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• Handbook on E-marketing for Tourism Destinations – Fully revised and extended version 3.0

The fully updated and extended edition of the ETC/UNWTO Handbook on E-Marketing for Tourism Destinations presents a comprehensive overview of the continuously changing environment of e-marketing in the tourism sector. This handbook covers all essential aspects of an e-marketing strategy including strategic planning, branding measures, content-building, search engine optimization, e-commerce and email marketing. It also includes valuable information on how to use e-marketing as a way to collaborate with the travel trade and the media alongside recommendations for crisis communication. In view of the rapid expansion of new technologies in the tourism sector, the Handbook also provides practical information on latest trends and developments in mobile marketing and social media, as well as detailed insight into the measurement of effective e-marketing strategies using the latest technologies. It further outlines current best practices in the field of destination e-marketing and provides destination marketers with a legal framework for their online marketing activities.

ISBN : 978-92-844-1575-5

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Handbook on E-marketing for Tourism Destinations

Publication date: Mar 2014

Language: English

The fully updated and extended edition of the ETC/UNWTO Handbook on E-Marketing for Tourism Destinations presents a comprehensive overview of the continuously changing environment of e-marketing in the tourism sector. This handbook covers all essential aspects of an e-marketing strategy including strategic planning, branding measures, content-building, search engine optimization, e-commerce and email marketing. It also includes valuable information on how to use e-marketing as a way to collaborate with the travel trade and the media alongside recommendations for crisis communication.

In view of the rapid expansion of new technologies in the tourism sector, the Handbook also provides practical information on latest trends and developments in mobile marketing and social media, as well as detailed insight into the measurement of effective e-marketing strategies using the latest technologies. It further outlines current best practices in the field of destination e-marketing and provides destination marketers with a legal framework for their online marketing activities.

Executive Summary

Table of contents.

What is e-tourism and how is it changing travel?

Disclaimer: Some posts on Tourism Teacher may contain affiliate links. If you appreciate this content, you can show your support by making a purchase through these links or by buying me a coffee . Thank you for your support!

We live in a digital world nowadays, or an ‘e’ world as some may like to put in. We have concepts such as ‘e-business’, ‘e-commerce’, ‘e-marketing’ and ‘e-service’, so it seems it was only time before the idea of ‘e-tourism’ emerged. But what exactly is e-tourism, how does it work and why is it important? Read on to find out…

What is e-tourism?

Research and development, reservation and bookings, marketing and promotion, the tourist experience, is smart tourism e-tourism, the benefits of e-tourism, the disadvantages of e-tourism, how is e-tourism changing travel, e-tourism- further reading.

E-tourism is all about the introduction of digitalisation into the tourism industry. This manifests itself in many different ways. We see e-tourism before, during and after a holiday or trip itself – and actually there is a lot of e-tourism that goes on behind the scenes, so we don’t actually ‘see’ it at all!

Dimitrious Buhalis is known as an expert in the field of e-tourism and he defines it as the digitization of all processes and value chains in the tourism, travel, hospitality and catering sectors that allow organizations to maximize their efficiency and effectiveness.

This digitalization, over the years, has changed the way that the tourism industry works and in turn has altered the structure of the tourism industry , often for the better- making it more efficient and productive. And this is not unique to the tourism industry by any means, our whole world has been becoming increasingly digitalised for many years now. In fact, we have become so reliant on the digital aspects of our lives that the functioning of the contemporary tourism system and its future seem unthinkable without the technological innovation that we have today!

Examples of e-tourism

E-tourism is ingrained throughout the tourism system, from the booking process right through to the tourist experience and everywhere in between. It would be impossible to discuss every way that technology is used in the tourism industry (ok, well perhaps not impossible, but I would be here a very long time!). Below I have outlined some of the most common ways that that e-tourism occurs.

E-tourism is used to a large extent during the research and development stages of a tourism product or service. There are a wealth of digital resources at the disposal of tourism industry stakeholders , which enables them to collect large amounts of data and research their (potential) customers. In turn, this helps organisations in the travel and tourism industry to better understand their customers and therefore to better satisfy their needs and desires.

Likewise, recent years have seen many options for the tourists themselves to research their travel choices to a greater extent than they have previously been able to. Reading blogs, looking at travel pictures on Instagram, scouring Pinterest… when it comes to heading off on a city break or relaxing beach vacay, tourists often turn to the internet as a source of location inspiration- this is also evidence of e-tourism.

Central reservation systems have come a long way in the past couple of decades. First introduced in the 1960s by airlines, central reservation systems were quickly adopted by hotels and other businesses operating in the travel and tourism industry. Most recently these have been further developed to allow the tourist to play a key role in the booking process by linking their reservation systems to popular online booking platforms such as Expedia or Syscanner as well as in-house developed booking systems.

Nowadays, pretty much everything can be booked online. Tourists don’t need to make a trip into town specifically to visit a travel agent, and sit there while they look through brochures and databases to find a trip that ticks every box for them- tourists can do it for themselves! There is far more freedom and independence now, as consumers are part of the process from the start. Bookings and changes can be made at the tap of a button or the click of a link. This not only makes the process simpler and easier for the tourist, but it also helps the business to operate faster and more efficiently, reducing overhead costs and maximising productivity.

Some years ago the likes of travel agencies and tourist boards would focus their marketing efforts on printed advertising such as posters, brochures and flyers… but those days are long gone now. Whilst there will always be a place for physical advertising of this type, travel and tourism organisations now have a wealth of valuable data at their fingertips that they can use to inform their marketing.

As we live more of our lives online (think shopping, researching, connecting with our friends on social media etc), the organisations that want to sell us their products and/or services are more informed to do so than they have ever been before. Adverts can be targeted to specific customers based on location, age and other relevant demographics. It can also be based around the user’s online activity- yes, if you begin to research ecotourism holidays it is likely that you may begin to be shown adverts about eco lodges in the Gambia or ecotourism in Costa Rica ! Whilst there are certainly some ethical questions about how much of our data is used by organisations for advertising purposes, there is no disputing that the organisations of today have a big foot up in comparison to their counterparts from a decade or two ago!

