myung morrisontaylor2005trr

TOURISM RECREATION RESEARCH VOL. 30(3), 2005: 49-59

©2005 Tourism Recreation Research

The Effectiveness of Convention and Exhibition WebsitesA Transatlantic Comparison and Future Scenario

SEJUNG MYUNG, ALASTAIR M. MORRISON and J. STEPHEN TAYLOR

Meeting planners are now frequently using the Web as a resource for finding site information, while the Internet hasalso become increasingly important on the supply side of the convention and exhibition business as a marketing tool.Meeting planners are increasing their productivity by utilizing the Internet. However, the fast growth in the popularityof the Web has resulted in a fragmented approach to digital destination marketing, particularly in the convention andexhibition sector. The purpose of this study was to investigate the existing situation in digital destination marketingand identify the overall performance and effectiveness of convention and visitors bureau (CVB)/tourist board andconvention/exhibition (CE) centre Websites based on the modified Balanced Scorecard (BSC) approach. Even thoughleading destinations, such as the US and the UK strategize through internet marketing applications, findings showedthat the websites of CVB and CE of both these countries had relative strengths and weaknesses. The CE centre andCVB/tourist board websites tend to be loosely integrated. Additionally, the websites provided by CVB/tourist boardcontains more information for visitors and may often contribute more to confusing rather than informing and educatingmeeting planners. Marketing implications for destination and convention/exhibition management is presented and afuture scenario for convention/exhibition marketing is discussed.

Keywords: convention and exhibition centre, balanced scorecard approach, convention and visitors bureau, touristboard, website evaluation.

SEJUNG MYUNG is a Postgraduate student in the Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management at Purdue University. Contactaddress: 603-53 Eungam-Dong, Eunpyung-Gu, Seoul 122-924, Republic of Korea. e-mail: [email protected]

ALASTAIR M. MORRISON is Distinguished Professor at Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Purdue University, 111A StoneHall, West Lafayette, IN 47907-2059, USA. e-mail: [email protected]

J. STEPHEN TAYLOR is Director of International Programmes, The Scottish Hotel School, Strathclyde Business School, University of Strathclyde,Curran Building, 94 Cathedral Street, Glassgow G4 0LG, Scotland UK. e-mail: [email protected]

Introduction

The Internet is a veritable resource for consumers tosearch and purchase specific types of products such asaccommodation in hotels and motels, convention centres,airlines, restaurants, and the service of travel agents(CyberAltas 2002). The Internet also offers numerousopportunities for highly competitive e-businesses to markettheir product and services. For example, The PlanSoftCorporation reported more than three million searches forfacilities at their sites in 2002 (The International Congressand Convention Association 2003). A study commissionedjointly by Meeting Professionals International (MPI) and thePlanSoft Corporation found that the usage of Internet amongmeeting planners has reached a very high level (MPI 2000).It was determined that hundred per cent of meeting plannerrespondents had access to the Internet and ninety per cent ofthem were using it. The results showed that eighty five percent of meeting planners used the Internet to research cities,while eighty four per cent searched the Internet for eventlocations. In future, forty six per cent of meeting plannersexpected to be spending more time on the Internet, with sixtyeight per cent stating that research would be the most

important reason for this increased use of the Internet.

Yuan et al. (1999: 365) suggested that Internet andIntranet technology had the following potential advantagesfor convention and visitors bureaus (CVBs) and touristboards:

l Offers a new distribution channel for products andservices.

l Reaches more people by overcoming geographicalboundaries and thereby attracting new visitors fromseveral market segments.

l Facilitates the implementation of new strategies in atimely manner and provides wider, deeper, and richerinformation than traditional marketing channels.

l Provides a faster and less expensive means ofcommunication.

l Offers the basis for effective direct marketingprogrammes.

l Develops new relationships with members and othercooperative partners.

The Effectiveness of Convention & Exhibition Websites: S. Myung, A.M. Morrison & J.S. Taylor

50 Tourism Recreation Research Vol. 30, No. 3, 2005

l Overcomes barriers of time and distance to performactivities and provide services.

l Compresses the pre-digital world into a ‘Global Village.’

The convergence of Internet popularity on both thedemand and supply ends of the convention and exhibitionbusiness appears to be a ‘win-win’ proposition for allinvolved. Suppliers at the destination are offered a largerpotential market, together with the opportunity to providefaster and better client services. As the Successful MeetingsSurvey (2003) indicated, convention and exhibition plannersare increasing their productivity by utilizing the Internet.

