1. Northumberland Tourism: Future-proofing your Digital Strategy Jude Leitch General Manager Linked In: Jude Leitch,

2. The Distant Past….. Up to 2010:
Significant government funding for tourism
Product shown on national websites via Englandnet
All businesses marketed for free (if accredited)
Tourist Boards first stop for tourism businesses’ marketing
Competition non existent or amateur
Enough to have a website

3. The New World of Digital Tourism Marketing
Loss of funding – need to generate income
Rapidly developing new technologies: Mobile platforms, apps, social media responsive design……
Strong competition from Online Booking providers, TripAdvisor etc
Changing visitor behaviour – want immediate, responsive, inspiring info
Now have option to use open source/bespoke systems.

4. Northumberland Tourism’s Digital Strategy
Key considerations:
Cost
Functionality
Ability to generate income
Resource available (staff time & skills)
Development potential – how to keep up with changing technology
Suitable use of funding (State Aid Risk Assessment)

5. Northumberland Tourism’s Digital Strategy
Options:
3rd party proprietory system
Open source– Joomla, Drupal Wordpress etc
Develop own DMS – writing bespoke software,

7. Northumberland Tourism’s Digital Strategy
Implications/Risks
Development took 4-5 months
Need to maintain in-house developer
Not our core business
We’re not Software Developers
We’re not Project Managers
Would our businesses adapt to/accept a new system?

8. Our Experience
New DMS delivered on time/to budget. Unique visits up 60% in 2014.
Businesses love new easy to use systems and use of extranet increased
Admin costs significantly reduced
In house development means constantly improving and adding functionality
Linking to more systems
Money saved can be spent on our main objective: Promoting Northumberland

10. Conclusion
Your digital strategy should be based on your Destination’s needs
Consider other, similar Destinations –ask for advice
Developing our own system was the best option for Northumberland…

11. Questions?
Jude Leitch
Visitnorthumberland.com Linked In: Jude Leitch,