DMA Banner

DMO Visitor Guide Readership & Conversion Study

Research Study Continues Through 2020 and Early 2021

The DMA West Education & Research Foundation has partnered with Destination Analysts to assist DMOs in developing a profile of travelers who use DMO-published official Visitor Guides and estimate the Return on Investment these official Visitor Guides bring to their respective communities.

Special thanks to those DMOs participating in the study: Casper, Colorado Springs, Fairbanks, Grand Junction, Lubbock, Olympic Peninsula, Seattle Southside, Tempe, Tucson, Tuolumne County, Washington County, Yosemite Madera County and Greater Zion.

Special appreciation to Miles Partnership as the study’s Signature Sponsor in helping to underwrite the study with a $15,000 sponsorship.

The Board previously approved Foundation grants for western DMO participants in the 2020 Visitor

Guide Readership & Conversion Study as follows:

  • DMOs with budgets of less than $1 million | Foundation Grant: $5,000
  • DMOs with budgets of $1 million to $5 million | Foundation Grant: $2,500
  • DMOs with budgets more than $5 million | No Foundation Grant

Given the impact of COVID-19, Destination Analysts has, or is planning to, implement the following in regard to the Foundation’s Visitor Guide Readership & Conversion Study in response to the public health crisis.

  • To help the DMOs participating in the study with additional metrics to have for their communications strategies around COVID-19, Destination Analysts will add questions to the survey specifically addressing these travelers/visitor guide requestors’ sentiment and behaviors as a result of the coronavirus.
  • Destination Analysts will extend the research study period for one to two quarters (at no additional cost). In addition to capturing a more “normal” period in the extension, Destination Analysts believes that the data collected during the disrupted period will ultimately be quite valuable in demonstrating the importance of DMO efforts.

In summer 2021, the Foundation will release the Executive Summary of the study on a complimentary basis to the destination marketing industry at large.