Digital content usage and the change in online users behaviour

The change in human behavior started with the digital age- information age and the network of

locations, distribution channels, producers and content. This technology shift has created the need to

show how people use media and made them content providers.

22

So today companies have to realize (and largest firms do so) that the consumers shape their online

brand and image in the online environment also and this is where they have to focus, examining not

only the consumers behavior, but their strategy in the customers online communities.

What changes in the companies’ online image

Some decades ago, businesses bought advertisement space and size, a giant poster for example, in

order to be visible in larger audience and from distance. This habit is going back, because people

have more time online and in more places so there are more ways for companies to be visible from

their audience.

In additional, the number of devices that are connected to the internet increases the number of online

users and online time that people spend. People can be online when they could not some years ago,

for example before they sleep from their bed by their smartphone, tablet or ipad. So companies have

to consider also this change of time (people spend more hours online) and adopt their messages and

target audience, since the medium changes (a personal pc versus a mobile device).

Instant interaction of digital media

What firstly changes in social media is the use. User can watch and share- transmits the information

flow instantly via a pc, laptop, του νέου tablet, mobile phone or any application. Content and

information travel everywhere with the user. Real time information is the most important factor and

the main characteristic of online media. Another option is the exclusion of non related content. User

can now ban content that does not like or approve, an option that did not have before. He can also

rate and evaluate content, something that cannot be done with the traditional media, so companies’

strategies do not any longer exist.

Changes for the companies strategy

People do not really ever care about advertisement or brands so the companies have to take a new

role. They have to become medium themselves. So a company has to adopt a pull strategy and not

only a push strategy. Repeated messages have to stop and companies must differentiate and be more

authentic, unique and out of the box in order to engage customers. It is obvious that the changing

consumer behavior (from trends, demand) creates a real need for companies to have a real time

online strategy.

23

Conclusion

E-commerce encourages business development with accessibility, cooperation, functionality and

flexibility while the familiarity level of the users online is increasing and consumers now have

power.

Competition online and consumers’ profit form the online sales are becoming more intense, since the

online comparison is simple and free. So tourism businesses have to be more consumers centric in

order to have sales and keep their repeated customers. They focus on customers using real

time. Marketing strategies have to be updated so as to match with the online trends and current

consumer usage patterns. Users have change patterns regarding to travel planning and booking.

Today the success of a travel business depends mostly on how good adopts the technology. E

commerce and tourism are complementary industries and competition offers better and variety of

services for the modern traveler.

SSYYNNOOPPSSIISS

The survey in the basic terms and modern trends that was presented leads to some basic conclusions

that are related to the research goals and led this essay. This first part is the basic chapter so as the

rest will follow it.

In particular it became clear how technology affects tourism first with the changes in information

systems and mobile and web applications and with the interaction of digital and information systems

(geo-locations and geo-reference)

Due to rapid changes, user re –adjusts his behavior to new systems and applications are updated to

this behavioral change and tourism stakeholders in order to be competitive have to update their

online strategy. So the fast changing conditions require a very well planned e presence.

Even some parts in this essay will be out of date in some months.

In the next chapter the essay focuses on the next part, which is the presentation and classification of

destination websites. There are the research case studies, used for creating a model at the last chapter

for the destination we study, Olympia Greece.

24

RREEFFEERREENNCCEESS

Avlonitis, G. J. and Gounaris, S. P. 1997. Marketing Orientation and Company Performance. Baxter, A. (2007), Board your flight by mobile phone. Financial Times. London (UK): May 14, 2007 Bulkart, Medlik, Tourism: Past, Present and Future, Heinemann, London (1981) Cooper and al., (1999) Tourism: Principles and Practice, second edition, Longman, New York, (p.102) Cooper and al., Tourism: Principles and Practice, second edition, Longman, New York, 1999 (p.102) Constantinos Giannoulis, Modeling Business Strategy For Business-IT Alignment, p.10, Stockholm 2011 Kouremenos Athanasios , (2000), «Tourism Marketing Research, University of Piraeus, (in Greek) Mc Intosh, R.W, (1981) Tourism, Principles, Practices, Philosophies, Wiley C.R., Ohio, 1984 Mc Intosh, R.W, Tourism, Principles, Practices, Philosophies, Wiley C.R., Ohio, 1984 Moyd, Ellison, Social Network Sites: Definition, History, and Scholarship, 2007 Tsartas Paris, Social and economic impact of the tourism development in Cyclades islands during 1950-1980», ΕΚΚΕ, Athens, 1989 (in Greek) Xinran, L., Dae-Yong, K. and Alastair, M. (2006). The effect of prior destination experience on online information search behavior. Tourism and Hospitality Research; Feb.

25

2nd CHAPTER

Digital strategy Qualitative research

(Case Studies)

26

22NNDD CCHHAAPPTTEERR DDIIGGIITTAALL SSTTRRAATTEEGGYY QQUUAALLIITTAATTIIVVEE RREESSEEAARRCCHH --CCAASSEE SSTTUUDDIIEESS

CCHHAAPPTTEERR OOVVEERRVVIIEEWW

In the previous first chapter the basic terms were presented that are related to tourism, web and

strategy. In the second chapter a qualitative research takes place, where 5 case studies are analyzed

(not in depth) and finally they are categorized in order to be easier to create a model. The

categorization that was made is about the online goal of each destination website and the tools that

are used in every case.

So the target of this chapter is to present some tangible examples and also easy to understand. The

selection was made by the author, trying to find the most well known and websites with different

approaches to online promotion. The case studies are a global campaign website (Australia and

Queensland), a DMO of a cultural destination website (Genoa, Italy), a destination website that is

more related to the web 2.0 trends and applications (Holland Tourism Board)– and not a campaign-

and last a company online application that promotes a destination- Berlin and Adidas.

The online destination matrix is also created by the author, in order to present something concrete,

and it is just a proposal to research.

27

22..11 IINNTTRROODDUUCCTTIIOONN

There are many paradigms of digital strategy that have been implemented from tourism stakeholders,

both businesses and organizations. All of them are aware of the fact that online presence is more than

necessary. Travelers are online and that is where destinations should focus on.

22..22 DDEESSTTIINNAATTIIOONN OONNLLIINNEE PPRREESSEENNCCEE AANNDD VVIIRRTTUUAALL TTOOUURRIISSTT:: UUSSIINNGG DDIIGGIITTAALL IIMMAAGGEE FFOORR

PPRROOMMOOTTIINNGG DDEESSTTIINNAATTIIOONN

The importance of a destination’s digital presence is high because there are quite few opportunities

for someone to visit a place without making before an online search about it. Today traveler can

search all interesting related information21 from home and decide for the place is going to visit- to

choose a lifetime experience. Ideally traveler will gather all online information and then make his

decision, for places that offer uniqueness and authenticity. Destinations should be online and

maintain an online presence just for this reason.