As the research cited above confirms, meeting plannersare increasingly looking to the Web as a source of informationon potential venues. It offers the planner instant access tothe particulars of individual destinations, as well as theability to peruse this information on their office computers.However, the main hypothesis of this study is that the fastgrowth in the popularity of the Web has resulted in afragmented approach to digital destination marketing,particularly in the convention and exhibition sector. Eachdestination tends to have an array of websites that provideinformation on the various components of the conventionand exhibition offering. There is seldom, if ever, onecentralized site providing the planner with a ‘one-stop’shopping/buying opportunity. The convention andexhibition centre and CVB/tourist board sites tend to beloosely integrated, at best. In addition, other sites providedby local governments, chambers of commerce, newspapers,private individuals, and various companies contain moreinformation for visitors and can often contribute more toconfusing rather than informing planners.

According to Prideaux (2002: 324), cyber-tourism is ‘anelectronically stimulated travel experience that is a substitutefor a physical tourism experience.’ For convention andmeeting planners, the websites of the future have the potentialto virtually transport them to the destination where they canexperience meeting facilities, hotels, and major attractions.Everything could be experienced in advance, except for themeals to be served at events, making site selection moreconvenient and effective.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the existingsituation in digital destination marketing and identify theoverall performance and effectiveness of convention andvisitors bureau/tourist board and convention and exhibition(CE) centre websites by focusing on a small group of selecteddestinations in the US and the UK, based on the modifiedBalanced Scorecard (BSC) approach. The paper concludeswith the discussion of one possible future scenario for theuse of technology in the marketing of conventions and

exhibitions. This scenario is built upon our observations ofcurrent technologies and the associated discernable trends. As such we suggest that this scenario is best regarded asinformed speculation.

The Growth of Convention and Exhibition Industry

The convention and exhibition industry has developedinto one of the fastest growing segments of tourism, both in aglobal and country-specific context (Weber 2001). The 2004Meetings Market report, published by Meetings andConventions, estimated that the US corporate, convention,and association meeting market segments spent US $44.7billion in 2003. This was an all-time high figure forexpenditures and 7 per cent more than in 2001 (Meetingsand Conventions 2004).

The US and the UK are the leading countries in theworld for hosting conventions, conferences, and exhibitions.A number of large conferences are held by both domesticand international organizations in the US every year (UIA2000). The UK also occupies a primary position in theinternational convention/meeting industry (UIA 2000). Bothcountries have been a leader for hosting international anddomestic events, and have been influenced by the generaltrends in tourism, such as increased affluence andpropensity to travel and advances in transportation (Weberand Ladkin 2003). The growth of CE industry has seen itcome to occupy an increasingly important role as a significantcontributor to many local economies.

Using the Internet in Meeting Planning

Meeting planners are increasingly using the Web as aresource for researching information about meeting facilities(MPI 2000). Web resources for site selection are far morecomplete than paper guides due to the extensive databasesand tools in informatics. The scale of growth in the use of theWeb by meeting planners is evidenced by reports byorganizations such as PlanSoft Corporation that more thanthree million searches for facilities were performed on theirsite in 2002 (ICCA 2003). The majority of research onconvention tourism has focussed on association meetingplanners and these planners have a great influence on theselection of both the destination and the specific facility tobe used for an association’s conventions and meetings (Clarket al. 1997; Weber 2001). As reported by Successful Meetings(2003), ninety one per cent of planners used the Internet toresearch meeting sites and the per centage of planners usingthe Web for online registration increased by nearly a quarter,to fifty two per cent, and for purchasing airline tickets, it hasincreased by a third, to thirty seven per cent since 2000.

The Internet also has become increasingly important

Tourism Recreation Research Vol. 30, No. 3, 2005 51


on the supply side of the convention and exhibition businessand now plays a major role in the global distribution oftourism information and sales. The Internet provides both adistribution channel from tourism destinations to meetingplanners and also a prime business-to-businesscommunication tool. In short, the Internet is revolutionizingthe distribution of information and sales (WTO BusinessCouncil 1999).

Bonn et al. (1998) suggested that organizations cannotoverlook the Internet in their marketing mixes due to itsinherent advantages. These include, for example, economicalglobal accessibility, convenience in updating, real-timeinformation service, interactive communications, and uniquecustomization capabilities. Williams and Palmer (1999)added that the Internet is a cheap, flexible method ofpromoting tourism products overseas, and through itsintegration with newly developed destination databases willinitially compete with – but ultimately replace – existingdistribution channels. It would appear that the demand andthe supply of convention and exhibition business converge,in that the suppliers have a larger potential market, togetherwith the opportunity to provide faster and better clientservices. For the meeting planners at the demand side, thereis the promise of increased productivity through utilizingthe superior information carrying characteristics of theInternet.

