DMOs and Tourism

�Time is a precious resource, and there never seems to be enough of it.� Bethany Drysdale, the Chief Communications Officer at Travel Nevada, had a challenge, one that many companies across the travel industry face on a day-to-day basis. Too much time was being spent on itinerary building, and there had to be a way to save some. �We spent way too much time drafting itineraries as Word documents. The process was lengthy, and if a small change had to be made, the entire doc had to be edited, resaved, resent to the guest, and it often resulted in miscommunication.� Because this process took so long each time her team started creating a new itinerary, she decided to explore solutions that would improve the process. Enter Travefy.

We spent way too much time drafting itineraries as Word documents.

Time savings aside, Travel Nevada is seeing a ton of other benefits, first and foremost being customer service. �The media and tour operators (guests) who receive the Travefy itinerary appreciate the real-time updates to their itinerary and the ability to access their itinerary online or via an app,� Drysdale comments. In the end, it�s all about the traveler, and DMOs are in constant communications with their guests. With Travefy, DMOs have the ability to make real time changes and provide updates through the web and mobile app versions of the itinerary. Coupled with the built-in messaging system in the consumer-facing Trip Plans app, directly connecting with clients is hugely possible with Travefy.

The guests appreciate the real-time updates to their itinerary via an app.

Travel Nevada with Travefy has a much more efficient process when it comes to organizing and sharing the information their guests need to explore their great state. This could be your DMO too! Streamline and save time for your DMO, and you don�t have to take our word for it. This, as well as a series of case studies that we�re putting out centered around DMOs and the benefits they�re experiencing with Travefy, will be a great way to take other people�s word for it too.

We�re all time-obsessed. It�s the one commodity that we can�t get enough of or replace, so we all feel the need to maximize each day. That sentiment is at the forefront of the travel industry, and it is something travel professionals worry about every day. Tourism Calgary was no exception, as they were looking for a way to efficiently build itineraries to save time in their processes.

Tourism Calgary, a destination marketing organization, has been using Travefy for several years on their Earned Media team. �Our team works with a variety of organizations and partners to curate media and travel trade visits,� says Lindsay Gallant, one of the managers on the team. These trips are usually quite extensive and require a lot of work, and these trips need to impress everyone from start to finish.

�Previous to Travefy we were fumbling with Word documents to create itineraries that didn�t fit the quality and the ease of use that we intended,� continues Gallant. Since starting with Travefy Pro, the team has been able to save time in the itinerary creation process. The time savings has come through powerful tools like the Library, where frequently used events can be saved, as well as rich content tools like Travefy�s options to attach multimedia to events. �The team�s workflow has become more organized and the strains on their capacity have been reduced.� Across the board, the process has become more efficient.

...visitors who use the itineraries can�t stop raving about their itineraries.

But, saving time isn�t going to win business. Good thing Travefy appeals to travelers as well. �Most importantly, the visitors who use the itineraries can�t stop raving about their itineraries. They [the travelers] love that their flights are updated in real-time, that it�s visually appealing and easy to use, it�s interactive and provides them with all of the information and tools that they need to explore the destination with ease,� says Gallant. Travefy not only has the travel professional in mind, but also the traveler, who�s satisfaction is the ultimate goal. Whether these media and travel trade professionals are using the web, Trip Plans app, or a printed PDF, they are able to use the itinerary as much or as little as needed. Sometimes it�s fun to just click into the event pictures or play the embedded videos, but sometimes knowing all the intricate details help the trip go off without a hitch.

Destination Marketing is an industry that grows as quickly as the region these organizations represent grow. We here at Travefy intend to continue to grow as well. �In a world with increasing noise and competition to tell stories, Travefy will continue to set us apart as a leader in destination marketing,� says Gallant.

Something that can be lost in the hustle and bustle of a business is how particular things look. In our day and age, where pictures are posted instantly to social media, now more than ever aspects of our business are scrutinized on how they look and present themselves. For Edmonton Tourism, it can be a culmination of many things, but first and foremost it�s about what�s presented to the people they have traveling in their region.

�We need to show value to our stakeholders and partners we work with,� states Meredith McLennan, a Travel Media Market lead for Edmonton Tourism (a division of Edmonton Economic Development). �It is essential we provide a seamless itinerary for media to follow so that their experience with our partners is positive and mutually beneficial.� With so many people involved in the process from start to finish, providing the necessary details in a beautiful and engaging fashion makes it that much more enjoyable. �We often receive compliments from media on how visually appealing and organized our Travefy itineraries are.� That�s music to our ears.

But how do DMOs like Edmonton Tourism provide this seamless itinerary to those that are consuming the information? There are many ways in fact. First, because there is an easy process and final product set up for travel professionals, there�s no longer a need to pick and choose what information to give. Simply input everything (and still save time) and allow the end users to decide what�s important to know. Additionally, there are rich details that can be provided in each event, from personal notes and directions, to multimedia like photos or videos embedded directly in the event itself. This can all be experienced by the travelers in three different forms: web, mobile app, or PDF based on their personal preference. All of these details and visuals pop in all three formats and can be interacted with on the web and Trip Plans app.

Not to be lost in that is the time savings Edmonton Tourism also experienced with Travefy Pro. �Previously Edmonton Tourism was using Microsoft Word and Excel to populate itineraries. It would take us half and sometimes full days to try and format the word document so the document was organized and presentable to media. It was incredibly time-consuming for us and since using Travefy it has saved us a lot of time,� continues McLennan. Travefy strives to not only provide the best experience to our DMO�s clients, but also make the process more efficient and save time for these travel professionals. The software is built to turn these full days into just hours or even minutes to build out itineraries.

Whether it�s saving a DMO travel professional time in their every day job or helping provide the very best experience in the very best places, Travefy exists to boost the quality in all steps in the traveling process.