Hereby are the five categories that destinations are promoted online- classified by their online goal.

Α) destinations with basic online presence (many paradigms)

Β) destinations with an online management services (DMO) (e.g. Genoa, Italy)

Γ) destinations with an online consumer centric approach (mobile, user friendly, applications

(e.g. Holland)

∆) destinations that create online campaigns (e.g. Australia)

Ε) destinations that are used from companies as a part of their online promotion strategy

(e.g. Adidas)

This classification was made for this essay aim and it was necessary in order to be more specific in

the final proposal about the destination this essay is about- Olympia.

21 THE VIRTUAL TOURIST: USING THE VIRTUAL WORLD TO PROMOTE THE REAL ONE David C. Wyld, ACR Vol.18 (1&2), 2010

28

2.2.1. DDEESSTTIINNAATTIIOONNSS WWIITTHH OONNLLIINNEE PPRREESSEENNCCEE

In the Web 2.0 era, Gibson (2007) noticed that is important to remember the recent character and

role of the internet, stating: «internet is a new human activity and cities where a new human activity

at the past… and they change until today and new things come in order to make cities. Internet was

evolution, value, innovation”. So the connection of destinations with the internet technology is

something new and crucial at its beginning.

There are many examples of destinations that have a digital presence. That means a website, that are

many for some destinations, or a presence in video games, online games, such as Second Life. Many

countries have digital embassies as info point, but for different reasons. This simple presence is

considered to be as one category in this essay.

2.2.2 DESTINATIONS WITH ONLINE DMO (GENOVA-ITALY)

A DIGITAL STRATEGY FRAMEWORK IN A CULTURAL HERITAGE DESTINATION.

GENOA22, ITALY

Genoa in Italy is a very good example of a destination that uses e services for its promotion and not

only. In the Genoa municipality website, there are information about the mayor and the city services,

but there are also online services, online library and tourism information website, that opens in a new

page. It is a complete DMO website, offering e services to the traveler and to the local community,

having social media pages and travel networks information.

Genoa is also an established and a cultural heritage destination and there should be an approach to

cultural destination as well and the e- DMO possibilities.

22 http://www2.comune.genova.it/index.jsp

29

Genoa Landing page website

2.2.3 URBAN DESTINATIONS AND CULTURAL HERITAGE

Urban destinations are considered to be a combination of products, infrastructure and services that

consist of the whole tourism product for the traveler experience (Buhalis 2003), and because of their

complexity are becoming difficult to manage. Cultural heritage is a main tourist Source, especially in

the European cities and can be a real value for the destination in terms of cultural experience, the

place identity and long term sustainability.

Cultural heritage as a definition can be monuments, sites of archaeological or historical importance,

architecture and lifestyle, arts, masterpieces, handcrafts, traditions and local custom and values. As

these, they are local elements that they have to be enriched and be enjoyed by tourists and locals as

well. (Scott 2004).

In the information age ICT has brought a huge potential to the exploration of possibilities of online

access to heritage. Users can interact with the local cultural heritage resources through the

destination management organizations -DMOs. These destination management organizations can

help tourists get into the place culture and promote the destination.

30

In order to do that, urban destinations in Europe need to adopt innovation approaches, models,

processes and tools that allow users a promotion of cultural heritage with open e- services.

CULTURAL INSTITUTIONS AND ICT

Even though the increasing number of the cultural institutions that use ICT for cultural heritage

preservation and digitalization (so do many tourism organizations), only few organizations approach

cultural heritage and tourism as the only force of a long term strategic local development. (European

Commission, 2002).

The majority of the tourism businesses that have as aim the promotion of tourism, arts and attractions

are mostly not for profit organisations (Buhalis 2003).

Besides that the existing internet applications that have as subject the interactive heritage usually

focus on the restoration and the promotion of cultural places. They also focus on the increase of

awareness, value promotion and the appreciation for communities and the increase of local

communities’ participation (Torres et al.2006).

As Paskaleva-Shapira and Azorın (2008) claim, the few studies that connect digital cultural heritage

with tourism, do not take advantage of the integrated e services possibilities for the tourism

promotion. That happens also because the current promotion of cultural heritage is passive. Except

that, the DMO’s that are responsible for the tourism development and they use ICT for the

improvement of the management systems or promotion do not include cultural attractions in their

offers.

In short, the weak and non-interactive information systems for tourism are incapable in strengthening

the cultural tourism that needs active tourists and the municipality to be a part in a interactive and

changing system of processes and structure among the many interested stakeholders. So it is difficult

of the communities to be a part of the discussion about cultural heritage and be a part of the cities

sustainable development. (Ciborra and Lanzara 1999). ICT offer the opportunity for shift but shift

requires new knowledge, skills and the willingness from the destination stakeholders to use them.

2.2.5 DIGITAL MANAGEMENT FOR DESTINATION PROMOTION

So the main question of the destination management is clear: the challenge is about the complex

relations of the interested parties; the inhabitants, tourists, local business, public sector and the

intermediaries (Buhalis 2003).

Regarding the tourism promotion, Palmer (2005) claims that destinations are likely to be the most

difficult products to sell. Especially e-tourism destination, such as Miguens and Corfu suggest

31

(2008), are characterised from a high level of complexity and it is an “independent network of

business, attractions and public organisations that have their own marketing department via the

internet”. In this framework, one of the main challenges of e destinations is the constant access and

cooperation with interested parties that participate in a cooperative process. The development of

efficient and effective tools with an innovative framework for the modeling of the better attraction of

urban areas is something that can make change easier.

But in order the change to happen both ICT development and the e -services in the destination are

required. Destinations use more and more the ICT on the center of their promotion and management

strategies (Buhalis and Pistidda 2008).

At the same time, as Miguel and Corfu claim (2008), digital marketing is important and crucial for

the development of the tourism destination because potential visitors base their decisions only onto

information on the web that are produced by the destination.

This suggests that as Teichmann and Zins (2008) claim, the official destination website offers

relative information for the potential visitors and serve the promotion and the marketing of country,

region, city. So the ICT usage and especially the webpages that are relative to ICT usage are a part of

the image recreation in the way that destinations are being promoted until today.

This fact also reinforces the content importance and the belief that access to it is crucial- it has to be

attractive and useful for the users.

