People's Choice Award
2022
Nominee
Finalist
Shortlist
Winner
Digital That Delivers
Fáilte Ireland
Over the past few years, there has been a growing trend in the travel sector around the online distribution of visitor experiences (attractions, day tours and activities). More visitors today are using online channels to plan which destinations they want to visit and to book all components of their trip. Research by Fáilte Ireland in January 2020 revealed that out of 1,486 Irish attractions, tours, and activities, only 13% were using booking systems that could integrate with point of-sale devices, facilitate online bookings by trade customers, connect to online travel agencies (OTAs) or other online distribution networks. This implied that at least 87% of Irish visitor experience suppliers were using outdated systems or using separate systems for each distribution channel. There was a clear need for widespread digital transformation across the visitor experiences sector and Digital that Delivers provides the support, funding and expertise to enable these tourism businesses to set themselves up for future success.
Digital that Delivers is a support programme that powers online excellence for tourism businesses. This programme will help increase their online presence, better adopt digital technologies, make data-led decisions and support visitor experiences to implement an omnichannel distribution strategy – ensuring visitor experiences are using their booking system to process direct bookings, distribute to 3rd party distributors and benefit from operational efficiencies. The Digital that Delivers programme recruited a first intake of eligible tourism businesses in May 2021. There are currently 246 visitor experiences engaged in the programme who will continue their digital transformation through 2022 and graduate by the end of 2023.
Digital that Delivers is comprised of seven key workstreams and participants can enter the programme at any point, depending on their level of digital maturity and their requirements. Eligible Irish visitor experiences are asked to provide details such as their pre-COVID-19 visitor numbers and staff count, along with an outline of the current technology they have in place. Confirmation is also required from applicants that they can provide the necessary staff and time resources to participate in and fully complete the Digital that Delivers programme along with any relevant training and workstreams. Following the Expression of Interest stage, selected applicants undergo a digital maturity review by Fáilte Ireland’s procured technical consultants. A unique Digital that Delivers roadmap is created for each participant, which identifies the specific workstreams through which they will progress on their journey toward digital transformation. All successful applicants will be supported by a dedicated project coordinator who will provide one to one support and mentoring at each stage of the applicant’s Digital that Delivers journey. Please see figure 2.
Judges Comments
Here is a summary of the judges comments for the winner of the People's Choice Award - Awarded to Fáilte Ireland for Digital that Delivers.
Why it's a winner
Fáilte Ireland's digitalisation programme for Ireland's tourism sector is an exceptional example of a destination which understands the critical importance of investing fully in tourism, recognising the role it brings in the wider Irish economy, as well as its important cultural and societal benefits. As winner of the 2022 People's Choice Award, it is clear that this recognition is well deserved.
Digital that Delivers is perhaps the most ambitious digitalisation programme the Digital Tourism Think Tank has ever seen, with extremely bold objectives driven by a recognition that an amazing digital brand experience for the visitor on ireland.com must also be supported by an excellent digital brand experience for all of Ireland's tourism businesses. The programme's goals aim to achieve this from presence through to distribution, strengthening the competitiveness of Ireland's tourism offer across the many dispersed digital touchpoints that exist today, creating alignment between brand, product and conversion.
What it taught us
A destination brand proposition on its own is not enough. With strong leadership and good governance Fáilte Ireland has show us that it is possible to get the industry behind the same ambition and commitments. It is clear that a comprehensive and coordinated effort is the only way to achieve this and yet the necessity to invest in digital is clear for businesses who depend on visitors for whom inspiration, planning and purchase decisions happen largely online.
Scoring
The people have voted! The strengths of the project speak for themselves, but they also spoke for the hundreds of people who voted it the People’s Choice. It’s not hard to see why, as a community of some of the strongest digital leaders in the global tourism industry, there is clear recognition for the project’s excellent strategy, creativity and impact.
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