In addition to this, we have new platforms where marketing can take place. Social media platforms such as Instagram or Facebook allow for both large companies and individuals to promote products, services or places. As I explain in my article about Instatourism , these social media platforms can be powerful tools for the purposes of marketing. And more and more people are working in the field too- many argue that the growth of travel influencers around the world has changed the marketing industry forever!

Technology has also enhanced the travel sector in many ways. More efficient aircraft, trains, cars etc have enabled us to travel further and faster than ever before. They typically create less damage to the environment too, with more environmentally friendly initiatives being researched and implemented such as bio fuels and hybrid models.

Travel is easier for the consumer these days too. No longer do we need to carry around our pocket-sized road maps, or get stressed out when we can’t read directions- all we need nowadays is a 4G connection and a navigation app! There are plenty of other apps that help us travel too, from train apps with timetables to flight comparison sites and more.

There are many ways that e-tourism has helped to enhance the tourist experience and to make the tourism industry more efficient. From having your room service brought to you by a robot, to checking a menu in a restaurant using a QR code, to downloading an app in a theme park that shows queue times for the rides to having an audio programme give you information on your phone as you walk through a museum. E-tourism is everywhere we look!

Is virtual tourism e-tourism?

Virtual tourism is an example of e-tourism in practice. It is essentially a hybrid concept- it combines both the notions of virtual reality and tourism. In essence, virtual tourism facilitates a tourism experience, without actually having to travel anywhere. Virtual tourism takes many different forms and comes in vary degrees of technological capability.

In its simplest form, virtual tourism may comprise of a video of a tourism destination. The ‘tourist’ watches the video, utilising their hearing and sight senses. More sophisticated forms of virtual tourism include being immersed in an environment through use of a headset or simulator. It may involve use of various props, users may be required to wear gloves and there may be additional sensations such as movement (like in a rollercoaster simulator), feeling (for example if the user is sprayed with water ) and smell. You can read a detailed article about the virtual tourism industry here.

Smart tourism and e-tourism are commonly interlinked, however smart tourism is not always an example of e-tourism. Smart tourism is all about tourism that is designed in a ‘smart’ way- the intention is to promote productivity and make the tourism industry efficient. Oftentimes this does require the use of digitalisation, or technology, hence making it a form of e-tourism, but this isn’t always the case 100% of the time. You can read all about the concept of smart tourism here.

Ultimately, e-tourism is a good thing. The use of technology in the tourism industry has helped to make it more efficient, run more smoothly (with less risk of human error) and making it more productive. This generally means that consumers (or tourists) are more satisfied with their tourism experience and that the organisations involved have increased profit margins and lower overheads.

E-tourism has introduced us to a whole new way of thinking and has helped to expose us to invaluable developments in the travel and tourism industry- it has helped to make parts of the industry more environmentally friendly, it has helped to have more effective marketing and product development and it has helped us to embrace new forms of tourism too, such as smart tourism and virtual tourism.

However, as is the case with any form of tourism, there are some negative impacts of e-tourism too. The use of technology sometimes takes away the ‘human’ aspect- customer service from a robot will never replace the smiles and conversations that a real person would bring to the situation. And using technology to a large extent may reduce the number of jobs in the tourism industry too, which can have a negative economic impact on the host community. Furthermore, technology can go wrong- a booking system that is down or a website that doesn’t work properly can cause loss of money and business, for example.

Ultimately, e-tourism is all about making the tourism industry more efficient through the use of technology. As I have outlined in this article, there are many ways that this can be done and the benefits of this can be far reaching. From the perspective of the tourism industry, the digitalisation of travel and tourism can help to enhance business prospects- income, productivity, performance etc. And from the perspective of the tourist it can help to make their tourism experience more enjoyable.

If you have found this article interesting, then I am sure that you will enjoy these too!

• What is smart tourism and why is it so BIG?
• Virtual tourism explained: What, why and where
• What is sustainable tourism and why does it matter?
• What is ecotourism and why is it so important?
• Niche tourism: What, why and where

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Handbook on E-marketing for Tourism Destinations Handbook on E-marketing for Tourism Destinations ISBN

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Tourism Marketing: A Guide to Effectively Market Your Tours and Experiences

Discover how to strategically promote your tours with our comprehensive guide on tourism marketing and elevate your brand visibility today

by Janelle Visser | 2 February 2024

If you build it, they will come, as the adage goes. But in today’s digital age, where anyone can build anything and put it online in moments, the question becomes: how will they find — and choose — you? 

In the dynamic world of tourism experiences, the key to attracting travelers lies in successfully marketing your tours, activities and attractions. And it’s not just about attracting tourists, it’s about creating unforgettable connections that turn one-time visitors into loyal advocates for your brand. 

Marketing is consistently ranked by Arival event attendees as one of the most important topics they are looking for insights on. As traveler preferences and booking habits change, so do the most effective ways to market to them. 

In this comprehensive guide, we will delve into the evolution and strategies of marketing for travel and tourism in today’s digital era, providing actionable insights for tour operators and attractions, and answering key questions that every tour operator grapples with. From crafting a marketing strategy to understanding the components of a successful tourism marketing campaign, we’ll explore how to navigate the competitive and ever-evolving landscape of tour, activity and attraction marketing, and create lasting connections with your guests.

Here’s what we’ll cover:

What is Tourism Marketing?

The evolution of tourism marketing, how to create a tour marketing strategy.