For that reason, constant innovation is so necessary in theory and practice for the creation of

integrated strategic promotion that has to be not only efficient and effective, but also able to satisfy

the needs of the destination in total. For example, most of existing research examine the functional

role of the internet as an information source, instead of focusing in the hypothesis if the content of a

website is really helpful for the user- which are the important characteristics and which role needs to

have for the creation of an interactive profile- interface with the user (Teichmann and Zins 2008).

Destination promotion has to move from the simple information transmission and allow the

interaction of the users with the webpage content and other users. This will give the destinations

organizations information relative with user preferences and afterwards custom communication

forms and services that could be promoted to selected target markets. (Dooling et al. 2002).

Conclusion

Having this theoretical background, the analytical approach for the value that comes for the ICT use

by cultural heritage destinations finds two main variables:

32

(1) Users (the number and type of persons involved or are affected by the product and services

development) and (2) the ''e-services'' (holistic and interactive services that allow citizens

participation in content creation and decision-making).

These services have to cover all the phases (before, during and after the visit) and be accessible from

everywhere (using mobile functions of info points is the destination) from both community and the

DMO management team (with the public sector support and the cultural heritage managers).

After this part, the next in Holland case study, with Social media and Mobile applications.

2.3 ONLINE DESTINATIONS WITH CONSUMER CENTRIC APPROACH- HOLLAND TOURISM

BOARD

Holland Tourism Organization presents many innovative applications aiming clearly to the modern

mobile- traveler.

Webpages content

The webpage includes useful information for the Netherlands, with cities information,

accommodation, activities, transport, newsletter, social media page (a Facebook page), videos and

photos- a real online and mobile interactive environment. Its most innovation part is the applications

that offers to the users.

33

Landing webpage of Holland tourism

AAUUGGMMEENNTTEEDD RREEAALLIITTYY AANNDD TTRRAAVVEELL AAPPPPLLIICCAATTIIOONNSS

A modern tool for promoting tourism images is augmented reality: a GPS application that combined

with a Smartphone camera can “see” things for the traveler and where they are located in the nearby

area of the destination. This creates an interactive information tool for the traveler. Lonely Planet

started publishing augmented reality guides since 200923 and currently uses android platform to offer

services online24.

Destinations have started using to take advantage of the augmented reality. Holland Tourism Board

started using25 the application called «Holland-layer26» using the Layar27 browser technology. The

content covers 17.000 Points Of Interest around the country; there is also an Iphone28 and Android29

application available targeting all segments (Source: Holland.com).

23 http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/lonely_planet_launches_augmented_reality_apps.php 24 http://www.lonelyplanet.com/apps-and-ebooks/android/ 25 http://www.holland.com/global/ 26 http://www.holland.com/global/digitalholland/hollandlayerapp/ 27 http://www.layar.com/ 28 http://www.holland.com/global/digitalholland/hollandiphoneapp/ 29 http://layar.com/download/layar-on-your-android/

34

2.4 DESTINATIONS WITH TARGETED ONLINE CAMPAIGNS -QUEENSLAND - AUSTRALIA «BEST

JOB IN THE WORLD»

The organization of Tourism Queensland30 promoted its campaign for “Best Job in the World”. The

job title was caretaker for an Australian tropical island for six months, and the winner’s job

description was to take care of the reef and report to the employee- the Queensland Tourism

Organization.

SSTTRRAATTEEGGYY

The contest organizers created a main website with the related info about the job and they engaged

users online by asking them to create and share their own content- video about the job in order to

apply. Social media made the campaign go viral and paid advertisements in traditional printed media

informed the people about the job offer.

Landing page «The Best Job in the World»

The Campaign continues in blog (2011) – social media page- facebook

30 http://www.tq.com.au/

35

CCAAMMPPAAIIGGNN RREESSUULLTTSS

Campaign managed global media coverage (CNN stories, BBC documentaries, Time magazine). The

estimate campaign cost at about 400 million dollars and the audience reach is estimated at about 3

billion viewers. 34,684 people applied, be sharing a minute long video from 197 countries. The

organisers claimed that at least one person per country applied. The webpage states were 8,465,280

unique visitors, 55,002,415 page views and average stay in page 8.25 minutes, too high for stay.

2.5 COMPANIES THAT PROMOTE DESTINATIONS THROUGH DIGITAL STRATEGY

AADDIIDDAASS AANNDD BBEERRLLIINN

On March 2009, Adidas Urban Art Guide31, was the first art guide for mobile phones for the city of

Berlin, Germany. The guide has much information related to urban street art. Users can download

the application free and gain access to a Berlin map with the art location.

"Find artworks nearby" provides users information on a map with street art around them

"Tour guide" a walk tour guide

"Gallery" users can search and find their favorite locations on the map

Users can click on the images and see more information about the artists, the art and more references

Image 4.3 adidas Urban Art Guide

A year later the city of Hamburg was the second German city that was presented in adidas Urban Art

Guide.

31 www.urbanartguide.com

36

22..66 OONNLLIINNEE SSTTRRAATTEEGGYY DDEESSTTIINNAATTIIOONN MMAATTRRIIXX

Form all the before mentioned paradigms, it is quite clear that the e services Destination

Management System is the most difficult and multiple system for the destination stakeholders to

follow and use. An online strategy is the used at the last stage of a destinations’ e services approach.

It requires commitment from the local community and businesses and also a long term investment.

The online strategy options that this essay finds and proposes are five that are show in the matrix

below.

Combining the marketing research findings, the internet tools and the destinations different strategic

goals, the essay proposes a matrix that connects all the above elements.

In the horizontal axis the five case studies are shown: digital simple presence, e services DMO

(Genoa- Italy), web and mobile page and applications (Dutch Tourism Organization), an online

campaign (Queensland, Australia) and company promotion (Berlin -Adidas).

OONNLLIINNEE SSTTRRAATTEEGGYY DDEESSTTIINNAATTIIOONN MMAATTRRIIXX 3322

online strategy website/ tools

basic online presence

Online campaign

companies online promotion strategy

online consumer centric approach

Online DMO management e-services

Mobile ΜΚΤ presence

� � �

SEO-SEM � � Email mkt � Online sponsorships

� �

Social media � � � � � Groups/ events �

�

Display advertising

�

GeoTagging/ Location

� �

Smartphone apps

� �

Content/ Blogging

�

�

� �

Table 4.4 digital strategy destination matrix

32This matrix is a thought of the author, trying show the differences in the destinations strategy.

