Thinking Bigger About Mobile Applications For CVBs and DMOs
By Dr. Michael Arner
Travelers of all ages, nationalities, and income levels readily rely on mobile technology to assist and enhance their travel experience — and there is no shortage of destination-based applications available to assist them. With many convenient, close-at-hand, free broad-spectrum resources like Yelp, TripAdivsor or Lonely Planet, to name just a few, the Convention & Visitor’s Bureau (CVB) and Destination Marketing Organization (DMO) face an uphill battle to become the destination for destination information.
The demand for a user’s attention is fierce, and if a CVB or DMO does not offer a compelling reason to download their app, visitors will quickly find other resources. To do so, CVB/DMO’s must think bigger about the functionality and user experience of their app. Those who embrace new application-powered “technology interventions” can discover powerful new ways to thrive in the changing landscape.
Create compelling reasons to get personal Personalization is the focus of the next wave. Mobile users in 2016 are willing to submit information about their personal preferences, their habits, and their location but only in exchange for immediately realizable value. Information must be relevant, contextualized, and easy to access; offers and promotions must be readily available and unobtrusive. Sophisticated marketers are equally demanding: the worth of any digital initiative can no longer be a matter of speculation. Its value must be a demonstrable, measurable, easily interpretable return on investment.
The new frontier of destination marketing By and large, the existing destination apps republish storehouses of existing net-ready content, map-integrated by current location. Sometimes for a single city, sometimes as part of a connected network of locales. This content includes: rated merchant, tour, area of interest, and venue listings; links to providers of hotel bookings and restaurant reservations; weather reports; transportation maps; and Groupon-style offers-of-the-day. More advanced applications, common in the larger metropolises, provide: wayfinding, custom routes and itineraries, journaling, movie-ticket sales, augmented reality, photo-sharing, and the ability to push marketing communications to users in specific “geo-fenced” areas.
We see geolocation enhanced by machine learning as the critical new frontier for this new breed of application. With GPS, Bluetooth beacons and WiFi positioning, a location context can be found even indoors. The path of a user’s journey while traveling reveals ever more detailed profile information about their likes, dislikes, and behavior—and this more detailed profile allows the app to tailor content and communications in the ways that are most relevant and pleasing to the user.
Seeing the ROI on customer engagement 
Something not many applications are explicitly tracking today is deal redemption, which makes it very difficult for them to deliver meaningful metrics about the return on investment for a given campaign or channel. Integration with mobile payment, specific redemption apps for the merchant, and redemption inference (if a user saves a coupon then goes to the store for which it is valid and lingers a certain amount of time, there is a good chance the coupon has indeed been redeemed) are all mechanisms by which a dollar value can be assigned to a specific marketing initiative. If these reports are supplemented by preference data, inferred demographic data, and spend-pattern data, they will be invaluable not just for gauging the success of the previous initiative but for deciding the shape of the next one. A more direct correlation between advertising dollars and real revenue is something quite new in advertising. Your members will love it.
Don’t call it an App — it’s the next generation of visitor engagement Prior to, during, and after their journeys, travelers in every demographic can feel constantly yet subtly connected to your destination. Overtime, machine learning combined with locationing will help you build a lasting relationship with visitors. Invest in the next-generation mobile applications for your CVB or DMO. The dream of becoming a true hub for your area is now realizable. With the proper platform, the only limit is your imagination.