• Conduct Thorough Market Research
• Identify Your Target Audience
• Understand Your Customer Needs and Expectations
• Create Unique Selling Propositions (USPs)
• Build a Strong Brand
• Consider Offline Marketing for Tours
• Embrace Digital Marketing Strategies
• Leverage Modern AI Technology
• Take Advantage of the Current Trends
• Monitor and Evaluate Your Strategy
• Navigating the Future of Tourism Marketing with Arival

At its core, tourism marketing is a strategic approach to promoting destinations, tourism products and services to tourists. For operators, this primarily means promoting your tour, activity or attraction offerings. The aim is to understand and meet the needs and wants of travelers, creating memorable experiences that encourage reviews, repeat visits and referrals. 

In the context of the global tourism economy, where according to Arival’s latest data the in-destination experiences industry is expected to be worth $270 billion in 2024. Tourism marketing plays a pivotal role in the success of travel businesses, helping them to stand out above their competitors and serving as the bridge that connects them with their target audiences of travelers.

As travel marketing company Blend ’s Managing Director put it recently in an interview with Arival, “The simplest way to define [marketing] is what comes to mind when someone thinks about your brand or experience. And what you do through your marketing channels is help shape that perception.”

The landscape of marketing in tourism has undergone a profound transformation since the early 1900s when the Michelin Guide first encouraged motorists to explore the world beyond their own towns. Progressing from traditional tourism promotion methods like brochures and word-of-mouth recommendations to the digital age of Google searches and social media influencers, technology has played a pivotal role in shaping how destinations and experiences are promoted. 

Fast forward to today, where the advent of short-form video marketing and generative AI has added new dimensions, allowing every tour, activity or attraction operator to engage travelers in innovative ways. These tools provide opportunities for engagement, personalization, and storytelling that were once unimaginable, and have become integral to captivating the modern traveler.

Successful marketing for tourism starts with a well-defined marketing strategy, which will help ensure the effort and resources you put into marketing are effective. The following steps will help guide you through the creation of a marketing strategy for your tour, activity or attraction company.

1. Tour Marketing Strategy

Understanding the market is the foundation of any effective strategy. Thorough research into customer demographics, travel patterns, and consumer behaviors will provide invaluable insights as you create your marketing strategy. 

Arival conducts regular tourism market research to assist tour, activity and attraction businesses with this process. For example, Arival’s latest consumer research on the 2024 U.S. Experiences Traveler found that day tours are on the rise among U.S. travelers , and that younger millennial and Gen Z travelers in particular are moving away from traditional sightseeing tours and looking for more experiential tours , such as culinary tours and immersive experiences. See Arival’s latest research here . 

2. Identify Your Target Audience

Targeting your tourism marketing plan to a specific audience is crucial, as this will enable you to enhance the relevance of your offerings, improve engagement, and maximize the effectiveness of your marketing efforts.

Identifying your target audience involves a strategic process that combines market research as described above, data analysis, competitive analysis and customer profiling. Google and social media platforms, for example, offer analytics tools that provide insights into the age, interests, geographic location and income bracket of your followers, that can help you to develop detailed buyer personas that represent your ideal customers, and create a plan to reach and engage these audiences. 

In addition, analyzing the target audience of your competitors will help you build on this and identify gaps or underserved segments in the market that your tourism marketing plan can effectively target.

3. Understand Your Customer Needs and Expectations

Conducting tourism market research and identifying your target audience will help you with this step. Once you have an idea of who your target customers are, you can discover what their needs and expectations are, and how to develop a marketing strategy to reach them effectively. 

For example, if you offer sightseeing tours and you have identified younger Millennial and Gen Z travelers from the U.S. as a demographic you want to market your tours to, you will need to go beyond sightseeing to attract this demographic, according to the latest Arival research . 

How can you make your tours more immersive and experiential, and reflect this in your marketing to engage this demographic? Anticipating and meeting your customers’ needs and expectations can lead to higher customer satisfaction, fostering reviews and repeat business. Personalization is key.

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4. Create Unique Selling Propositions (USPs)

One of the challenges a tourism marketing strategy needs to solve is how to make you stand out above your competitors. Why do tourists choose some travel experiences over others? One way to differentiate your offerings is by identifying and highlighting unique selling points (USPs) that resonate with your target audience.

Let’s say you have identified younger Millennial and Gen Z travelers as a group you’d like to target with your marketing efforts. In your city there are multiple competitors offering similar tour products to yours, however you’ve realized that this target audience has an affinity for food tours. You find a way to work elements of culinary tourism into your sightseeing tour offering and your marketing to set yourself above your competitors and offer something unique in your region.

5. Build a Strong Brand

A consistent, strong brand fosters trust and ensures your tour company is memorable in the minds of potential guests. You’ll be hard-pressed to find someone who doesn’t recognize the logo of an apple with a bite taken out of it, or doesn’t know where the phrase “just do it” comes from. 

Brands are about more than creative logos and catchy slogans, however. Building a robust brand for your experience business involves defining a clear identity with a focused mission and incorporating those USPs described in the previous step. Then, reaching out to your target audience through engaging storytelling and content, bolstered by a strong online presence, will enable your customers to build an emotional connection with your brand. Ensuring you’re delivering high-quality customer experiences to your target audience is crucial to building trust in your brand, and encouraging positive reviews is essential to building your brand’s reputation and ensuring ongoing brand success. 

Arival Insider Pro Access members can learn more about the importance of building your brand here. 

6. Consider Offline Marketing for Tours

Before we go too deep into digital marketing in tourism, it’s important to recognize that traditional methods like print advertising, brochures, and partnerships with local businesses still have relevance and can complement digital marketing strategies.

Many travelers are still waiting to book their things to do until they are in-destination, which means there is an opportunity to meet these travelers where they are. For example, working with destination marketing organizations (DMOs) and other regional tourist organizations that operate tourist information centers can enable you as a tour or experience operator to get printed promotional material about your experiences physically in the hands of tourists looking in person for things to do. Reach out to destination marketers in your region to take advantage of this offline marketing opportunity. 

7. Embrace Digital Marketing Strategies

As travelers increasingly use digital channels to discover, plan and book their travel, operators can and should leverage a range of digital marketing strategies to effectively promote their tours and engage with potential customers. 

