In 2015, Malta’s tourism industry reached new heights, with a record 1.8 million visitors experiencing the attractions, the lifestyle and the warm hospitality for which the Maltese islands are renowned.
For many of these tourists, it was their first visit to our islands. They chose Malta from among a host of destination offers, not only from around the Mediterranean, but worldwide. For an (impressively high) proportion of tourists, on the other hand, this was a return visit to a destination which had previously met, or perhaps even exceeded, their expectations.
What makes people opt for a destination which they would not have even heard about before, much less considered as a place to spend their hard-earned break? What makes someone want to come back again, and in some cases, again and again, to the same destination?
Reputation management provides many of the answers to these questions. Indeed, for a small destination like ours, competing for visibility in an extremely competitive and volatile market, with destinations which boast marketing budgets we can only dream of, reputation management is key for our tourism industry to maintain its current success. But what is reputation management?
Simply stated, reputation management is whatever we do, both proactively and reactively, in order to ensure that our tourism offer continues to be perceived and valued in such way as to encourage both repeat and new business.
International travellers attribute the strong influence of travel blogs, forums and review sites, to their ultimate travel decision
Rather than viewing reputation management as some slick marketing or PR ploy, however, we should recognise the fact that the international consumer today is in a position to evaluate our destination, judge our performance and influence others in the process. Therefore, reputations have to be continually, and painstakingly, earned on the ground, day after day, visitor by visitor. They also need to be reviewed, and thus require continuous monitoring and attention.
Forward-looking destinations recognise the importance, in today’s tourism market reality, of responding to and shaping the conversation around consumer experiences. While it is true that price remains a primary consideration for travellers, published online ratings and reviews are close behind when it comes to conversion, that is, the actual purchase. These, in turn, act as a prompting mechanism which travellers seek when they come to make their choices.
I started off this article by stating that 2015 was a record year for tourism. And given that we seem to be on a roll, so to speak, why should we invest in reputation management? Research undertaken regularly by the Malta Tourism Authority among visitors to our islands shows that no less than 30 per cent of inbound tourists are repeat visitors. Significantly, the share goes up to 50 per cent for the UK market.
When asked what influenced their decision to choose Malta as their next holiday destination, around 34 per cent of respondents regularly state that they would have based their decision on word-of-mouth recommendations, presumably by friends or relatives who had already visited, while around 26 per cent would usually quote internet sources, usually in the form of feedback left on travel and related sites, by previous visitors.
The reasons for Malta’s positive reputation also emerges from this research. Nine out of every 10 tourists interviewed regularly rate Maltese hospitality as ‘very good’, or at least as ‘good’. The source of Malta’s success as a tourism destination appears to be summed up by the fact that 92 per cent of tourists rate their overall experience positively and would recommend the destination to their friends and relatives.
Increasingly, Malta needs to win its reputation in cyberspace. And tourism in the digital era is a whole new ball game. Today, travellers do not only have unlimited access to information, they also share it among each other also in real time. Often, peer reviews, or ‘feedback’, have the power to make or break brands, including destinations.
In fact, international travellers attribute the strong influence of travel blogs, forums and review sites, to their ultimate travel decision, with 39 per cent saying that these influenced their choice of travel destination. For 31 per cent, these online consumer tools also helped them in their choice of accommodation, while 20 per cent said that other consumers’ opinions found on such sites influenced their choice of type of holiday (source: IPK International).
MTA research confirms that these sources play a major role in the decision-making process of tourists coming to Malta. This research shows that seven out of 10 tourists visiting Malta are social media users, with more than half utilising social media to look for information on the destination and accommodation options when planning their trip.
Interestingly, some 45 per cent of tourists remain active on social media during their stay, mainly to source information about local sites and attractions, and to share holiday pictures and status updates. Even once they return home, 32 per cent of tourists continue giving feedback about their experience, particularly again by sharing holiday pictures and status updates.
As those involved in marketing know, you need to keep your ear to the ground and know what people are saying about your product and business. Hence the need to be aware of what travellers and potential travellers are saying about the destination or one’s business in the digital world, including social media sites, consumer review sites such as TripAdvisor, search engines, or one’s own website.
On the other hand, from a pro-active point of view, the best way to attract visitors is through a spectacular online presence.
How can businesses better manage their reputations? Dedicating the appropriate resources is indispensable. Funds should be earmarked for online relationship management. However, tourism-related businesses also need to dedicate time and effort to online reviews.
They need to read them, learn from them and respond to them in a timely manner. And they must take the feedback at heart and make the improvements that guests care about.
Businesses need to constantly consider sites, and digital/social media in general, as an opportunity for them to listen to what their customers are saying, communicating with them, reviewing their offer and adapting it accordingly.
In fact, online reputation is evolving into a closer network of partnerships between the travel industry and third-party review outlets. The use of the latter is being seen as a way of ensuring transparency and credibility for consumers, while being a useful tool for businesses wishing to improve performance, better satisfy the needs of their customers, and succeed.
Good reputations build and reinforce brands. Consequently, reputation management allows destinations and businesses better prospects for long-term relationships with the traveller, in the process encouraging the drive for innovation and ultimately enhancing competitiveness.
Malta’s reputation has always been an important consideration for its tourism destination decision makers. Moreover, the MTA has long acknowledged and endorsed the challenges and opportunities posed by new technologies which empower today’s consumers.
It is within this context that the authority is in the process of kick-starting the systematic monitoring of Malta’s reputation as a tourism destination by making use of a leading cloud-based resource, which will help us obtain a deeper understanding of our reputation’s performance, as well as the destination’s operational strengths and weaknesses.
We will thus be safeguarding both the current and future benefits gained by the local community from a thriving tourism industry, which has established itself as a fundamental economic pillar and a Maltese success story.
Paul Bugeja is CEO of the Malta Tourism Authority.