Victoria | Tanya Goehring
Over the past decade, there have been substantial shifts in the tourism marketplace that have resulted in the growing importance of the delivery of outstanding travel experiences. High satisfaction with travel experiences is critical to achieving increased visitor spending, longer stays, repeat visits and positive word of mouth referrals. And destination advocacy, either face-to-face or through electronic media, is critical in attracting first time visitors to British Columbia.
A key goal of our strategy is for British Columbia to become the most highly recommended destination in North America. The Net Promoter Score or NPS, developed by Frederick Reichheld and Bain & Company in 2002, is a simple metric that can be used to measure the intention to recommend/refer a travel destination, organization or sector and is also an indicator of overall satisfaction with the travel or customer experience. Therefore, Destination BC actively encourages its tourism partners (e.g., businesses, communities, sectors) to measure and increase their NPS. To assist, two summary documents have been created.
The Introduction to the Net Promoter Score is a document that provides an introduction to what the NPS is and how it is currently being used in the tourism industry.
A summary of How to Measure Net Promoter Score in British Columbia Communities provides an overview of the details to consider at project initiation, how to determine the best visitor intercept methodology, discusses survey administrative tools, questionnaire development and how to complete the NPS calculation and recommended data analysis.
Destination BC has developed a methodology that visitor centres can use to measure the impact of their services C on traveller behaviour, and to determine the economic benefit of the centre.
The purpose of the Value of Visitor Centre Study is:
On-site interviews gather information from travellers during their trip. Travellers that are interviewed are asked to participate in a follow-up survey completed after their trip. The purpose of the follow-up questionnaire is to gather data about trip motivation, planning, experiences and activities, to compare mid-trip and post trip perceptions regarding the visitor centre’s impact on traveller behaviour, and to understand travellers’ perceptions of the region and British Columbia upon trip completion.
What is EQ?
Explorer Quotient, also known as EQ, was developed by Destination Canada in partnership with Environics Research Group. EQ is a proprietary market segmentation system based on the science of psychographics. Rather than marketing to or developing products for travellers based on traditional segments, such as demographics (e.g., age, gender, income, etc.) and/or geography, EQ emphasizes the importance of traveller segmentation based on their psychological characteristics, such as their attitudes, beliefs, values, motivations, and behaviours. When various psychological characteristics are combined, different types of travellers emerge. These are known as Explorer Types.
How is it applied?
Nationally, EQ was developed as a means to align Canada’s tourism industry with collective marketing and product development for select Explorer Types. At a provincial or community level, its use allows tourism organizations and businesses to understand what drives people to travel to a destination and why different travellers seek out different experiences.
How can BC tourism partners start using EQ?
The Explorer Quotient is available, free of charge, to every British Columbian tourism organization.
Interested BC tourism organizations can follow three easy steps to gain access to proprietary EQ resources.
Explore the fundamentals in An Introduction to Explorer Quotient, available in our Learning Centre. Learn how social and travel values influence travel choices and gain a deeper understanding of your customers.
PRIZM is a segmentation system that categorizes each Canadian and US household into one of 68 consumer segments. The system defines consumers based on their neighbourhood (at the postal code or ZIP code level), allowing for more focused marketing efforts. It helps marketers understand their customers based on their behaviours, provides insights on how to appeal to them, and reveals how to reach them. In Canada, PRIZM is obtained from Environics Analytics, a Toronto-based marketing and analytical services company.
What PRIZM cluster are you?
To find out, enter your postal code here: www.environicsanalytics.ca/prizm5
How is it applied?
PRIZM enables marketers to answer the following questions:
How can BC tourism businesses access PRIZM?
Interested BC tourism organizations can contact Destination BC at TourismResearch@DestinationBC.ca to express interest in becoming a PRIZM sub-licensee and/or commissioning a PRIZM analysis. Destination BC’s research team will follow up to understand your business objectives and, based on capacity, recommend the most appropriate approach to fulfill the request.
The cost of running PRIZM analysis depends on the quantity and quality of data input, as well as the type and complexity of analysis and reporting. As such, interested organizations are encouraged to contact Destination BC for a solution and quote customized to their individual request.
What is the Value of Tourism Model?
The Value of Tourism Model provides a conservative and credible estimate of visitor volume and direct tourism expenditures within a community.
How is it applied?
The Model tracks the tourism performance of a community and demonstrates the value of the tourism industry in a community to local partners, including government.
Over 10 communities throughout the province have completed the model. Some communities run the model every one to three years for tracking purposes.
What’s the process?
Using the model and surveys developed by Destination BC, the primary data source is from accommodation operators within a community. The basic steps include:
Destination BC will run the model free of charge once there is an appropriate sample collected and will provide an honourarium to communities that produce a final report. Although there is no cost to use the model, it does require significant community resources for encouraging participation and follow-up of accommodation providers, etc.
How can BC tourism partners start using the Value of Tourism Model?
What is the BC Tourism Economic Input-Output Model?
The BC Tourism Economic Input-Output Model was created in partnership with Pacific Analytics to estimate the economic impact (e.g., GDP, tax revenue, employment, wages) of tourism activities at the:
How is it applied?
This model will provide the British Columbia tourism industry a customized, consistent, and affordable method for estimating the economic impacts of tourism to demonstrate the value of tourism to partners.
Example applications of the model could include determining the economic impact of:
The model can also be used to determine visitor activity and spending or assist with tourism investment decisions.
What’s the process?
There are many different approaches to running the model. The primary way to run the model is with data from participating businesses and visitors. The basic steps include:
Destination BC has a number of pricing structures depending on your business needs. There is no cost to use the base model. However, the model requires significant resources in the planning and collecting stages to identify, fill information gaps, and encourage participation.
How can BC tourism partners start using the BC Tourism Economic Input-Output Model?
What is the BC Community Accommodation Survey?
The BC Community Accommodation Survey is an online system created by Destination BC to efficiently collect and compile accommodation monthly trending data about community overnight stays including visitor origin, booking type, and booking channel.
How is it applied?
The survey provides BC communities with an affordable way to track and monitor visitor information. The survey encourages the partnership between the local tourism organization and accommodation operators. Communities and accommodation operators can use the summarized information for business planning purposes. In addition, each participating accommodation property has the ability to benchmark their performance using aggregated information about other properties in their community.
At present, there are four communities participating in the survey:
What’s the process?
As the BC Community Accommodation Survey is an online system the majority of the effort happens prior to using the system, the basic steps include:
Access to this online system is free of charge with the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Destination BC and the local tourism organization.
The local tourism organization is responsible for:
How can BC communities start using the accommodation survey?
This guide provides an overview of project initiation and direction on how to determine the best visitor intercept methodology. The guide also discusses survey administrative tools, questionnaire development, how to complete the NPS calculation, and recommended data analysis.
Learn MoreOkanagan Falls | Patrice Halley
This guide explains why tourism research is important for tourism operators and provides direction on what type of information should and can be collected, how to conduct tourism research, how to process, analyze and evaluate research results, and where to get help.
Learn MoreRichmond | Grant Harder
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