How Destination Marketing Web Sites Can Use Social Computing To Engage Travelers

Social Computing should play a central role in destination marketing organization (DMO) and convention and visitors bureau (CVB) Web sites. Why? Two-thirds of the 19 million US online leisure travelers who use DMO and CVB Web sites already engage in some kind of Social Computing activity, whether that's creating their own content with blogs or videos, collecting and organizing content with RSS or social tagging, or consuming content that others have created. Social Computing technologies can help DMOs and CVBs engage their online audience while advancing common business goals such as promoting the brand of their destination. This report will: 1) analyze how DMO and CVB Web site users are already engaging with social technologies using Forrester's Social Technographics® methodology; 2) lay out a four-step approach for how DMOs can get started with a Social Computing strategy; and 3) examine a case study of how one leading DMO, the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation, has used Social Computing to advance its goals.