From Google Things to do to search engine optimization (SEO), from social media strategy to working with influencers, from effective email marketing to impactful content marketing, a strong tourism marketing plan will incorporate a variety of digital marketing elements to bring a wider audience to the top of the funnel, and engage with them throughout the funnel at various stages of their discovery, planning and booking journey.

Arival has developed a number of guides and articles to help experience operators navigate the world of digital marketing for travel and tourism. Here are a few resources:

• An Essential Guide to SEO for Tours & Activities
• Content Marketing
• Your Guide to Influencer Marketing in Travel and Tourism

8. Leverage Modern AI Technology

The popularity of AI in 2024 cannot be understated, however many companies in the travel industry have been using AI in various forms long before the release of ChatGPT in late 2022 brought Generative AI, or Gen AI to the forefront. Gen AI, though, has made it a lot more accessible for travel businesses and tourism marketers without a lot of technical expertise to integrate AI to personalize customer experiences, generate targeted content, and enhance decision-making in marketing strategies for tourism. 

Many companies in the marketing for tourism space have developed tools and resources for tour, activity and attraction businesses, some of which are listed on Arival’s list of AI Resources for Experience Operators . Find out more about what’s the latest with AI in travel and how tour and attraction businesses are using it at the next Arival event. 

9. Take Advantage of the Current Trends

Staying up-to-date with the latest digital trends in marketing for travel and tourism is essential to stay relevant and get ahead of your competitors. 

For example, over the last couple of years, short-form videos on platforms like TikTok have risen dramatically as a channel for travelers — younger Millennial and Gen Z travelers in particular — to find inspiration for travel experiences. Incorporating vertical and short-form video in your tourism marketing will help you engage this audience, enabling you to meet travelers where they are online and present the experience offerings of your tour, activity or attraction company in a format your audience is familiar with.

@j_buzzi I don’t think I’ll ever get over how amazing bioluminescence is! 🤯🌌 #bioluminescence #getupandgokayaking ♬ Another Rain (From “Halo 3: ODST”) – DS Music

Justin Buzzi , founder of Get Up and Go Kayaking , jumped on the vertical video trend and attracted millions of views and over one million likes on TikTok with this short bioluminescence video.

10. Monitor and Evaluate Your Strategy

A strategy without evaluation is like a ship without a compass. Regularly assess the effectiveness of your marketing strategy using key performance indicators (KPIs). KPIs to monitor the effectiveness of your marketing strategy could include website traffic, conversion rates, social media engagement, booking levels, and customer reviews and ratings. Consistent monitoring and evaluation ensure that you not only navigate the course but also make agile adjustments, keeping your strategy aligned with the ever-shifting tides of the tourism market.

1. What are the key components of a successful tour marketing campaign?

Success lies in a well-researched strategy with clear targeting built on tourism market research, compelling USPs that speak to the needs and expectations of your target audience, and a strong brand built on a balanced mix of offline and digital marketing, as well as a compelling tourism experience product itself. All of these components work together to make for a successful marketing strategy. 

2. How often should I reevaluate and update my tourism marketing strategy?

In the world of tourism marketing, trends and traveler preferences change rapidly. Check in regularly with travel trends (and let Arival research guide you). While you might evaluate the effectiveness of your overall strategies quarterly to stay responsive to market changes and ensure your strategy remains effective, more frequent monitoring of individual social media channels, website KPIs and SEO will help you be that much more effective.

3. How can I optimize my website for tour marketing purposes?

Your website is your digital storefront. Prioritize content marketing , then optimize for search engines ( learn more about SEO here ), ensure seamless user-friendly navigation and online booking system capabilities for both computer and mobile booking , incorporate visually captivating elements like photos and videos, keep your pricing and product listings up to date, and update your content regularly. 

4. Are there any specific strategies to attract international tourists?

To attract international tourists, consider ways to tailor your marketing messages for the specific regional audiences you’re interested in reaching. Look at tourism market research and trends for the different regions you intend to target — what works in the U.S. might not work in Asia and vice versa. Your local and regional destination marketing organizations (DMOs) may be able to help with this, as destination marketers often conduct research on the international travelers coming to your destination. Consider utilizing multilingual content to reach a broader range of potential travelers, and explore partnerships with international travel agencies. Check out Arival’s list of OTAs organized by geographic region to help you identify potential distribution partners in other languages and regions.

5. How important are customer reviews and testimonials in tour marketing?

Customer reviews and testimonials play a crucial role in tour marketing, acting as powerful social proof that influences potential customers. Positive reviews build credibility and trust, addressing concerns and reservations prospective customers may have. Encourage your satisfied customers to share their experiences on platforms like TripAdvisor or Google, or wherever they booked, and don’t forget to respond to these reviews, whether positive or negative.

6. What are some unique challenges in tourism marketing compared to other industries?

Tourism marketing faces unique challenges such as seasonality, unpredictable external factors (e.g., natural disasters ), and the need for real-time adaptability to changing travel trends. High competition demands innovative strategies to stand out, and the reliance on positive word-of-mouth makes ensuring customer satisfaction even in the face of unpredictable challenges critical. 

7. How can I use tourism marketing to cope with seasonal fluctuations in the industry?

To cope with seasonal fluctuations, craft seasonal promotions, diversify offerings to match changing preferences, and use marketing to highlight the unique experiences available during different seasons. Some strategies include implementing targeted off-season promotions, creating incentives for bookings during slower periods, and developing themed tours or events that align with seasonal interests and capitalize on festivals or holidays. Implementing dynamic pricing strategies , where prices vary based on demand, can also help maximize revenue during peak seasons and encourage more visitation during slower periods.

Navigating the Future of Tourism Marketing With Arival

Success in tourism marketing lies in learning about your audience, developing practical strategies to reach them, constant adaptation to keep up with changing market conditions and traveler trends, and utilizing tools and research like what Arival provides to stay ahead in a competitive landscape. 