Website Effectiveness Among CVB and Convention/Exhibition Centres

The ultimate focus of any promotional campaign – beit through traditional channels or the newer ones as offeredby the Web – is brand differentiation (Perdue 2001). Kotler etal. (2002) suggested that the emerging globalization andconcentration of supply are increasing the level ofcompetition and leading to the use of new Internet marketingstrategies for destinations. To pursue effective destinationmarketing, it is necessary that specific and differentiatedstrategies should be achieved by convention and visitorsbureaus (CVBs) in order to reach different market segmentswith the most appropriate promotional devices (Formica andLittlefield 2000). Tourism marketing organizations areincreasingly using a central brand image for the promotionand distribution of a destination’s multiple products andservices under many different cooperative arrangements andalliances between suppliers (Palmer and Bejou 1995;Williams and Palmer 1999). The Internet is seen as beingparticularly well suited for experience. Goods with a highpotential for quality differentiation, especially goods thatinvolve a relatively high financial outlay, are infrequentlypurchased, and are intangible (Perdue 2001; Peterson et al.1997).

The final destination experience of visitors and meetingplanners is composed of interactions with many attractions,regions, resources, groups of facilities and services (Bennett1999; Buhalis 2000; Feng et al. 2003; McNeill 1997; Mill andMorrison 2002; Williams and Palmer 1999). As theorganizations with the lead role in marketing destinations,CVBs are increasingly struggling with an abundance andcomplexity of issues in trying to establish an effective onlinepresence (Fesenmaier and O’Leary 1998; Gretzel et al. 2000).The importance of achieving such a presence washighlighted by Ismail et al. (2002), who suggested that theInternet might prove to be the ideal solution for many DMOssince tourists require real-time information and websites canprovide a higher degree of one-to-one marketing. The Internetenables both CVBs and convention and exhibition centres toblend publishing, narrowcast, broadcast, and real-timecommunications, to attract attention, to create a sense ofcommunity, and to act as personal, interactive, a niche, anda mass-market medium at same time (Gretzel et al. 2000).

The Importance of Website Evaluations

Determining the effectiveness of websites from thecustomer perspective is an essential task in this new agemarketing regime. The formal evaluation of websiteeffectiveness is needed because there are significant setupand maintenance costs of websites (Tierney 2000). Morrisonet al. (2004) have suggested that website evaluations arenecessary to facilitate and support continuousimprovements in addition to enabling the comparison of siteperformance against competitors and industry peers. CVBsare able to increase the sales achieved through conventionalmeans of ‘order taking’ by providing information toprospective customers over the Internet (Weeks and Crouch1999).

There are six basic justification strategies and resultingadvantages for having a Web presence: cost reduction,revenue growth, niche marketing, improved customersatisfaction, quality improvement, and addressing othercritical business or customer needs (Morrison et al. 1999).However, a Web presence also has a number ofdisadvantages. Bruner (1998) indicated a bad website is thesame as bad marketing. Perdue (2001) stated that a well-designed website must allow users to effectively focus onthe information that they specifically want.

Methodology

Objectives of the Study

The overall purpose of this study was to investigatethe current situation in digital destination marketing throughfocusing on a small group of selected destinations in the US



and the UK. The specific study objectives were to: 1) Determinethe overall effectiveness of CVB/tourist board andconvention/exhibition centre websites; 2) compare theperformance from the technical, customer, marketingeffectiveness, and destination/convention centreinformation perspectives between the two types of websites;3) assess the performance of the websites within each typefrom the four perspectives; 4) invest the integration orfragmentation of website information for meeting plannersbetween the two types of websites; and 5) based upon theanalysis of the existing situation, suggest a future scenarioof digital strategic alliances that would provide a higherlevel of site integration resulting in greater convenience forthe meeting planner.

Website Evaluation Based upon the BSC Approach

Kaplan and Norton (1992) introduced the concept ofthe Balanced Scorecard (BSC) in a series of articles in theHarvard Business Review. They argued that traditionalfinancial accounting measurements such as the Return OnInvestment (ROI) and payback period needed to besupplemented with additional ones reflecting other importantperformance outcomes such as customer satisfaction, internalbusiness process, and the ability to learn and grow. The BSCapproach can be applied to measure, evaluate and guideactivities that take place in specific functional areas of abusiness. Martinsons et al. (1999) developed a BSC approachfor information systems (IS) that can be adapted to ITapplication projects as well as the IS department orfunctional area. They measured and evaluated IS activitiesfrom the following perspectives: business value, userorientation, internal process, and future readiness.Grembergen and Amelinckx (2002) suggested that the BSCcan be used to measure and manage e-business projects andproposed a generic e-business scorecard consisting of fourperspectives: customer orientation, business contribution,operational excellence, and future orientation. Here, thecustomer orientation perspective represents the evaluationof the consumer and business clients of the website. Thebusiness contribution perspective captures the businessvalue created from the e-business investments. Theoperational excellence perspective represents the e-businessprocesses employed to deliver the demanded services andthe e-business applications. The future orientationperspective represents the human and technology resourcesneeded by the e-business project.