37

In the veritical axis there are the tools/ solutions that can be used in each case:

Mobile MKT: a creation of a mobile version of the webpage

SEO-SEM: search engine optimization –marketing tactics

Email MKT: mass email to recipients

Online sponsorships: a type of online ads

Social media: Facebook, twitter usage

Groups/ events: targeted events

Display advertising: banner placement in webpages

Geotagging : georeference tools usage (google maps, bing, foursquare etc)

Apps: applications creation to support smartphone users

Blogging: blog creation and content publishment

Tick � in every box means the per ce use of every tool. Social media are essential in every case thou.

Conclusion33

The best combination of options is the one that characterizes the online strategy. For example social

media (Facebook page - Campaign are important to promotion, but everyone has to use them. The

SEO/SEM is more necessary when the admin knows what the consumer is searching online and the

webpage offers its product directly eg hotel website. The mobile applications are more far more

useful while traveling so they are more important for promoting events and activities in the

destination. Also a destination website should have a geo reference tool for locations. So in every

case, different tools can be used, depending on the goal.

CCHHAAPPTTEERR SSYYNNOOPPSSIISS

In this chapter there is the destination online matrix presented that can help the final proposal for

Olympia destination. It is obvious that this matrix is just a classification of the tools and the goals of

destinations.

In the next chapter the primary research to Olympia destination visitors are presented. This

quantitative research was conducted in the Summer of 2009 in Olympia Museum.

33 It is more than obvious that much more things could be analysed in this chapter, in order to relate more the tools and the strategy.

38

RREEFFEERREENNCCEESS

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40

3RD CHAPTER

Quantitative Research in Ancient Olympia

Quanitative research to Olympia tourism product and results

41

33RRDD CCHHAAPPTTEERR QQUUAANNTTIITTAATTIIVVEE RREESSEEAARRCCHH IINN AANNCCIIEENNTT OOLLYYMMPPIIAA

CCHHAAPPTTEERR OOVVEERRVVIIEEWW

After understanding the basic terms and created a structure of online goals of destination websites, in

this chapter we move forward to a tourism marketing research, to Olympia visitors. The goal is to

understand Olympia visitor in order to create a marketing strategy just for him, for benefit of the

destination stakeholders.

This research included a primary research in the visitors, about tourism demand and the image of the

destination from the user search. The primary research ends with the tourists profile, travel patterns

and the evaluation findings of services and value.

33..11 TTHHEE NNEEEEDD FFOORR AA PPRRIIMMAARRYY RREESSEEAARRCCHH

The development of an online strategic plan cannot be without an in depth research into the Olympia

visitor34.

33..22 MMEETTHHOODDOOLLOOGGYY

The research methodology follows an approach using a combination of primary and secondary

research findings. The research main target is the collection of the tourists’ perceptions and

experience for the destination parameters and dimensions. It has specific parts:

1st part: online search present status

At the first part there is the online content search for Olympia and the search in online travel guides.

2nd part tourist research methodology and data analysis

At the second part, the examination of visitors’ perceptions and stances takes place, through a

primary research, of all nationalities. The specific targets are:

• Learn the tourist profile- nationalities, ages, genre, education level and income.

• The report of activities in the area during their stay, their problems and impressions.

• Destination Services evaluation (attractions, nearby area, accommodation, transport,

purchases)

34 The research methodology followed the research procedure and questionnaire that was developed by Zouni- Kouremenos in the framework of Zouni Doctoral research.

42

3rd part finding presentation and conclusions

The completed and collected questionnaires data are inserted into the personal computer. With the

help of SPSS and the use of variable tools the in depth analysis takes place.

So after the third chapter and the conclusion the essay goes to the online proposal at the fourth

chapter.

AANNCCIIEENNTT OOLLYYMMPPIIAA DDEESSTTIINNAATTIIOONN IIMMAAGGEE TTHHRROOUUGGHH OONNLLIINNEE SSEEAARRCCHH --DDEESSKK RREESSEEAARRCCHH

This desk research includes all the links that refer to Olympia destination with the keyword

“Olympia Greece35”. From the 3.280.000 results we have here the first ten in visit rankings.

In particular:

.Olympia Greece http://www.olympia-greece.org/ A travel guide with information about the

history, attractions and photos

Olympia, Greece - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The official Wikipedia page

http://olympia.gr/ A political blog in Greek

Best Western, Hotel Europa, Ancient Olympia

http://www.hoteleuropa.gr/index.html

Best Western Hotel Europa hotel in the

destination.

Current Weather Conditions at Αncient Olympia, Greece

http://penteli.meteo.gr/stations/olympia/

Weather conditions and data for the region

from a Greek prognosis website

http://www.greeklandscapes.com/greece/olympia/index.html A travel guide for Olympia

Olympia High School

http://web001.greece.k12.ny.us/olympia-high.cfm

Olympia high school

Olympia, Greece: Home of the Original Olympic Games

http://www.greecetravel.com/olympia/

Matt Barret (2009) travel guide

A Walking Tour of Olympia

http://archaeology.about.com/od/ancientgreece/ss/olympia_tour.htm

Archaeology guide for the destination with

relative content

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Tourism-g189487-

Olympia_Peloponnese-Vacations.html

A tripadvisor page

The official website of Ancient Olympia or International Olympic Academy do not show in the

first top 10 results. (http://www.arxaiaolympia.gov.gr/, http://www.ioa.org.gr/

Also we studied Olympia online image in the most trusted online travel guides.

35 The research took place in February 2011

43

Α) www.tripadvisor.com

Tripadvisor.com is updated with many recorded experiences of the visitors. Most impressions are

good, but there are also negative comments, about bad services. Some hotels had repeated bad

reviews from travellers (dirty rooms, bad food and beds etc). There were very good comments for

the Museum and the theatre at Floka. It is also considered as a safe place. It is better to visit the area

during high season. Also there is positive feedback about the green area and near beaches. The prices

are estimated as high.

Β) www.greeka.com

http://www.greeka.com/peloponnese/olympia/reviews/olympia-0.htm

it is a very well informed website, especially of historical and archaeological importance. Regarding

the access, there is information about there are many means of transport (car, bus, ferry).

Γ) www.facebook.com

There are some groups of the Greek Olympic Committee, the International Olympic Academy, the

Stadium, the Olympia Festival that provide information in social media.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ancient-Olympia-Festival/

https://www.facebook.com/ioaofficial

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Hellenic-Olympic-Committee/

∆) www.lonelyplanet.com

Lonely planet is one of the most famous travel guides in the world. But the information about ancient

Olympia are few, just six.

44

Ε) www.flickr.com

Making the search “Olympia Greece” there are 15.563 φωτογραφίες, something that show that

Olympia is an attraction and also inspires. Most of the photos show museum exhibits, the

archaeological sites and nature.

