Destination Analysts, on behalf of the DMA West Education & Research Foundation and participating DMO partners, will conduct a DMO Website User and Conversion Study. This research will use a dual online survey methodology to develop a profile of travelers who use official destination websites and estimate the Return on Investment these websites bring to their respective communities. For the purposes of this project and to produce annualized metrics, we will be surveying users of these websites between January 2023 and January 2024.

You may review the Executive Summary of findings from the 2016 Study on the Economic Impact of DMO Websites and a Profile of their Users here.

A website is a fundamental component of every Destination Marketing Organization’s overall marketing strategy, and it is important to know its economic benefits. Destination Analysts’ proprietary economic impact model for Destination Marketing Organizations provides exactly the data you need.

Our Website ROI Research Is Designed for Destination Marketing Organizations to:

  • Develop accurate and statistically reliable estimates of the incremental visitor activity and return on investment generated for your destination by your website.
  • Quantify and benchmark the effectiveness of your website.
  • Develop a demographic and psychographic profile of website users, as well as an analysis of their travel intentions and behaviors, which will ultimately improve content development and help advertising sales efforts.

Key Objectives & Metrics Produced:

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The primary purpose of this research is to achieve the following:

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  • Determine Website Return on Investment: The holistic total amount of direct visitor spending in the destination that is generated by and attributable to the website (i.e., the amount of visitor spending across the destination that would NOT have occurred in the absence of the website). DMOs will have the ability to report that every true, unique visitor to the website results in $X in direct visitor spending impact to their community.

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  • Develop Website Users Profile(s): Demographic, psychographic, attitudinal and behavioral information about website user—including type of traveler, residence, media accessed, desired travel/destination experiences, etc.—as well as content sought and intended tasks on the site, including Google Analytics Integration.

Process:

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This study requires surveys of the participating DMO’s website’s users, and will be
conducted as follows:

Destination Analysts will use a dual survey approach—comprised of a Website User Intercept Survey and a Website User Follow-up Survey—to develop a user profile and estimate incremental visitation and economic impact to the participating destination from their DMO website. The first survey—Website User Intercept Survey—will randomly intercept users as they enter the website—through a JavaScript based pop-up invitation—and collect information needed to later survey these visitors about their actual travel behavior and motivations, as well as data relevant to developing website user profiles. The Website User Intercept Survey integrates with Google Analytics allowing a deeper analysis of site behaviors and key site performance metrics, as well as behaioral and profile similarities and differences by user groups. A second survey—the Website User Follow-Up Survey—will be sent via an e-mail invitation the month after the website visitor identified that they would likely have visited the destination (if uncertain, the user will be emailed their survey invitation three months after their site visit). The two surveys combined will collect all data necessary for conversion analysis (ROI). They will both have appropriate survey incentives, as well.

Destination Analysts will manage all aspects of the research process.

The website survey invitation will be customized with the DMO’s logo and selected colors for background, header and text. The follow-up survey email invitation will be customized with the DMO’s logo and destination image(s). The DMO will review and approve the intercept survey invitation and follow-up survey invitation email.

Participating DMOs must install the JavaScript that Destination Analysts provides on their website’s top three (3) entry pages by January 4, 2023. Participating DMOs also have the option to add one custom question to the end of the Website User Intercept Survey and up to three custom questions to the latter part of the Website User Follow-Up Survey. Destination Analysts will work directly with each participating DMO to develop these questions and add them to the online survey instrument before the project launches.

Deliverables:

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During the study period, Destination Analysts will provide each DMO partner with the following:

  • Google Analytics Integration—an analysis of site behaviors and key site performance metrics by user groups identified in the Website User Intercept Survey (e.g., those undecided on the destination vs those already decided)
  • Comprehensive report of findings, including detailed survey findings (including custom questions), website analytics insights, Executive Summary of ROI estimates and an anonymized comparison matrix that shows how the DMO website performs against other participating DMO websites (end of survey period covering data collected in calendar year 2023)
  • Review of final findings with Destination Analysts staff member via video conference
  • Interim Summary of Website Intercept Survey Findings

Optional Add-ons:

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If desired, each participating DMO can opt to add the following services to their study at an additional cost:

  • Interim comprehensive report of findings, including detailed survey findings, custom questions and initial ROI estimates (midpoint of survey period covering data collected in Q1 and Q2 2023) for a total project fee of $22,000.

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DMO Participant Application:

APPLICATION DUE DATE | Completed applications are due by December 30, 2022