Morrison et al. (2004) have recommended the modifiedBSC for evaluating tourism and hospitality websites as it isbased on one of the most influential performancemeasurement management tools. Morrison et al. (1999) firstsuggested a website evaluation approach based upon the

BSC approach (Kaplan and Norton 1996), comprised of fourdifferent perspectives for hotel website evaluation: technical,marketing, internal, and customer. As Morrison et al. (1999)stated, the advantage of the BSC approach to Websiteperformance management is that it recognizes thatperformance is a multi-dimensional construct rather thanthe one-dimensional construct as suggested by otherapproaches to performance measurement. Since then, furtherstudies have examined and compared the websites of DMOssuch as national tourism organizations (NTOs), state tourismorganizations (STOs), and CVBs using the modified BSCapproach.

The Research Instrument

For this study, website evaluation instruments weredeveloped specifically for CVBs/tourist boards and CEcentres by applying the modified BSC approach (Morrisonet al. 1999). Both instruments consisted of the four perspectivesof technical, customer, marketing effectiveness, anddestination/CE centre information (Fig. 1). Each of the fourperspectives had a unique set of evaluation criteria.

The technical perspective was evaluated by sixspecific criteria: (i) link check; (ii) HTML code errors;(iii) browser compatibility; (iv) load time; (v) spelling; and(vi) link popularity. NetMechanic (2003) (http://www.netmechanic.com/maintain.htm) was employed todevelop an accurate evaluation of each site. NetMechanicuses a five-star rating approach per page.LinkPopularity.com (2003) (http://linkpopularity.com) wasemployed to check the criterion of link popularity, which isthe total number of websites that link to a certain site.LinkPopulatity.com allowed the site to query Google,Altavista and Hotbot. The customer perspective wasevaluated with five criteria: (i) site accessibility; (ii) sitenavigation; (iii) visual attractiveness of the site; (iv) currencyof information; and (v) ease of contact. Twenty-one specificcriteria were evaluated with dichotomous yes/no responses.Perdue (2001) indicated a user’s perception of the quality ofa website might be determined by the ease of navigation,technological creativity, and site accessibility. A positiveexperience on a website can increase the time spent at thesite (Hoffman and Novak 1996).

Customer Perspective

Technical Perspective

Marketing Effectiveness Perspective

Destination/CE Centre Information Perspective

Fig. 1. The Modified Balanced Scorecard Approach Usedin This Study



The marketing effectiveness perspective was evaluatedwith eight criteria: (i) globalization; (ii) marketingsegmentation and targeting; (iii) positioning and branding;(iv) tangibilizing the product; (v) market research; (vi)relationship marketing and database marketing; (vii)partnership; and (viii) value adding. Each of these specificmarketing effectiveness criteria were evaluated withdichotomous yes/no responses. Since Internet users haveunique needs and wants, Web technology can customizeinformation for them that is differentiated by regions,backgrounds, lifestyles, or behaviours. For effectivemarketing, specific and differentiated strategies should bepursued by CVBs/CE centres in order to appeal to differentmarket segments most effectively (Formica and Littlefield2000). The destination/CE centre information perspectivewas evaluated with five criteria: (i) attractions, events andfestivals; (ii) facilities and transportation; (iii) general travelinformation; (iv) CE centre information; and (v) legalcompliance. These criteria were measured with dichotomousyes/no responses. To be successful a DMO must provide abetter information experience than its competitors.Benckendorff and Black (2000) indicated that the Internetwas most useful with tasks such as building visitorawareness, providing customer service, public relations andeducation.

Research Procedures

To evaluate and analyze website performance oreffectiveness, this study selected twelve cities for the casestudies in the US and UK. These cities were selected sinceeach had its own CVB/tourist board and one mainidentifiable CE centre. These included six CVB and six CEcentre websites in the US and six tourist board and six CEcentre websites in the UK. All the website evaluations wereconducted in November 2003 using the same computerlaboratory in order to avoid a potential bias of speed and siteaccessibility. Thirteen trained evaluators assessed thewebsites using the modified BSC instruments specificallydeveloped for this study. The evaluators were experiencedin this area having evaluated a variety of tourism andhospitality Websites using the modified BSC approach for aproject in a graduate level tourism marketing class. Twelvepairs of the Websites of CVB/tourist board and CE centre inthe same city were randomly assigned in thirteen groups ofeight pairs of websites. Six different evaluators evaluatedeach of CVB/tourist board and CE centre website. The orderof CVB/tourist board and CE centre websites was randomlyvaried among the thirteen evaluators to counter any biascreated through sequencing.

Data Analysis

To understand whether there were differences in overall

performance from the technical, customer, marketingeffectiveness, and destination information perspectivesbetween the US CVB and the UK tourist board, and betweenthe US CE centre and the UK CE centres, Mann-Whitney U-tests was performed. The two-tailed probability test was usedto detect statistically significant differences between US andUK websites. An analysis was also completed to assess theperformance of the websites within each type from the fourperspectives. Fisher’s exact tests were conducted todetermine the degree of integration or fragmentation ofwebsite information for meeting planners within the twotypes of websites.