45

PRIMARY RESEARCH IN TOURISTS

33..33 EEMMPPIIRRIICCAALL PPAARRTT OOFF TTHHEE SSTTUUDDYY

Research targets

This chapter with issues related to the tourism product of Olympia that offers to its visitors. It mainly

focuses on the stance and behaviour, as this is from the visitors’ research. Below the targets of the

Descriptive research) are:

• To map the tourist profile, according to their demographics

• Examine their trip to Olympia details (type, transport, days of stay etc)

• Discover the activities and interests of the tourists during their stagy (nearby destinations,

attractions etc)

• Discover their stance regarding accommodation, nutrition- food, transport, purchases in local

shops and their daily expenses, and their image of the destination.

These targets are examined in the questionnaire.

TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION OF RESEARCH- SAMPLING

With this study, that is a quantitative research by asking the visitor individually to reply to a

personal questionnaire that is printed in 6 languages.

The languages where:

1. English

2. French

3. German

4. Italian

5. Spanish

6. Greek

The selection of the languages was made accordingly to the tourist groups that mostly visit

Olympia.

46

Population definition

The research tried to cover foreigners and Greeks over 15 years old that were at Ancient Olympia -

element and visiting the Archeological Museum. -sampling unit.

As for the research extent, was planned to cover people over 15 years. The time was July-

September 2009.

SAMPLING METHOD

The sampling method was random selection of tourists that were visiting the Olympia Museum. It

is a subjective judgement sample, since the selection was made trying to find random the more

objective evaluators’ of the destination36 . The questionnaire distribution was made with the

following criteria: a questionnaire every 15 minutes (average), during the period the Olympia

Museum was open for the public, for 2-3 months (July- September 2009).

Interviews

So there were about 8 questionnaires per hour and the best number was at 256 questionnaires. But

they had 350 questionnaires to be selected in order to overpass wrong questionnaires, something

usual for travel destination, due to lack of time of the visitor.

SAMPLE SIZE

The sample size was initially estimated to 256 people but finally in reached 271 people-

questionnaires. At the table below the questionnaire variables follow.

36 The proposed unit for research in destinations according to WTO Tourism Research Guide: “the sampling size for destinations should be over 15 years of age, that should be selected by random process”.

47

QUESTIONNAIRE VARIABLES

Questionnaire Variables

General travel behaviour Group membership, length of stay, preparation time, source of

information, influence

Travel pattern at the

destination

Previous/ next destinations, activities, reasons of visit, relation to

nearby destinations, type of accommodation, daily expenses

Behavioural intentions Revisit intention to country/ destination

Revisit intention to the same hotel

References to others

Quality assessment Attractions

Accommodation

Food

Transport

Purchases

Satisfaction Attractions satisfaction

Accommodation satisfaction

Food satisfaction

Transport satisfaction

Purchases satisfaction

Overall satisfaction

Stance Stance towards destination

Stance towards locals

Demographics Age, genre, nationality, income, education level

Table 5.10: variables

48

Γ3. DATA EDIT FOR ANALYSIS

Questionnaire editing

In a tourist market research it is expected from the researcher the return of questionnaire that are not

completed 100%. In the case that was not completed, they were not used to analysis. For preventing

this, they were given 320 questionnaires, and they were used for analysis 271 (a 15% off).

Γ4. BASIC FINDINGS

TOURIST PROFILE

The sample was about 271 tourists, foreigners and Greeks that visited ancient Olympia. Regarding

the nationality, French were first with 17,4%, Greeks second, (15,9%) and Italians 14,3%. Fourth

and last place over 10% were Germans with 13,2%. Women are more, 53,3% and men 46,7%.

The majority of visitors are middle age 40 - 49 years old (28,6% ). The next target group is younger

19 - 29 years old (23,9%) and the middle age group and group 30-39 years old follows (17,6%) with

50-59 years old (16%). Just ¼ tourists are over 50 years of age.

As it is expected for a cultural destination, the vast majority is high educated people. The graduates

are 33,2% and the master or second degree follow with 30%.

Regarding the monthly income, the 28,8% of visitors belong to the high income group, monthly over

5000 euros. After that the people in the previous group follow, those of Αµέσως 2000 -3000 euros

(22,6%).

49

Demographics % replies

Nationality French 17,4

Greeks 15,9

Italians 14,3

Germans 13,2

British 8,5

Americans 8,5

Spanish 3,5

Gender Women 53,3

Men 46,7

Demographics % replies

Age group 40-49 28,6

19-29 23,9

30-39 17,6

50-59 15,3

15-18 6,3

Education level University degree 33,2

Master degree 30,0

Secondary education alumni 22,1

Students 13,4

Basic 1,4

Average monthly income Over 5000 euros 28,8

3000 -5000 euros 13,6

2000 -2999 euros 22,6

1000 -1999 euros 19,8

Below 1000 euros 15,3

Table 5.11: Olympia tourist profile

50

Here are the tables with specific details about nationality, genre, age, education level and monthly

income follow.

Diagram 5.4: nationality

Diagram 5.5: genre

51

Diagram 5.6: age

Diagram 5.7educational level

Educational level and income are high to the destination, that menans that they would prefere quality

services at the destination.

52

Diagram 5.8: monthly income

GENERAL TRAVEL PATTERNS

1.1.1 Introduction

In this section the general travel patterns are presented.

1.2.1 Visit type

More people travel to Olympia with their family

53

Diagram 5.9: travel composition

So, the 41% also comes with their partner, (68 replies). It is important that in the second place they

come as couple (25,1%) and in the third place they come with (organized group) 17,3%. Just

company comes to 13,7%, and travel alone people are about 3% - 8 persons.

1.2.2 Package type

Most people that travel to Olympia prefer to buy services separately. So more that 2/3, that is 72,3%,

replies that buys services individually, while all inclusive tourism packages buys ¼ that travel

(26,9%).

Diagram 5.10 preferred packages

Activities during their stay at the destination

Here the visitor was asked to rank the three more important activities. So the visit to historical

attractions was selected by the 57% of the tourist sample (155 persons). The half of them (85

persons) said that the visit to historical attractions was no1 activity while travelling (1 out of 3, 31%).

54

Diagram 5.11 main activities when they travel

The contact with locals and their culture as an activity was selected by the 38% (102 persons). For

them, the biggest majority (30%, 80 persons) defined as the 1st activity when they travel.

The 35,8% of the tourists that replied to this question mentioned that like to meet new places as an

activity when he travels (96 persons). From them the 24% checked this answer as a first activity (65

persons).

Relaxation as an activity was selected from 74 persons (27%), while walking tour as an activity was

selected by the 21% (57 persons).

Finally the fun and sports was selected by less than 5% (less than 20 persons).

