Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
consuming a destination. Therefore, the brand experience communicated by the DMO is
critically important. The functionality of DMO websites appears on a continuum from ones
which are effectively just online versions of the brochure to fully interactive portal sites, where
visitors can make reservations and even take a virtual tour (Hyun and Cai 2009). However,
destinations have substantially failed to engage with consumer net communities, not taking the
opportunity to develop virtual brands, and in many cases just digitising existing offl ine logos and
brand communications (Hyun and Cai 2009).
It is important also for tourism organizations to note that communications and media
messages may have a signifi cant impact upon an individual's sense of being in a community and
their perceptions of the brand community (Carlson
et al
. 2008). Intermediaries (such as Expedia)
are also emerging as critical infl uences on pre-consumption behaviour, acting as 'one-stop-shop'
vehicles where visitors can reserve all travel needs including accommodation, transport, car rental
etc. (Buhalis 2011). Tourism fi rms and DMOs need to be aware of their capability to communicate
effectively with the target audience through an engaging web presence. The tourist may also be
able to experience the tourism brand virtually through a virtual tour in advance of consumption
of the service.Virtual reality is particularly useful in tourism, providing a taste of the service prior
to booking; a virtual environment allows the consumer to make a more informed decision
(Guttentag 2010).
Consumption brand experience
Brand experience is created individually by the consumer, whenever there is interaction with the
brand (Prahalad and Ramaswamy 2004). However, one would expect the actual physical
consumption of the brand experience, such as the overnight hotel accommodation, to make the
strongest impression on the brand experience. When tourists are immersed in the experience,
they may wish to share this with their friends through posting video, text and images to content
sharing websites, and social networks. Mobile based systems like Foursquare allow tourists to
tweet, share information, upload videos and other content, and encourage their friends to get
involved in the tourist experience (e.g. a festival). Virtual reality has much potential to enhance
the entertainment and educational value of the experience, as in the
Futuroscope
theme park in
France where a real setting is enhanced with projection of futuristic animals, or the
Foundation
of the Hellenic World
in Greece, where visitors can travel through the ancient city of Miletus
(Guttentag 2010). Augmented reality (AR), where computer generated images are merged with
real world view (Guttentag 2010), is also used effectively for tourism attractions. Tourists are also
increasingly using blogs as online diaries, which can be distributed to friends and personal
networks (Munar 2009). Smartphones and Wi-Fi make it very easy for tourists to post to online
communities such as TripAdvisor or Wayn.com during their stay. A strong infl uence on the
content disseminated through social media by the tourist will be the quality of the service
experience.
Post-consumption brand experience
The brand experience lives on after the core consumption experience, when the tourist can
upload video, images and text to various content sharing websites, coloured by the individual
recollection of the experience. Online tourist networks and communities impact signifi cantly on
the tourism brand experience, because of the considerable infl uence that online consumer
review has on tourist decision making (Papathassis and Knolle 2011), and so positive reviews of
the tourist experience are very desirable. Once the tourist has experienced the consumption of