Results and Discussion

The overall CVB/tourist board mean evaluation scoresincluding technical, customer, marketing effectiveness, anddestination/convention information perspectives were64.33% and 63.47% for the US and the UK, respectively. Theoverall CE centre mean evaluation scores were 58.67% and56.24% for the US and the UK, respectively. These overallmean scores suggested that the websites for CVB and CEcentres were not particularly effective and furtherimprovements are needed from all four perspectives.

The Mann-Whitney U-test results identifyingperformance differences between CVBs/tourist boards andCE centres in the US and the UK are shown in Table 1. The

Table 1. Comparison of Overall Performance of TwoTypes between the US and UK.

DCE = destination/convention and exhibition, ** Significantly differentat p £ 0.01

U.S. CVB Mean (%)

UK TB Mean (%)

Mann-Whitney U

Sig. (2 tailed)

Technical 19.83 (66.11) 23.20 (77.33) 72.000 0.000**

Customer 16.56 (78.84) 16.28 (77.52) 640.000 0.927 Marketing Effectiveness

17.94 (56.08) 14.92 (46.62) 382.500 0.003**

DCE Information

21.39 (56.29) 19.92 (52.41) 531.000 0.186

Total 75.72 (64.33) 74.31 (63.47) 586.000 0.485

U.S. CE Mean (%)

UK CE Mean (%)

Mann-Whitney U

Sig. (2 tailed)

Technical 21.97 (73.23) 20.85 (69.51) 576.000 0.415


12.33 (38.54) 11.83 (36.99) 616.500 0.722

DCE Information

15.00 (46.88) 13.92 (43.49) 568.000 0.366

Total 65.27 (58.67) 62.35 (56.24) 544.000 0.241



performance results for CVBs and tourist boards showedstatistically significant differences in overall performancefor the technical (p < 0.000) and marketing effectiveness (p <0.003) perspectives. The results indicated that US CVBwebsites had superior performance from the technical andmarketing effectiveness perspectives than the websites of UKtourist boards. However, there were no statistically significantdifferences in the technical, customer, marketingeffectiveness, and destination information scores betweenthe CE centre websites in the two countries.

Table 2 shows the performance differences from thetechnical, customer, marketing effectiveness, anddestination/CE centre information perspectives for the twotypes of websites. The results indicated that, for bothcountries, there were statistically significant differencesbetween CVB/tourist board and CE centre websites for thetechnical, marketing effectiveness, and destination/CECinformation perspectives, but not for the customerperspective. For most perspectives, the CVB/tourist boardwebsites had higher performance scores than their CE centrecounterparts in both the UK and US.

Common technical problems were found in the areas of linkcheck, HTML check, and spell check. Link popularity wasalso relatively low for CE centres. Link popularity reflectsthe number of sites that are hyperlinked to the subject site.As this is a key factor in effective Web marketing and in theintegration of complementary information, it is imperativethat CE centre sites achieve high levels of link popularity.

The analysis of the customer perspective indicated aconsistent pattern in CVB/tourist board and CE centrewebsites with a high performance in site accessibility.Clearly, it is important that a site has an easy-to-rememberdomain name/URL. However, even though both types ofwebsites had relatively good domain names/URLs, theoverall domain naming strategies were not parallel; one beingidentified as an ‘international conference centre’ with thecity’s name, the other being named after the country andbeing called a ‘conference and exhibition centre.’Additionally, there are differences in the US and UK Englishspellings (center and centre), as well as the interchangeabilityin use of the terms ‘conference’ and ‘convention.’ This lackof consistency does not seem to be ideal for meeting planners,especially for those who are unfamiliar with these particulardestinations. This would seem an obvious area where thetechnology inherent in the Internet can be harnessed to creategreater uniformity across the websites regardless of thesearch term or spelling used by meeting planners.

The weakest performance of the CVB/tourist board andCE centre websites was from the marketing effectivenessperspective, with around fifty one per cent of CVB/touristboard and thirty eight per cent of CE centre websites beingdeficient. As in every other marketing medium, websitesshould apply the well-recognized and key marketingprinciples of globalization, market segmentation,positioning, partnerships, and relationship marketing(Kotler et al. 2002). However, both types of websites in eachcountry need improvement in the areas of globalization,market segmentation and targeting, positioning andbranding, tangibilizing the product, relationship marketing,and value adding. For example, providing foreign languageversions of website information is a unique advantage of theInternet supporting globalization by delivering thisinformation worldwide (Bender 1997), the results showedthat only eleven per cent of US CVB and thirty three per centof the UK tourist board websites offered foreign languageversions. In both countries, the CE centres did not offer anyforeign language versions of their websites.