Previous visit to Greece/ Olympia

The 55,9% of foreigner has visited Greece again while the 31,5% replied that has re visited the

destination (78 persons). Some of them are Greeks (36%) while Germans from foreigners follow

with 18%.

55

Diagram 5.12 have visited the destination before

Accommodation and stay at the destination

Just ½ visitors stay at the destination. (57%). From those first they come those who want to stay

Olympia for a day, since the positive reply was from 114 persons- 42,2%. There is also a 11,5% that

want to stay 2-3 days, (while a 3,3% willing to stay over 4 days). But on the contrary 116 visitors do

not want to stay at Ancient Olympia (same day visitors- 43%).

Diagram 5.13 length of stay at the destination

Booking pattern

The 57,6% replied as an individual (without the help of travel agent etc) while the 32,6% replied

that booked through a travel agents, and just the 9,5% replied that friends helped him to book.

56

Diagram 5.14 travel booking pattern

Classification of basic information sources

«I had heard good words form others» (word-of-mouth) and from «travel agents promotion leaflet»

the sample rated as the first information source for this travel to Olympia. Very close was Internet

(19,7%)

As a second source was the “travel magazines articles” (25,5%).

Diagram 5.15 information sources

Internet and travel agents promotion material are the most important sources, together with WOM

from friends or relatives. The Greek national Tourism organization offices are very low, together

with advertisement.

57

CCOONNCCLLUUSSIIOONN

Συνοπτικά, from the research findings it is obvious that the Olympia visitor is educated, with a high

income and wants to visit the destination. He comes as an individual and he is satisfied. He knows

the destination, he comes with his family, but the problem is that he doesn’t stay at the destination.

Ancient Olympia has a low average stay without activities that can make the visitor stay at the area.

The most important is that he is satisfied from the destination.

On the contrary, Olympia’s online image is not that good, as the visitors estimate in the offline

research. So there is a huge gap regarding the value that destination provides in reality, and the value

that is shown online. The destination has to adopt an online strategy for its target markets that will

allow attracting more visitors.

RREEFFEERREENNCCEESS

Dritsas M (1999) Tourism in Greece: A way to what sort of development Zouni, Kouremenos, Ancient Olympia Marketing Research, 2001, 2009 WTO Tourism Research Guide

58

4TH CHAPTER

Online strategy proposal

Olympia

Online target markets, online goals and proposal

59

44TTHH CCHHAAPPTTEERR DDIIGGIITTAALL SSTTRRAATTEEGGYY PPRROOPPOOSSAALL FFOORR OOLLYYMMPPIIAA

44..11 IINNTTRROODDUUCCTTIIOONN

The below proposal where made taking also into consideration data from the Greek Institute of

Tourism Research (ITEP) and the Greek Hotel Chamber.

Quantitive targets

• Increase of stay length in the destination

• Increase of overnight stays in the destination

• Increase of tourists average spending in the destination

• Increase of spending per capita in the destination (quality tourism)

General Qualititative targets

1. Coordination among the local stakeholders in the tourism chain and upgrade of the trilateral

cooperation (local government, businesses, employees) for common action and better performance

2. Competitiveness improvement of the destination image and better positioning of the tourism

product in international markets

4. Upgrade and differentiation of the tourism supply so as all local personnel and human resources to

offer value and quality services (value for money), according to the level of every local business

6. Promotion of the existing infrastructure in the destination in order the destination to attract new

visitor segments, like ecological and congress tourism

7. Reinforcement of the business culture for a price competitive policy that will be the transition

between cost differentiation to value for money differentiation. Local businesses should not compete

in price among them in order not to lose more their competiveness.

9. Length of the tourism season, attracting individual travelers.

60

44..22 PPRROOPPOOSSAALL FFOORR TTAARRGGEETT MMAARRKKEETTSS

Based on the research findings there was proposed some strategic directions that aim towards the

modernization, differentiation and enrichment of the tourism product. Also very important is the

quality in the traveler’s experience spectrum that Olympia offers through a customer centric

philosophy and approach.

In the next pages there are specific proposals both in destination and local business level for every

different market segment that destination should target at.

First target group: French and Germans

The basic target groups are French and Germans tourists of average age (40-50 years old) that travel

with their family (parents with kids up to 12 years old), high educated and high income (2,000 Euros

and more).

Here are the suggestions for ideal packages for this target group for the destination and the local

businesses.

Research result Suggestion for destination Suggestion for businesses

Travel composition Family Product: package creation and

activities for families

Promotion: advertisements

targeting families using relative

images

Offers and discounts for

families

package creation and activities

for families

Holiday package Individual Quality information in website

and a maps

Good websites, media

promotion, seo

Main activity Museums, attractions Preservation, cleaning,

enrichment with paths in the

area

Show the near distance and

offer tickets and transport

Information Source Recommandations,

articles in travel

magazines

Presence in German and French

travel media, magazines

French and German language

websites

Transport Private or rented car, Good roads, interesting routes Parking, gas station

information

Close by destinations Epikourios Apollo Cooperation with mountainous

Olympia, one ticket for all, and

easy transport

Synergy for accommodation

61

Important detail that is

missing

Lack of recreation

activities and culture,

distance from the beach

Activities enrichment,

connection to Zaharo and

transport

Creation of activities, rafting,

pool, massage, cooperation

with sea side hotels

Direction for tourism

improvement

Environment friendly

programs and activities

for tourists

Environmental approach and

infrastructure, promotion of

them

Green, bio food, recycling,

and related activities

Alternative tourism Cultural, eco, congress Creation of related activities and

actions

Support from the local

government and other

businesses

Table 6.1: French and Germans travel packages

62

Target group: Italians – Spanish

A different target group of the destination is the near by Italians and Spanish), young (20-30 years

old) and couples or friends. They belong to a highly educated group and middle monthly income

(1000 - 3000 euros).