Keep in mind that you don’t have to do this alone. There are multiple marketing agencies out there that specialize in marketing for travel and tourism companies, with some even focusing specifically on tours, activities and attractions. Check out our curated list of the tourism marketing agencies for tours and attractions here. 

Even better, join us at the next Arival event where we’ll dive into the latest tourism market research insights and trends in travel experiences, and share practical tourism marketing strategies and other actionable takeaways to help you reach your target markets, increase your bookings and grow your business.  

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E-Marketing in Tourism Essay

Introduction, a critical discussion of e-marketing, the impacts electronic marketing has on tourism.

Marketing has been an important part of any business since it has a significant contribution to the success of businesses. Production and supply processes rely on marketing. Marketing can be defined as the process of introducing and promoting goods and services into the market.

It also entails influencing buyers or consumers to buy the goods and services that are available in the market (Haegele 2012). With the growing number of products and services, business corporations have been forced to come up with new innovations in marketing. It is on this basis that e-marketing has been utilised by companies to enhance sales. This has even been facilitated by the process of proliferation of the internet (Haegele 2012). This paper provides a critical discussion of e-marketing and its impact on tourism markets.

Electronic marketing, otherwise known as e-marketing, is defined as the application of marketing standards and techniques through the electronic media, especially the internet. The term e-marketing is often used interchangeably with internet marketing or online marketing. Many scholars have researched and extensively written on the concept of e-marketing (Haegele 2012).

Numerous scholars acknowledge the fact that e-marketing generally implies the promotion of goods and services over the internet (Luar & Chen 2006).

However, they do not realise that this is a narrow definition of what e-marketing as a concept encompasses. Even though e-marketing is rightly defined this way, it is important to note that its scope goes beyond the internet; it also entails marketing activities conducted through wireless media and emails.

Other scholars have expanded the meaning of e-marketing to include digital customer data and the electronic customer relationship management systems (Luar & Chen 2006). Considering all these facts, it is clear that e-marketing ties together the technical and creative aspects of the internet, including development, advertising, design and sales.

E-marketing can be categorised into three types: Pay Per Click or impression, Search Engine Optimisation and Social Media Marketing. In this respect, the specialists have defined Pay Per Click or impression as a situation where advertisements for products and brands are conducted on a pre-decided website; it assists in generating leads for firms (Chaffey 2012).

Furthermore, they have labelled Search Engine Optimisation as the procedure of improving the prominence of websites in search engines through free search outcomes. It is important to critically look at these types of e-marketing from the perspective of different scholars.

According to Chaffey (2012), Pay Per Click or impression is similar to the known conventional advertising. In this regard, he argues that a relevant text advert with a specific link to a company’s page is displayed when search engine users type in a specific phrase. A study has shown that many users do click on paid listings.

This is reported to be highly cost-effective for companies; this can drive a substantial amount of business deals for the search companies. Even though Chaff (2012) points out that there is a similarity between Pay Per Click advertising and the conventional advertising, he is able to acknowledge that there are two significant distinctions between the two.

First, he recognises that in Pay Per Click, the advertiser never pays for the advertisement to be displayed. Cost is only met when the advert is clicked on and the user is directed to the advertiser’s website.

Second, he also realises that the Pay Per Click is highly targeted as compared to the conventional advertisement. This implies that the relevant advert with a link to a specific destination website page is only displayed when an internet user types in a specific phrase.

Dan and Dan (2011) argue that Search Engine Optimisation is an odd area of marketing that is seemingly B2B in nature, but bordering on business to computer in real conduct.

Search Engine Optimisation marketing tries to establish the optimum mix of contents and meta-data to enhance the Search Engine’s Automated review of the website’s content. However, although Search Engine Optimisation is officially viewed as a form of promotion and advertising, there is a probability that it may have become the first foray into a human-Artificial Intelligence barter programme.

The last type of e-marketing is the Social Media Marketing. Kabani (2013) describes Social Media Marketing as the process of promoting a business or website through the use of different social media channels. This is true given that very many people have joined and continue to join various social media.

These people are interconnected in a way that they are able to share information within a very short time. This has made the social media to be a podium that is available to all and sundry. Consequently, various companies have taken the advantage of the increased communication and the reduced cost to market their goods and services.

E-marketing has both advantages and disadvantages. With the internet being free for everyone, e-business is prone to a significant number of threats. One of the threats is to do with issues of security. It is important to note that as the number of internet users rises, the number of cyber-criminals also increases.

This means that e-businesses are prone to cyber-attacks. Moreover, maintaining online contents may prove to be relatively expensive as e-businesses need to update their information every often. Besides, the e-businesses are also prone to public abuse or de-campaigning from users of the internet. For instance, the internet users may make negative comments on e-business marketing messages effectively distorting the integrity of the business. Therefore, businesses need to be careful when doing e-marketing (Luar & Chen 2006).

However, e-marketing has some advantages that encourage businesses to adopt it. The first advantage of e-marketing is that businesses are able to reach out as many potential customers as possible. This has been occasioned by the fact that the internet transcends geographical boundaries.

Again, the internet is cheap; this makes e-marketing cheaper than the conventional marketing strategies. This enables businesses to gain some significant profit margins. The concept of e-marketing allows marketers to do marketing around the clock. This is because the internet is always available at any time of the day or night. Finally, e-marketing helps businesses to build customer profiles by keeping information on what customers purchase most.

According to Pawlicz (2009), one of the researchers who have explored how e-marketing impacts tourism, argues that the internet tends to be an indispensable tool of modern tourism promotion. According to him, the internet is broadly used by restaurants, transport firms, hotels and other tourism enterprises.

The tourism enterprises create websites on which they update information regarding the availability and nature of travel destinations. Through the websites, they also provide information about the tourism structures available in certain parts of the world.