Williams and Palmer (1999) indicated that brand imageis pivotal in formulating differentiated marketing strategiesof destinations and one of the key components in theformation of a clear and recognizable brand identity in the

U.S. CVB Mean (%)

U.S. CE Mean (%)

Mann-Whitney U

Sig. (2 tailed)

Technical 19.83 (66.11) 21.97 (73.23) 234.000 0.000**


17.94 (56.08) 12.33 (38.54) 234.500 0.000**

DCE Information

21.39 (56.29) 15.00 (46.88) 199.500 0.000**

Total 75.72 (64.33) 65.27 (58.67) 273.500 0.000**

UK TB

Mean (%) UK CE

Mean (%) Mann-

Whitney U Sig. (2 tailed)

Technical 23.20 (77.33) 20.85 (69.51) 468.000 0.042*


14.92 (46.62) 11.83 (36.99) 406.000 0.006**

DCE Information

19.92 (52.41) 13.92 (43.49) 301.500 0.000**

Total 74.31 (63.47) 62.35 (56.24) 302.000 0.000**

Table 2. Comparison of the Performance between EachType within Country

With regard to the technical perspective, the resultsindicated that the UK tourist board sites receivedsignificantly higher evaluations than their US counterparts.However, the convention and exhibition (CE) centre websiteperformance was relatively even across the two countries.

DCE = destination/convention and exhibition, ** Significantly differentat p = 0.01, * Significantly different at p = 0.05



market. The e-marketing cycle starts through animation(multimedia and context); information (context), andspecialized added value (Buhalis 2001). Understanding theinformation search behaviour of Internet users is crucial forthe success of websites. Kotler et al. (2002) argued that thecapability of transmitting colour photographs to millions ofpeople around the globe makes the Internet a new andexciting distribution channel. CVBs/tourist boards and CEcentres can make destination images and products moretangible through the use of colour photos and videos. Theresults indicated that the websites of the US CVBs hadsignificantly better performance than the UK tourist boards,but both types of websites need significant improvements inmarketing effectiveness.

The CVB/tourist board websites had extensiveinformation on destination attractions, events, and festivalsas well as for facilities and transportation. However, theywere lacking in sufficient information of convention andexhibition centre for meeting and exhibition planners (Table3). By contrast, convention and exhibition centre websiteshad in-depth information about conventions, conferences,and exhibition facilities, sales, and services. These findingssuggest that there is a fragmentation of information formeeting and exhibition planners, particularly in theconvention and exhibition sector. Website visitors not onlysearch for information, but also seek a different kind ofexperience and expect interaction. The experience can begreatly enhanced through sites that offer interactivity, allowattention to be focused, and lead to perceived congruence ofskills and challenges (Gretzel et al. 2000). It is likely thatmeeting and exhibition planners will use a variety of searchstrategies and Web resources to find information on specificdestinations and facilities/venues. Those on the supply sidemust anticipate these strategies and make it as easy aspossible for planners to find the information they want.Planners should have easy access to destination informationprovided by CVB/tourist board websites and be able tocompare the services of competitive destinations in order tomake site selection decisions conveniently and effectively.This study suggests that a better integration of CVB/touristboard and CE websites is needed in the future.

The Future Scenario: Digital Strategic Alliances

Having appraised the existing situation, what mightbe the future form of convention and exhibition digitalmarketing? Attempting to predict the future is anundertaking that is always challenging, as it deals not withwhat is uncertain but what is intrinsically unknowable.However, based on the above review of the current situationand harnessing the promise of current technological trends,one possible future scenario for convention and exhibitionmarketing is described in what follows.

Mass Customization through Destination Websites

A critical future opportunity resides in the potential toprovide customers, especially meeting planners or delegateswith access to convention and exhibition websites thatsupport individualized information needs. The achievementof this requires the application of the principles enshrinedin what has become known as ‘mass customization’ (Pine1993). Originally developed in the context of manufacturing,many leading service companies, particularly in the financialservices sector, are now applying this approach in an effortto support a more individualized treatment of customerneeds. The generic principles of mass customization are** Significantly different at p = 0.01

Table 3. Information Differences for Meeting Plannersin Two Types of Websites

CVB/TB N (%)

CE N (%)

Fisher’s Exact Test

Sig. (2 sided)

Convention and Exhibition (CE) Centre Information Sales and services for meeting planners

54 (75.00) 62 (86.11) 0.140

Online form for Request for Proposal (RFP)

27 (37.50) 19 (26.39) 0.211

CE centre facilities 50 (69.44) 69 (95.83) 0.000** Room capacities/configurations of the facilities

25 (34.72) 67 (93.06) 0.000**

Technical facilities in the CE centre

17 (23.61) 50 (69.44) 0.000**

Adjacent car parking facilities 13 (18.06) 31 (43.06) 0.002** Food and beverage (catering) services

15 (20.83) 50 (69.44) 0.000**

Disabled visitors to the CE centre

3 (4.17) 17 (23.61) 0.001**

CE’s calendar or schedule of upcoming events

27 (37.50) 62 (86.11) 0.000**

CE contacts for sales/marketing 26 (36.11) 44 (61.11) 0.004** Facility documents be downloaded from the site