Below the indicated packages for Italians are presented, with proposals for the destination and the

local businesses:

Research result Suggestion for destination Suggestion for businesses

Travel

composition

Couple or friends Product: youth activities package,

sports and festivals

Promotion: ads targeting youth and

couples and friends, («Back to the

future»)

Image promotion

Youth packages and offers,

cooperation with universities

and student organizations –

low cost accommodation

Holiday package Individual Quality website with youth related

activities and events

Good websites, media

promotion, seo

Main activity Local contact and close

to Olympia culture

Info and contact points with locals,

cooking classes, art, discussions,

festivals, music and dance events

Show the near distance and

offer tickets and transport

Information

Source

Internet Social media presence, forums, e-

wom, good website with cultural

information

Italian and Spanish language

websites

Transport Personal car or

motorbike

Good roads, interesting routes Parking, gas station

information

Close by

destinations

Epikourios, Chlemoutsi Cooperation with cultural

attractions in the area and mountain

routes, one ticket and signs

Synergy for accommodation

Important detail

that is missing

Lack of recreation

activities and culture,

distance from the beach

Activities enrichment, connection

to Zaharo and transport

Creation of activities, rafting,

pool, massage, cooperation

with sea side hotels

Direction for

tourism

improvement

Festival, cooking

lessons, environment

friendly programs and

activities for tourists

Environmental approach and

infrastructure, promotion of them

Green, bio food, recycling,

and related activities

Alternative

tourism

Cultural, eco, congress Creation of related activities and

actions

Support from the local

government and other

businesses

Table 6.2: Italians- Spanish packages

63

Important target group- those who do not stay overnight in the destination

In general terms, those that do not stay overnight at the destination have the below characteristics:

� They are more Greeks, Germans, Italians or others (Austrians, Chinese etc)

� Women (60%)

� They are 19-29 & 40-49 years old

� They are people of every educational level and every income

� They used local catering or food services and purchased goods from the local Super Market

� They evaluated as “neutral- Good” the destination catering- food services

� They purchased food and drinks but mainly souvenirs

� They evaluated as “neutral- Good” the tourist market services

� They spent 50 euros (the 30%) or10 euros only (13%). But 3 out of 4 do not spend more than

50 euros!

Here below are the suggestions for this target group- people that do not stay at the destination:

Research result Suggestion for destination Suggestion for businesses

Travel

composition

Family (47%) Product: kids package creation

and special activities for families

Promotion: advertisements

targeting families using relative

images

Family packages and offers,–

low cost accommodation

Holiday package Individual (3 out of 4) Quality information in website

and a maps

Good websites, media

promotion, seo

Main activity Relax and meeting new

places

Preservation, cleaning,

enrichment with paths in the area

Show the near distance and

offer tickets and transport

Information

Source

Recommendations,

Internet

Presence in European travel

media, magazines

French, German, Italian

language websites

Transport Car Good roads, interesting routes Parking, gas station

information

Close by None Cooperation with mountainous Synergy for accommodation

64

destinations Olympia, one ticket for all, and

easy transport

Important detail

that is missing

Lack of recreation

activities and culture,

distance from the beach

Activities enrichment,

connection to Zaharo and

transport

Creation of activities, rafting,

pool, massage, cooperation

with sea side hotels

Direction for

tourism

improvement

Festival, cooking lessons,

environment friendly

programs and activities

for tourists

Environmental approach and

infrastructure, promotion of

them

Green, bio food, recycling,

and related activities

Alternative

tourism

Ecotourism Creation of related activities and

actions

Support from the local

government and other

businesses

Table 6.3: daily trips packages

The 80% of those who do not stay in Olympia they would spend a night at the destination if there

would be activities, information and cooking classes. But if nothing changes, it is unlikely to visit

again Olympia (55%)

Especially for the advertisement and promotion of Olympia, in the opinion of those who do not stay

at the destination the more important problems are:

� Lack in advertisement

� Technology absence in promotion

� Lack of a good slogan

� Lack in promotion of nearby areas

The targets for those who do not stay at the destination are:

� Support and promotion to alternative tourism activities

� Local guidance existence and information catalogues

� Creation of visitors info kiosks

� Local map creation and area mapping

� Option of buying at the destination of audio visual material regarding the destination

65

Image 6.3 who have to be targeted and actions

66

44..33 PPHHIILLOOSSOOPPHHYY AANNDD HHYYPPOOTTHHEESSEESS AABBOOUUTT AANN OOLLYYMMPPIIAA OONNLLIINNEE SSTTRRAATTEEGGYY

Before we move on to the online strategy destination presentation it is useful to make a brief

synopsis for our for online marketing tourism philosophy. So from the theoretical part of the essay

and the practical part it becomes clear that a modern strategy for a holistic online presence should

have the following:

α) a main website (with a mobile edition) with a unique content,

β) promotion of the experience with photographs and videos from visitors and suggestions for the

destination,

and γ) social media application and promotion in Facebook, Twitter tripadvisor etc.

Strategy should be oriented to how the destination and local businesses could create demand so as

the visitors want to book their holidays in the destination. This desire can be realistic with customer

online engagement and create the initial intention to the online visitor with relative and targeted

content. Application can help destination that connect online and offline media such as QR code37.

Existing online demand for Greece

From recent surveys it is clear that Greece is a destination of 3 and 4 stars hotels. This is an

advantage for Olympia because it is not a resort or luxury destination. And the reason of visit is the

destination and its cultural resources.

Greece compared to destinations such as Majorca and Turkey it consists of an average destination,

something that is positive for the offered services level- existing quality of the Greek tourism

product.

At 6.1 it is shown that Greece has a high online demand for accommodation in the Olympia quality

level (3-4 stars)

Table 6.1 Greece, Turkey, Majorca online online/offline demand comparison

Source ITB, 2011

37 QR Code (abbreviated from Quick Response Code) is the trademark for a type of matrix barcode (or two-dimensional code) first designed for the automotive industry.

67

2011 online package trends

For the online bookings it is obvious and also weird that Greece is lower price. Greece also has a

lower decline rate of demand than other Mediterranean destinations. In 6.2 it shown the comparison

among Greece- Turkey and Majorca for their packages that they offer online (including flight).

Table 6.2 Comparison of Turkey- Greece- Majorca for online vs offline package prices Summers 2011

Source ITB, 2011

Greece without having a strategic plan as a destination has a higher demand, better pricing and low

expectation from potential visitor, in terms of services quality, for online packages. This can be

evaluated as positive, since visitors know the products and services offered and has low expectations

and is also satisfied with that.

Knowing that the Olympian main target markets are French and Germans, their online behaviour is

presented, according to the PhocusWright research that was presented in ΙΤΒ το 2011, as follows:

(Table 6.3):

Table 6.3 Traveler population for French, Germans and UK

Source Phocus Wright, ITB 2011

68

French travelers online

In France the adults are 50 million and online users reach 33 million (65%) and travelers come up to

18 million (35%).

German travelers online

In Germany the adult population is about 69 million and from those online are 49 million (71%)

while German travelers reach 29 million (43%).

German travelers are more than French and more online. In the table is Brits are more than French

and Germans.

Incidence of Travel

According to the same research, comparing the online % among French, Germans, British and Us

travelers, the conclusions are (Diagram 6.4):

Table 6.4 Incidence of travel for French, Germans, UK and US tourists

Source Phocus Wright, ITB 2011

It is obvious that British travelers travel more from the European travelers. Germans and French

follow. In the age segment that is interest of Olympia destination (45-64) της Ολυµπίας, it is noticed

that French have better frequency in travels even if Germans travel more than French.