The indispensability of the internet as a tool for modern tourism is elaborated by other literatures that indicate that many tourism firms in various countries now exploit networks and clusters, by embracing the use of new technologies (Luar & Chen 2006).

This has made it easy for most tourism companies and destinations to provide rich information about their services to potential travellers spread across the world. It is therefore worth concluding that the internet has connected consumers directly with tourism service providers. This has made it easy for the service providers to directly provide information to their potential clients.

The impact of e-marketing on tourism has also been experienced with respect to costs. Alvarez (2010) and Ratu (2009) have concluded that an appropriately planned and efficiently targeted e-marketing campaign can assist tourism businesses reach target clients at a much lower cost when compared to the traditional marketing approaches.

This is evidenced by the various performance reports of many tourism firms that have experienced increased profitability due to e-marketing strategies (Nykeil 2007). This can be linked to the fact that the internet has enabled the firms to deal directly with their customers without the constraints of geographical borders (Rana 2009).

Many authors have also alluded to this fact through their extensive writings about e-marketing and tourism (Rana 2009; Dann & Dann 2011).

In this case, it is clear that the reduction in cost through the process of automation and utilisation of electronic media has become one of the benefits arising from the practise of e-marketing. This therefore presents a strong entrepreneurial case in terms of cost-saving, especially in the areas of costs associated with transactions, customer services, print distributions and digital media channels.

Another study also found out that e-marketing is ideally suited to tourism (Polat 2008). In this case, the researcher argues that it enables tourism firms to develop online brochures that are able to deliver rich multimedia contents, blending text, video, sound and images into multimedia documents and documentaries to overcome the intangible nature of tourism products (Polat 2008).

This finding is upheld by the fact that many tourism firms have been able to test-drive their products through videos and interactivity through the internet (Cooper & Hall 2012). Using videos to market tourism products online provides potential travellers with the visual nature of various tourism destinations. The impact of this is that a number of tourism firms have managed to experience a surge in the number of travellers they receive in their destinations.

According to other researchers, the use of social media as a marketing tool enables tourism firms to interact directly with their customers through the available different platforms (Kim & Morrison 2003). It also enables the firms to monitor and interact with clients’ opinions and assessment of products.

With respect to social media, scholars have identified different types that have been used by different tourism firms. The first type includes social networks, which imply the use of personal online pages (Kim & Morrison 2003). Personal pages allow friends and relatives to share information and contents, and communicate with one another.

The examples of social media include Facebook and MySpace. Another type that has been mentioned in various journals and other literature includes blogs. Blogs are online journals that are used to keep track of events (Kim & Morrison 2003). The overall impact of the social media is that it has enabled the tourism firms to interact with customers at personal levels. Consequently, this has resulted in more customers.

A number of studies have also been done about the use of Search Engine Optimisation by various tourism firms. In this respect, it is argued that writing fun and interesting articles that relate to travel is relatively easy (Bush 2011; Lorber 2007).

In relation to the findings of the research studies, writing fascinating articles about unusual travel regions or localities or unknown travel issues permits tourism firms to produce supplementary targeted traffics to their company websites.

It is also evident that indexing and positioning the written promotional articles on the major search engines lets tourism websites to target niche terms and hence obtain customers across the board; the customers often have diverse, but directed, interests.

While contents are crucial for any e-business, they constitute a significant tool for e-marketing for tourism products. Many tourism firms have managed to attract more customers through creating interesting contents about travel destinations and providing accurate and attractive information (Sangpikul 2010).

Studies have also found out that RSS feeds have greatly impacted the tourism industry in terms of marketing (Sangpikul 2010). According to scholars, Rich Site Summary feeds have empowered the sharing of comparable data and information among tour and travel agencies, airlines and hotels throughout the world (Sangpikul 2010).

This claim is justifiable due to the fact that the tourism industry is very complex; it is complex because the players in the industry depend on one another for business sustenance (Sangpikul 2010). For instance, tourism service providers need to liaise with hoteliers, transport companies and accommodation service providers in order to provide a wholesome package of services (Sangpikul 2010).

Therefore, the sharing of information and data has enabled the tourism industry players to cooperate in service provision. It is important to note that travellers often need the convenience of getting all the necessary travel services as single packages. Therefore, through e-marketing, the tourism industry players have been able to convincingly inform their potential customers about the range of services available to them. The consequence of this has been an increased number of visitors travelling to various destinations of choices.

Importantly, Destination Management Systems represent another important dimension of e-marketing of tourism products. Evidence reveals that the development of Destination Management Systems enhances the competitiveness of tourism firms, especially the small scale tourism enterprises (Pyo, Uysal & Chang 2002).

A further analysis of the available information shows that Destination Management Systems have been used as links between, on one hand, tourism products, offers and suppliers with, on the other side, consumers and intermediaries so as to allow easy access in relation to destination information and final purchase of tourism products.

In the current times, there many travellers and potential travellers who look for travel information through the internet. In most cases, they utilise the internet-based portals that are developed through the Destination Management Systems.

It is worth pointing out that the systems, as e-marketing strategies, sometimes provide dynamic packaging to customers. A dynamic packaging has been defined as the process of combining different travel components that are bundled and price in real time in response to the request of customers or booking agents.

Another scholar has stated that a vital constituent of a website as a marketing medium is that it is the client who enthusiastically looks for information about tourism products of interests (Pyo, Uysal & Chang 2002). In this case, it is possible for tourism service providers to pre-screen the clients who visit their websites.

Nonetheless, while at a website, a customer is able to provide his or her feedback. The feedbacks from customers who visit the websites provide a mine of data that can be studied by the tourism service providers with a view of making sense of the trends in the data. The trends are important in determining the most appropriate ways to package services according to the needs of individual customers.

Electronic marketing has revolutionised the way products and services are promoted in the 21 st Century. It has been defined as the process of introducing and promoting goods and services into the market. It has also been defined to include the influence of buyers or consumers to buy the goods and services that are already available in the market.