7 (9.72) 30 (41.67) 0.000**

General Mix Information Lodging/accommodation facilities

70 (97.22) 32 (44.44) 0.000**

Restaurant/foodservice facilities

68 (94.44) 30 (41.67) 0.000**

Shopping facilities 70 (97.22) 18 (25.00) 0.000** Entertainment/nightlife facilities

67 (93.06) 17 (23.61) 0.000**

Transportation facilities 61 (84.72) 41 (56.94) 0.000** Maps/directions 59 (81.94) 52 (72.22) 0.234 Destination’s attractions 71 (98.61) 36 (50.00) 0.000** Festivals or events in the destination

71 (98.61) 34 (47.22) 0.000**

Suggested tour itineraries 24 (33.33) 1 (1.39) 0.000** Travel tips 28 (38.89) 1 (1.39) 0.000**



relevant in both manufacturing and service environments.In essence, this requires producers to reorient their operationsaway from outputs such as products and services andtowards means such as the processes or inputs by whichthese are produced.

Traditionally, organizations started with the desiredoutputs and then developed the means to produce these in aconsistent and standardized fashion. Inherent in thisapproach is rigidity, as it results in producing standardizedproducts or services with features considered to be commonlydesired across an organization’s identified market segments.Historically, given available technology, this was the onlyeconomically viable basis upon which organizations couldcomplete and it is encapsulated in the system we know asmass production. Here the producer’s emphasis was uponachieving economies of scale and, for as long as expandingmass markets existed, this was a successful formula.

In the late 20th century, spiralling levels of competition,coupled with increasing market fragmentation, forcedproducers to tear up the old rulebook. First in manufacturing,then in more and more service sectors, mass productionthinking has been abandoned in favour of a new paradigmthat is more in keeping with the new market conditions. Masscustomization demands that producers standardize theelemental (processes and inputs) aspects and then combinethese to produce the output that meets the specific needs ofan individual customer. Here it is not economies of scale,but rather economies of scope, that provide the key to success.Through the application of new technologies andmanagement techniques it has been possible to achieve thehitherto impossible – the combining of low costs withcustomized outputs.

Electronically Linked Convention Information Database (ELCID)

In the context of convention and exhibition websites,the key inputs are the blocks of information held on acentralized database. This would include all the relevantand available information on the destination including, forexample: the convention and exhibition facility/venue;destination attractions, events, and festivals;accommodation, restaurant facilities; transportation andinfrastructure; general travel information, and so on. Theserepresent the components that are subsequently combinedto deliver the information exactly as is required by thecustomer. This would be achieved by the use of asophisticated front-end complier that, through a filteringprocess consisting of key question prompts, identifies, selectsand assembles from the database the appropriateinformation package for that specific customer. The result is

that the customer is then provided with a website that hasbeen specifically compiled from a real-time database and isconfigured to meet their individual needs. This is referred toas an Electronically Linked Convention InformationDatabase (EL CID).

Thus, whether it is a meeting planner or a delegatewho visits the website, they would initially be accessing theuser interface of the EL CID (the filter). This would be theirfirst point of contact and would, through a series of keyprompts, ascertain the customer’s exact information needs.These are then passed to the Complier that then interactswith the Destination Database to gather and deliver theinformation relevant to that specific customer. In effect thismeans that the website has the type of functionality normallyfound in an expert system type of application. The technologyembodied in the filter would be capable of quickly segregatingcustomer enquires and apply a series of increasingly specificfiltering mechanisms while remaining sufficiently flexibleto respond to the idiosyncratic information requirements ofindividual customers.

Taken to its extreme, it is envisaged that this technologywould be capable of handling in real time Requests forProposals (RFPs). If the EL CID is to be capable of handlingRFPs, its database will have to hold the real-time availabilityof all the component elements. This would enable meetingplanners to quickly identify and qualify suitable potentialvenues in relation to their specific needs. It would mean thatwhen meeting planners actually begin to discuss theirrequirements with a particular destination, they have alreadyestablished basic suitability and availability. This wouldinclude everything from available meeting/exhibition spaceto accommodation provision, transportation, and generaldestination tourism facilities. For both planners anddestinations, this has obvious efficiencies and benefits as itdramatically reduces the transaction costs traditionallyincurred in the traditional paper-based RFP system.

Once a conference or exhibition has committed to adestination, the EL CID would be capable of handling therequirements of delegates or exhibitors wishing to attendthe event. For example, by accessing the EL CID, a delegatewould be able to reserve and pay for everything from airfares,car rental, and accommodation through to sightseeing tours.This would be a true ‘one-stop shop’ in both name andfunction. Where specific packages and rates have beenassembled for a particular event, EL CID’s filter wouldidentify these and ensure that these were immediatelyavailable to a delegate. Once again, the key features arereduced transaction costs and improved efficiency. True toprinciples of mass customization, the EL CID would retain



sufficient flexibility to ensure that the individual preferencesof customers were met in terms of facilities and price levels.

