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DMOs working in partnership with TXGB: A targeted low-cost route to market

Tuesday December 8, 2020

TXGB is now connected to over 40 DMOs. Wondering what that means for you? Read on.

In tourism industry terms, a DMO (destination marketing organisation) is an organisation responsible for the promotion of a destination, or a group of destinations. Replacing what used to be the local tourist boards of old, they may be public sector bodies, private companies or partnerships between the two – funded by local authority, by membership fees, or both.

For consumers, a DMO offers a trusted source of information when planning a trip. Whilst some may be used by international visitors, they are particularly useful for domestic visitors planning day trips and staycations.

TXGB is empowering DMOs to change their relationship with consumers

In a world where consumers are faced with an abundance of choice, bookability is key. If a consumer can move from look to book with ease on just one website then there is a much greater chance of a sales conversion.

But this wasn’t always possible on DMO websites.

A number of DMOs have offered an online booking option for some time – however, more often than not this has involved sending consumers off to 3rd party websites (where they may end up booking something completely different). Once off the DMO site, commission payments are much higher, and DMOs miss out on data capture opportunities that are important to building smarter campaigns in the future. Other DMOs have never offered bookability, so their website has always functioned as purely a source of inspiration and information, but without a strong call to action.

TXGB is changing the rules – giving all DMOs the functionality to feature availability and booking on their own website. All in one place. Friction free. Consumers can research their trips, check dates, and book all in one place. And as the number of required consumer clicks decreases, conversion to sales naturally increases.

When bookings are taken on the DMO website, TXGB enables these bookings to be direct. Here, the supplier holds the relationship with the consumer and payment to the supplier is made directly at time of booking. This means improved supplier cash flow and the opportunity for suppliers to nurture the relationship with their consumers.

TXGB also allows DMOs to gather valuable data relating to booking patterns and forward trends, in a way that wasn’t previously possible. This can be fed into creating more targeted marketing activity moving forward, benefitting the DMO, and local tourism businesses.

Supporting and growing the local visitor economy is a core role of the DMO alongside inspirational content and driving visitor numbers. With that in mind, many of them have chosen to offer very low commission rates with their TXGB connection – often as low as 2.5% (and in some cases 0%) – in order to support their local accommodation, attractions and experiences. Where commission is charged, then this is invested back into promoting the destination, creating a virtuous circle, for businesses, the DMO and the wider tourism economy.

Wrapped up with all of this is VisitEngland’s ongoing partnership with DMOs – advising and supporting with guidance, know-how, and funding. The nationwide network of DMOs is continually working to echo VisitEngland campaign messages. Likewise, VisitEngland signposts consumers from visitengland.com to DMO websites – as the source of the latest up to date, post-Covid information. Most recently DMOs have been invited to bid for funding to amplify VisitEngland’s Escape the Everyday campaign – enabling them to grow and promote their regions’ bookable experiences on their websites. With the support of the VisitEngland media campaign, and marketing budget assigned to the successful DMOs, businesses which are connected to TXGB via their DMO will benefit from this.

So today, over 40 DMOs are connected to TXGB. And we’re fast approaching 50. Check out our partner page to see which connected DMOs could work for you. If you run a tourism business we invite you to connect to TXGB and see the benefits of this targeted, low commission route to market.