E-marketing has been divided into Search Engine Optimisation, Social Media Marketing and Pay Per Click or impression. The use of e-marketing has greatly impacted the tourism industry. The tourism industry players have been able to attract more customers through posting promotional information on their websites and blogs.

Besides, the use of Destination Management Systems as a marketing tool has enabled various tourism service providers to share information and data so as to provide efficient services to customers. Customers have also been able to use the systems to directly obtain or purchase tourism services from the providers.

Moreover, tourism service providers have been able to get direct feedbacks on their promotional campaigns from customers who visit their websites. This has enabled them to tailor promotional materials according to the needs of individual customers.

Most importantly, the use of e-marketing strategies has helped two companies to reduce costs of operations. Using e-marketing strategies is relatively cheap; promotional campaigns can also reach a large population of customers within a short time without the constraints of time and geographical boundaries.

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Cooper, C & Hall, M 2012, Contemporary Tourism . Routledge, New York.

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Haegele, K 2001, E-advertising and E-marketing: Online Opportunities . The Rosen Publishing Group, Hampshire.

Kabani, K 2013 . The Zen of Social Media Marketing: An Easier Way to Build Credibility, Generate Buzz, and Increase Revenue. BenBella Books, Winchester.

Kim, D & Morrison, A 2003, ‘Tiers or Tears? An Evaluation of the Web-Based Marketing Efforts of Major City Convention Centres in the U.S’, Journal of Convention & Exhibition Management, vol. 5 no. 2, pp. 20-40.

Lorber, L 2007, ‘Raising Your Profile: Beyond the Basics’, Wall Street Journal – Eastern Edition, vol. 250 no. 48, pp. 45-79.

Luarn, P & Chen, I 2006, ‘An Exploratory Study of the Critical Success Factors of One-to-One Web-Marketing: User Perspectives’, Journal of Internet Commerce, vol. 5 no. 3, pp. 140-180.

Nykiel, R 2007, Handbook of marketing research methodologies for hospitality and tourism . Routledge, New York.

Pawlicz, A 2009. ‘Internet Site Of Tourism Destination As An Indicator Of Public Private Cooperation Level. The Case Of West Pomeranian Coastal Communes’, Bridges / Tiltai, Vol. 47 no. 3, pp. 60-80.

Polat, C 2008, ‘Forecasting as a Strategic Decision-Making Tool: A Review and Discussion with Emphasis on Marketing Management’, European Journal of Scientific Research, vol. 20 no. 2, pp. 415-450.

Pyo, S, Uysal M, & Chang, H 2002, ‘Knowledge Discovery in Database for Tourist Destinations’, Journal of Travel Research, vol. 40 no. 4, pp. 385-399.

Rana, N 2009, E-Marketing Intelligence: Transforming Branda . E-Marketing Intelligence, Winchester.

Ratu, M 2009, ‘An Innovative Tool For Performing Management And Planning Of The Romanian Tourism Industry’, Annals of DAAAM & Proceedings, vol. 1 no. 1, pp. 195-220.

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NBC Universal Media, LLC

Director, International Sales & Marketing

Sandra Fletcher

Simco Restaurants Group

Jody Franklin

Executive Director of Tourism

Visit El Dorado

Daniel Halpern

President/Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder

Jackmont Hospitality

Michelle Heston

Executive Director Public Relations, US West and US East

Fairmont Hotels & Resorts

Katie Hunter

Director of Marketing & Sales

Sierra-at-Tahoe

Reed Kandalaft

Regional Vice President and General Manager

Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts/Beverly Hills

Kerri Kapich

Nate kelley.

Director of Research

John Kelliher

Grapeline Wine Tours

Rodney Strong Wine Estates

William Loughran

President, Evolution Hospitality

Lifestyle Division of Aimbridge Hospitality

Joani Lynch

Vice President of Marketing & Sales

Mammoth Resorts

Terry MacRae

Executive Chairman

Hornblower Group

Visit Tuolumne

Ripton Melhado

Senior Vice President Field Operations

Hyatt Corporation

Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development

Rob O'Keefe

Ridgemont Hospitality

Vanessa Puopolo

Vice President

Visit Fresno County

Stephen Revetria

Giants Enterprises

Ted Selogie

Regional Vice President & General Manager

AccorHotels

John Sheperdson

Vice President, Northwest Region

Avis Budget Group, Inc.

Bobbie Singh-Allen

Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer

California Lodging Industry Association

Kurt Stocks

President/General Manager

Scott Strobl

Executive Vice President & General Manager

Universal Studios Hollywood

Nominating Committee Team & Leadership Team & Leadership

President, U.S. Western Region Full Service MxM

Martin Resorts, Inc.

Public Relations Committee Team & Leadership Team & Leadership

Executive Regional Director of Public Relations

Stephen Andrews

Passport Resorts

Public Affairs Officer

Yosemite National Park

Christina Glynn

Communications Director/Film Commissioner

Visit Santa Cruz County

Media Relations Manager

Brittney Hendricks

Lori lincoln.

Vice President, Global PR & Media Relations

Norma Marlowe

Director of Public Relations

Senior Director of Communications

Tracy Spahr

SeaWorld San Diego

Lindsay Swanson

Communications Director

Birgitt Vaughan

Frances wong.

Director of Marketing, Communications & Global Media Relations

Natalie Wymer

Wine Institute of California

Angie Pappas

Associate Vice President of External Affairs and Media Relations

Research Committee Team & Leadership Team & Leadership

Brett allor.

Senior Director, Market Strategy & Research

Jennifer Avery

Vice President, Research & Insights

Universal Parks & Resorts

Conrad Braganza

Senior Manager, Research

Shannel Dooley

Business Intelligence Administrator

Jerusha Greenwood, Ph.D.

Professor & Vice Chair, Academic Senate College of Agriculture, Food & Environmental Sciences, Experience Industry Management

Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo

Rebecca Kirkpatrick

Analytics Manager

Gina Triglia

Director, Tourism Insights

Rural Committee Team & Leadership Team & Leadership

Julie benbow.