Managing the EL CID

The development of an EL CID does not just entail theapplication of new technology, but also radicalorganizational change in destination management. From thedescription above, it should be obvious that the developmentand maintenance of an EL CID entails extensiveconsolidation of all the supply-side elements involved inthe delivery of a successful conference or exhibition. Thisrepresents a major opportunity to resolve some of the presentinformation and organizational difficulties previouslyidentified. One obvious solution would be that themanagement and maintenance of the EL CID be undertakenby an organization based upon the functional consolidationof the marketing activities of CVB/tourist board and theconvention/exhibition centre. The remit of this neworganization – the Electronic Convention and Visitor Bureau(ECVB) – would be to establish and maintain the databaseand website interface of the EL CID. This would involverecruitment of suppliers and establishing the necessaryorganizational and technical protocols to support theefficient and effective functioning of the EL CID.

This implies a significant level of cooperation betweenthe public and private sectors at destinations. From aneconomic development perspective, the success of such aninitiative has well understood benefits for a given destination.Accordingly, it would seem reasonable that the initialdevelopment of an EL CID might be publicly financed onmuch the same basis that many convention and exhibitioncentres have been. Thereafter, however, it would seem equallyreasonable that the private sector contribute to the runningcosts of the EL CID. A number of practical models of howthis might be achieved already exist in the recruitment andoperating practices of many marketing consortia in tourismand hospitality.

The EL CID Website should provide the meetingplanner with a very realistic cybertourism experience of thedestination. For example, they should be able to ‘walkthrough’ the main convention and meeting rooms, see typicalhotel rooms, look at the dishes to be served at meal times,and experience the destination’s major attractions. Thesevirtual tours of all the destination’s facilities and attractionswill be more convenient and efficient for meeting planners,while building more realistic expectations of whatdestinations have to offer. Similarly, once the meeting site isselected, delegates should be able to have these virtualexperiences before visiting the meeting destination.

Conclusion and Implications

Watson et al. (2004) have argued that, ‘the currentlyhighly fragmented multitude of information systemssupporting tourism greatly increases the tourist’s searchcosts, and while touring there is almost no informationsystems support.’ The current study, in addition tohighlighting performance shortcomings in DMO and CEwebsites, has identified a significant level of informationfragmentation within the digital resources of convention andexhibition destinations. Greater integration of DMO and CEwebsites is needed in providing the mass customizationrequired by increasingly tech-savvy meeting planners. Thefuturist, Cetron (2004) feels that opportunities and trials willbe manifold in the meetings and expositions sector of thetourism and hospitality market. He also noted the increasingdemand for wireless Internet access to Web-basedinformation and via e-mail. In the exciting new era of cyber-tourism, those destinations that evolve their digitalinformation resources to match these emerging travellers andmeeting planning needs will be the winners. Achievingsuccess requires further investment in creating a ‘one-stopshopping’ venue online coupled with more partnershipswithin convention and exhibition destinations.

Greater integration of digital convention and exhibitioninformation resources is not the only challenge facingdestinations in the connected world of the future. This studyhas demonstrated that DMO and CE websites are also notperforming at an adequately high level of performance. Inparticular, these websites are poorly applying key marketingprinciples in the design and presentation of information.This situation tends to exacerbate the problems caused bythe fragmentation of convention and exhibition information.Weber and Ladkin (2003: 130), using a Delphi panel ofconvention and meeting experts in Australia and the UK,confirmed that superior websites and online bookingresources were key marketing issues and requirements forthe future of this sector. More effective websites in the futureshould be cooperatively planned by Web designers andmarketers from both the DMOs and convention/exhibitioncentres, rather than being separately developed as has beenthe rule in the past.

While the transatlantic comparison in this researchidentified many similarities between the UK and US websites,there were important performance differences. The USwebsites outperformed the British websites as marketingtools, while the British DMO Websites were technicallysuperior. While it may not be a common practice today toassess and benchmark websites of similar organizations inother countries, this comparison should be highly



educational and beneficial for these two types oforganizations on both sides of the Atlantic. Future researchis needed to extend this study to a broader range of similarorganizations for a full understanding of the performance ofDMOs and convention/exhibition centre websites. Astandardized website evaluation instrument validated bydestination marketing and meeting experts could be usedfor setting the website evaluation benchmarks.

The future scenario painted in this study – theElectronically Linked Convention Information Database(ELCID) – appears to be a good solution to proactivelyanticipate the information needs of meeting planners. Asthe first real Web generation of 18-24-year-olds eventuallyenters the professional ranks, they will be even quicker toclick away from destination websites that do not offer thisone-stop shopping and cyber-tourism experience.

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Submitted: November 12, 2004Accepted: April 27, 2005

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