3.14 Leveraging Data & Measuring Impact: Visit Djursland

The case study presents how the Djursland region in Denmark used Mobile Crowd Sensing to gather data about visitor flows and later used it to better adapt their offerings and communication strategies.

The Development of DMO Strategies through the Use of Big Data

By reading this case study you'll be able to gather an overview of how DMOs can establish data partnerships to understand visitor movements and interests at the destination, allowing them to improve their offering and communication strategy.

The Development of DMO Strategies through the Use of Big Data

By reading this case study you'll be able to gather an overview of how DMOs can establish data partnerships to understand visitor movements and interests at the destination, allowing them to improve their offering and communication strategy.

The Development of DMO Strategies through the Use of Big Data

By reading this case study you'll be able to gather an overview of how DMOs can establish data partnerships to understand visitor movements and interests at the destination, allowing them to improve their offering and communication strategy.

Main Takeaways:

  • The establishment of partnerships between technological and tourism businesses can aid the destination's sustainable transformation.
  • Gathering and analysing data within the destination can help us better understand visitors and provide better offerings to increase the attractiveness of the destination.

Summary

Djursland is a popular coastal holiday region in Denmark that hosts a wide range of large and small tourism businesses. In the summer of 2017, New Nordic Engineering and Destination Djursland collaborated on a pilot project to map visitors' movements between the destination's attractions.

The objective of the project was to identify tourist movement patterns to provide a better understanding of visitor flows and to adapt the destination offer and develop new tourism products.

Process

The method used by Visit Djursland is called 'Mobile Crowd Sensing'. To capture tourist movements across the destination, New Nordic Engineering developed small measurement stations with built-in computers to capture visitors' smartphone signals. Stations catch between 60-90% of the passers-by.

Smartphones send out a signal 1-2 times a minute in order to scan for nearby WiFi networks. These signals contain a unique 16-digit number which is identified by the computer. The number has no connection to the phone number in the phone's SIM card, ensuring the users' privacy.

Development

Together with New Nordic Engineering, Destination Djursland identified five groups of touchpoints where tourism movements had to be measured: key counters, indoor attractions, outdoor attractions, nature experiences and shopping/urban environments.

Across these touchpoints, New Nordic Engineering set up 26 measurement stations.

Data acquired from the stations were gathered, elaborated and processed by New Nordic Engineering and made available to the DMO through a database with a dashboard.

Results

Overall, results were useful for a more complete overview of tourism flows within the destination, confirming or disavowing previous assumptions and generating insights on the number of tourists visiting attractions, where no ticket is to be redeemed.

Data showed very different visitor patterns for the five defined groups of measurement points. Some touchpoints showed a weekly peak of visitors, some a seasonal peak and others peaked a single day of the week and were low on visitors on other days.

Data helped identify repeated visits across places, showing which places were typically visited by the same guests and in what order. Data could put visits in relation to time, demonstrating which places guests visited first, for how long and at what time of day.

Results showed no relation between rainy days and the number of visitors, giving the DMO the opportunity to unmask a false assumption.

Natural spots within national parks do not often share many of their guests with the rest of the destination, showing great potential to guide the nature-interested guests to other parts of Djursland and vice versa.

Visit Djursland used these results to adapt its marketing campaigns and to run workshops with business partners across the region to work on their offer and develop new products.

Numbers

  • 42 total weeks of measurements
  • 26 measurement stations
  • 10 million measurements gathered from 200.000 unique guests

The Development of DMO Strategies through the Use of Big Data

By reading this case study you'll be able to gather an overview of how DMOs can establish data partnerships to understand visitor movements and interests at the destination, allowing them to improve their offering and communication strategy.

The Development of DMO Strategies through the Use of Big Data

By reading this case study you'll be able to gather an overview of how DMOs can establish data partnerships to understand visitor movements and interests at the destination, allowing them to improve their offering and communication strategy.

Main Takeaways:

  • The establishment of partnerships between technological and tourism businesses can aid the destination's sustainable transformation.
  • Gathering and analysing data within the destination can help us better understand visitors and provide better offerings to increase the attractiveness of the destination.

Summary

Djursland is a popular coastal holiday region in Denmark that hosts a wide range of large and small tourism businesses. In the summer of 2017, New Nordic Engineering and Destination Djursland collaborated on a pilot project to map visitors' movements between the destination's attractions.

The objective of the project was to identify tourist movement patterns to provide a better understanding of visitor flows and to adapt the destination offer and develop new tourism products.

Process

The method used by Visit Djursland is called 'Mobile Crowd Sensing'. To capture tourist movements across the destination, New Nordic Engineering developed small measurement stations with built-in computers to capture visitors' smartphone signals. Stations catch between 60-90% of the passers-by.

Smartphones send out a signal 1-2 times a minute in order to scan for nearby WiFi networks. These signals contain a unique 16-digit number which is identified by the computer. The number has no connection to the phone number in the phone's SIM card, ensuring the users' privacy.

Development

Together with New Nordic Engineering, Destination Djursland identified five groups of touchpoints where tourism movements had to be measured: key counters, indoor attractions, outdoor attractions, nature experiences and shopping/urban environments.

Across these touchpoints, New Nordic Engineering set up 26 measurement stations.

Data acquired from the stations were gathered, elaborated and processed by New Nordic Engineering and made available to the DMO through a database with a dashboard.

Results

Overall, results were useful for a more complete overview of tourism flows within the destination, confirming or disavowing previous assumptions and generating insights on the number of tourists visiting attractions, where no ticket is to be redeemed.

Data showed very different visitor patterns for the five defined groups of measurement points. Some touchpoints showed a weekly peak of visitors, some a seasonal peak and others peaked a single day of the week and were low on visitors on other days.

Data helped identify repeated visits across places, showing which places were typically visited by the same guests and in what order. Data could put visits in relation to time, demonstrating which places guests visited first, for how long and at what time of day.

Results showed no relation between rainy days and the number of visitors, giving the DMO the opportunity to unmask a false assumption.

Natural spots within national parks do not often share many of their guests with the rest of the destination, showing great potential to guide the nature-interested guests to other parts of Djursland and vice versa.

Visit Djursland used these results to adapt its marketing campaigns and to run workshops with business partners across the region to work on their offer and develop new products.

Numbers

  • 42 total weeks of measurements
  • 26 measurement stations
  • 10 million measurements gathered from 200.000 unique guests