Humboldt County Visitors Bureau

Discover Inland Empire

Tourism Manager

City of San Luis Obispo

Lorraine Chapman

Director of Tourism, Advocacy & Industry Relations

Colleen Dalton

Visit Truckee-Tahoe

Jonathan Farrington

Yosemite Mariposa County Tourism Bureau

Visit Carmel

Nathan Hultgren

Media & Communications Manager

Riverside County Office of Economic Development

Visit Stockton

Rhonda Salisbury

Yosemite Sierra Visitors Bureau

Travis Scott

Visit Mendocino County

Yolo County Tourism

Jennifer Talt Lundin

Ventura Port District

Kathy Vreeland

Discover Buellton

Visit Temecula

Snow Committee Team & Leadership Team & Leadership

Kristin guinn.

North Lake Tahoe Chamber/CVB/Resort Association

Christine Horvath

Palisades Tahoe

Bridget Legnavsky

Chief Executive Officer & President

Sugar Bowl Resort

Michael Reitzell

California Ski Industry Association

Juraj Sojka

Director of Tourism

Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority

Team San Jose - Who We Are

WHO IS TEAM SAN JOSE?  

Team San Jose (TSJ) is a new breed of destination marketing organization (DMO) that is changing the face of the meetings industry. Our organization serves as a one-stop shop for customers’ meetings and events, resulting in saving the planner time, energy and resources.

The TSJ organizational one-stop shop model unifies the Convention and Visitors Bureau, San Jose Convention Center, hotels, unique meeting venues, labor, arts and local business to take care of all meeting needs within one team. Rather than hand clients off to various entities to book aspects of your meeting, TSJ can handle everything from venues and housing to customized menus, marketing and strategic planning. This streamlined solution to booking the destination, from the smallest corporate group to a big city wide, makes San Jose’s service similar to booking and operating in a big box hotel property.

This dynamic solution is unique to the industry and differentiates San Jose from competitors. TSJ can also be your guide to navigate the city post-meeting or for leisure. Whether you’re interested in shopping, local wineries, cultural and performing arts, amusement parks and attractions, museums, sports, outdoor activities or just exploring, we are destination experts that can help you discover San Jose and the greater Bay Area.

In 2010, San Jose became the first Northern California destination to receive the Destination Marketing Accreditation Program (DMAP) accreditation. DMAP is an independent international body defining quality and performance issues in destination marketing and recognizing DMOs that meet or exceed industry standards, distinguishing those official destination marketing organizations (DMO) that are committed to industry excellence. The DMAP program is powered by Destination Marketing Association International (DMAI). The DMO is accredited by the Destination Marketing Accreditation Program (DMAP) of the Destination Marketing Association International, 2025 M Street, N.W., Suite 500, Washington, D.C., 20036, USA, Ph. 202-296-7888.

TSJ manages the San Jose Convention Center, California Theatre, Center for the Performing Arts, Montgomery Theater, and the San Jose Civic. All the venues are within 1 block of each other, creating a walkable, cultural campus of meeting space.

Printable PDF Here

Keep Up With San Jose

Sign up for our newsletter to find everything you need for your next event, including our unique venues, hotels, off-the-clock activities, and more.

We’re thrilled to announce the winners of the 2024 eTourism Summit eTSY Awards, unveiled during our monumental 25th anniversary celebration! Following careful consideration of hundreds of entries, these outstanding achievers have demonstrated unparalleled innovation and creativity in their efforts to attract visitors through marketing. Congratulations to all our 2024 eTSY winners, whose remarkable contributions have undoubtedly left an undeniable mark on tourism marketing.

The winners are:

Best Experiential Marketing Campaign

Surprisingly Savannah Pop-Up Events Visit Savannah

Best Content Marketing Program

Palmetto Porch Podcast Discover South Carolina

Best Emerging Technology Integration

Visit St. Pete/Clearwater Adara Digital Consortium Visit St. Pete/Clearwater

Best Use of Sustainability and Social Responsibility

Costa Rica Unveiled: Pioneering Accessible Adventures with Wheel the World Costa Rica Tourism & Wheel the World

Best Implementation of Tiktok/Reels In Marketing Campaign

You Gotta See What We See Destination Toronto

Best Influencer Marketing Campaign

Summer Influencer Activation: Leveraging Social Influencers to Attract Emerging Audiences to Branson, Missouri Branson CVB

Best Local Marketing Campaign

Milwaukee Theater District Visit Milwaukee

Best Multichannel Marketing Campaign

Honestly, It’s Not For Everyone Nebraska Tourism & Miles Partnership

Best Paid Search Campaign

Papillon Grand Canyon Helicopter Tours Papillon Grand Canyon Helicopter Tours & Noble Studios

Best Partnership Marketing Campaign

Tampa-to-Tampa Visit Tampa Bay

Best Social Media Campaign

Bringing the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta to the World Visit Albuquerque

Best Use of Innovative Marketing In A Campaign

Mitarry Best – As Created By AI Visit Myrtle Beach

Best Use of Video

Stories of Wyoming’s Modern Explorers Travel Wyoming

Best Viral Campaign

Pasadena as Taylor Swift Albums Branding Campaign Visit Pasadena

Best Website

Yosemite Mariposa County Tourism Bureau Noble Studios and Yosemite Mariposa County Tourism Bureau

Best Incorporation of Out Of Home In Marketing Campaign

Out-of-Home Advertising in Los Angeles Visit San Diego

Best Email Marketing Campaign

Monthly Email Marketing Discover Puerto Rico

Best User Generated Content Campaign

Steller UGC in Arizona Visit Arizona

Have a story idea or want to be featured? Email Mattie Allen at [email protected] .

Subscribe to our newsletter here .

eTourism Summit 15 Technology Parkway South Norcross, GA 30092

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