Tourists are motivated to spread by means of information

The fact that spreading works is good news for the tourism sector, which has included 'spreading through motivation’ as an important spearhead in its ‘Perspectief 2030’. More attractions must be put on the map as attractive destinations. The aim is to relieve tourist hotspots and thus minimise overtourism. At the same time, less crowded places, which suffer from undertourism, can benefit more from tourism.

‘Spreading visitors by bringing other places to their attention, as mentioned in ‘Perspectief 2030’, is something that sounds quite logical but so far has been based mostly on gut feeling,’ says Marieke Politiek, Intell and Insights Team Lead at NBTC. ‘This project was the first to really investigate whether visitors can be tempted by alternative tips to visit other places. This project generated solid evidence for this.’ 

Current information exacerbates overtourism 

This project focused on how tourists can be informed about lesser-known places so that they actually visit them and those visits are at least as enjoyable as the ones they would have made if they had not been informed. At present, information to tourists is provided in a way that leads to both over- and undertourism as it mainly directs tourists to familiar and crowded places. New models of providing information to tourists, including systems based on recommendations (such as apps and chatbots) have so far failed to change the situation. Therefore, it is time for more policy-driven tourism information provision. But does that work?

This study examined whether policy-driven models of tourism information provision and hyper-personalised information provision, based on recommendations through WhatsApp conversations, are effective in spreading tourists. And can this spreading take place while maintaining or even increasing the quality of the experience?

How was the experiment set up?

In the spring and summer of 2021, 150 overnight tourists at 10 holiday resorts in Overijssel were closely followed (with their consent). Before, during and after their holiday, they reported on their holiday experience, holiday appreciation and their quality of life. Participants were randomly assigned to one of four groups. ‘What makes this project unique, is that we carried out a real experiment,’ says Ondrej Mitas on behalf of the research team. ‘This means that people were randomly assigned to one of the four groups and given different information, after which we measured their behaviour.’ The first (control) group was presented with an app containing a map of the best rated excursions in the region (experience-driven tips). Another group also received a map within the same app, but with less visited locations highlighted (policy-driven tips). The other two groups were offered a WhatsApp contact to chat with, in which they either received experience-driven or policy-driven tips. These conversations were facilitated by Travel With Zoey. This company specialises in providing travellers with highly personalised tips through conversation models. 

Holiday experiences were not affected 

The first striking conclusion is that no significant differences were found between the various groups for the evaluation of the holiday and quality of life. Thus, for the holiday experience, it does not matter whether people visit tourist hotspots or other, less popular attractions. The second important conclusion is that compared to the control group, all other groups were more present at less well-known attractions. And it also works for relieving hotspots, as participants who received policy-driven tips visited 88% fewer experience-driven attractions. The groups that were in dialogue via WhatsApp were even better spread across the region and the information was more appreciated by the users.

Ondrej Mitas: ‘The differences in their behaviour – which were quite substantial – can only be explained by the differences in the information they received.’ The overall conclusion is therefore that it is possible to tempt tourists, by means of information, to visit other locations in their holiday region, without affecting their holiday experience.

Figure: Difference between experience-driven and policy-driven participants

Directing tourists for policy objectives 

The research offers numerous leads for DMOs to organise their communication in such a way that they can give direction to the policy objectives of their city or region. The fact that it is possible to give direction, and that it actually works, is supported by this study: the information tourists receive strongly influences their behaviour. They respond to digital recommendation systems, whether they are passive or active. ‘I think the findings from this research are a wake-up call to take a much more conscious approach to the information that tourists receive,’ Ondrej Mitas explains. ‘Quality attractions that deserve and can handle more tourists, received more visitors, simply because tourists heard about them when they were looking or asking for information.’

In this respect, advanced conversation systems are the most powerful, because of the possibilities for personalisation and social involvement. The DMOs have an important role to play in the selection of alternative attractions that must be in line with the quality of experience that guests expect. 

MarketingOost is very pleased with the results. ‘It turns out that people can really be motivated to go to other places, by offering the right content, and that their experience is none the worse for it,’ reports Wendy Weijdema, Strategy, Research & Innovation Manager. ‘This gives Overijssel opportunities to achieve qualitative growth in tourism and recreation without increasing the burden.’

About the Data & Development Lab Bestemming Nederland

This research project was made possible by the Data & Development Lab Bestemming Nederland. The parties within this Lab - NBTC, Statistics Netherlands and CELTH - focus on the joint development of data and insights, making use of existing as well as new data sources and techniques. The projects have an experimental character and are always set up around a topical theme.

Download

Download now the complete final report (in Dutch) ‘Experience Overijssel: Optimal tourist experience and density in Overijssel via social interaction in the conversational recommender system, Travel With Zoey’