Tourist behavior online for top 10 destinations per UK, DE, NL for Summer 2011 vs Summer

2010

69

Table 6.4 top 10 destinations per UK, DE, NL for Summer 2011 vs Summer 2010

Source GFK, ITB 2011

Greece’s Online demand for 2011 (February 2011 data) compared to the previous year (2010) it

shows some increase in British travelers (10%), as well as to the Dutch 3-10% but it shows decrease

to Germans at 10%.

Early technology adoption, by Age in France, Germany

Diagram 6.5 Early technology adoption, by Age in France, Germany

Source Phocus Wright, ITB 2011

70

French and Germans travelers are late adaptors compared to the British- US travelers.

44..44 DDIIGGIITTAALL SSTTRRAATTEEGGYY PPRROOPPOOSSAALL FFOORR OOLLYYMMPPIIAA DDEESSTTIINNAATTIIOONN

Olympia online strategy based on research findings and also of the secondary research that were

presented should be based in three stages, that will gradually make the local businesses/ stakeholders

to follow:

1. a creation of a basic website

2. creation of events in destination’s attractions

3. creation of an Olympian online community in the social media

The main goal of the Olympia online strategy

The target of a digital strategy is Olympia to increase its awareness as a classical destination.

Olympia should also try to position itself as one of the top destination and connect its image with

Olympism and Olympic Values, Olympic Games and all the communities that exist around the

world. This would bring increase of average stay and more visitors, especially during the global

events that take place there (Olympic Flame Ceremony etc).

Proposed strategy

According to the online strategy matrix Olympia has two main options: the creation of a social media

campaign that will raise the awareness and after that in a later phase the creation of a DMO website.

71

1st stage 2nd stage

online strategy website/ tools

basic online presence

Online campaign

companies online promotion strategy

online consumer centric approach

Online DMO management e-services

Mobile ΜΚΤ presence

� � �

SEO-SEM � � Email mkt � Online sponsorships

� �

Social media � � � � � Groups/ events �

�

Display advertising

�

GeoTagging/ Location

� �

Smartphone apps

� �

Content/ Blogging

�

�

� �

Table 6. 5 the two stages for Olympia online strategy

The first step towards an e- Olympia presence is a website that will show the values of Olympia to

the rest of the world and useful basic information about the destination.

1st stage: creation of a central website that offers information

A creation of a portal and a mobile version (for smartphones) that will bring user closer to Olympia

experience: the essence of Olympian athlete and the Olympic winner of the past.

Next step are the event that will take place in the destination and connect potential customer with the

accommodation in the destination.

2nd stage: related activities creation

Destinations should focus on the event and activities related themes organization in the destination.

Content and time should be proper for what is Olympia related with: Olympic Games and Olympic

values. Olympic Flame Ceremony, Olympic Truce is an event that every 4 years attracts the global

media. There should be activities related to education, health, food and Olympic Games lifestyle.

Some more themes could be peace, philosophy and sports.

3rd stage: community building

72

Ancient Olympia fans are around the world. There are thousands of people that admire its ancient

values. The destination has to spot them online and engage them. This could be done with stories that

are related with what Olympia represents: history, values, sports, culture, health, game, peace.

The main target of the website is to be the reference point of the destination online. There should be

information about the Elia region, activities, transport, facebook plugin and page, videos etc.

4th stage : mobile strategy

In Phocus Wright Research, internet is more important factor for Germans than French for their

travel planning, so a mobile presence is necessary.

The mobile websites- sources that travelers visit through their mobile and can affect their decision

are the below:

o Online travel agents such as expedia

o Online travel experts

o Traveller review websites (tripadvisor)

o Travel blogs

o Comments in social media from friends

The activities that users do via their mobile are:

o Local activities search

o Local travel products search

o Local products purchase online

o Flight, hotel, bus, train Check in

In the comparative research between Germans and French- Current Mobile Phone Activities- it is

obvious that Germans are much more active online. Of course in a pan European basis British are the

“heaviest” online -mobile users.

73

Diagram 6.6 Germans and French activities via their mobile phones

Mobile research also showed that via browsing the interests are:

o Local activities search

o Local products search

CCHHAAPPTTEERR SSYYNNOOPPSSIISS

The adoption of the destinations’ digital/online strategy matrix, after the PEST analysis etc made

clear that Olympia has some particular steps to follow online.

EEPPIILLOOGGUUEE

It is widely common that the web is the biggest revolution since typography, and is still quite young.

Internet is not only used for business purposes, but changes the daily aspects of human life in

modern societies (Barwise et al., 2006).

In 2009, worldwide internet users reached 1.8 billion (27% of the population worldwide) including

360 million internet users in China (27% of its population) and 227.7 million users in the US (74%

of its population), (Buhalis and Jun 201138). Since the emergence of the Internet, travel planning

(information search and booking) has always been one of the main reasons that people use the

internet. Travelers have heavily relied on the internet because of the information-intensive

38Buhalis and Jun, e-tourism, 2011

74

characteristic of travel products (in terms of demand). In terms of supply e-tourism provides

opportunities for business expansion in all geographical, marketing and operational senses. So a

number of new players, such as low cost airlines, e-travel agencies that can sell direct online have

altered the tourism supply (Buhalis and Jun 201139).

90% of persons aged 5-17 use the internet at a regular basis (Turban, King, McKay, Marshall, Lee,

& Viehland, 2008). Regarding tourism, online sales via internet at 2006 reached $73.4 billion dollars

(Turban et al., 2008).

It is more than obvious that is difficult to ignore this new media tool. It is definitely a challenge with

wide perspectives especially for countries and destination that are unique, such as Greece. Especially

for the ideal Greek potential customer who is wealthy and high educated, internet is an excellent

promotion and distribution channel for quality services

Everything is where customer is, online.

RREEFFEERREENNCCEESS

Buhalis, Soo Hyun Jun, E-Tourism, Contemporary Tourism Reviews, Goodfellow Publishers Ltd 2011

Turban, E., King, D., McKay, J., Marshall, P., Lee, J., & Viehland, D. (2008). Electronic commerce 2008: A

managerial perspective (5th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.

www.internetworldstats.com

http://www1.messe-berlin.de/vip8_1/website/Internet/Internet/www.itb-

kongress/englisch/DownloadCenter/index.jsp

39 Buhalis and Jun, e-tourism, 2011

75

EESSSSAAYY RREEFFEERREENNCCEESS

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