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Online Destination Marketing: Do Local DMOs Consider International Guidelines for Their Website Design?

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Information and Communication Technologies in Tourism 2010

Abstract

Websites of destination management organisations (DMOs) have to meet certain criteria in order to guarantee high quality of tourism-related information. The World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) and the International Federation for IT and Travel & Tourism (IFITT) developed guidelines for DMOs to improve the quality and effectiveness of their presentation on the Internet. This study applies a content analysis to evaluate 80 local DMO-websites in Austria concerning the implementation of the guidelines from UNWTO/IFITT. Furthermore, due to the growing importance of Web 2.0 applications, it is assessesed if Web 2.0 features are implemented on websites of local DMOs. The study reveals gaps between the recommendations for the design of DMO-websites and their actual implementation. Results show that the guidelines compiled by UNWTO/IFITT receive limited or no attention for the design of DMO websites. Moreover, it is detected that Web 2.0 applications are entirely absent on all of the 80 investigated local DMO-websites.

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Hofbauer, J., Stangl, B., Teichmann, K. (2010). Online Destination Marketing: Do Local DMOs Consider International Guidelines for Their Website Design?. In: Gretzel, U., Law, R., Fuchs, M. (eds) Information and Communication Technologies in Tourism 2010. Springer, Vienna. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-211-99407-8_22

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