Discover Dorset;  one of our key objectives in committing to the Digital Destination project was to share real life experiences with other local tourism businesses and learn from Bournemouth University best practices from the wider tourism industry.  These aims were accomplished through attending the Seminars and hosting one of the Action Learning Meetings. We also recognised a need to ensure that we were using the most effective on-going means of social media to engage with customers using any one of our four parallel services in order that we could cross refer and secure business for the future sustainability of our Company.

1. DIGITAL DESTINATIONS
Dr Philip Alford
Bournemouth University
www.digitalhub.co.uk
www.pinterest.com/digitaldest
www.slideshare.net/DigitalHub
ddp@bournemouth.ac.uk
@schooloftourism | @philipalford
#DDBU

2. Digital Destinations project is an ESRC funded research project,
delivered by Bournemouth University,
with an overarching aim to:
‘capture change in the adoption and use of digital technologies
and to develop a strong, competitive local tourism economy.
Through increased understanding and use of emerging digital
technologies, visitor economy businesses will be in a position to
increase their marketing and management effectiveness, and
develop new products and services that will provide an
enhanced experience for visitors to their destinations’

3. The businesses benefited from 4 workshops which covered:
 Background to on line marketing
 Individual Business objectives
 Developing the strategy
 Measuring impact
 Reporting outcomes via case studies
All course material can be found at http://www.slideshare.net/DigitalHub
All business outcomes and blogs can be found at http://www.budigitalhub.co.uk/

4. The following presentation is the case study provided by Discover Dorset
Discover Dorset; one of our key objectives in committing to the Digital Destination
project was to share real life experiences with other local tourism businesses and
learn from Bournemouth University best practices from the wider tourism
industry. These aims were accomplished through attending the Seminars and hosting
one of the Action Learning Meetings. We also recognised a need to ensure that we
were using the most effective on-going means of social media to engage with
customers using any one of our four parallel services in order that we could cross
refer and secure business for the future sustainability of our Company.

5. Discover Dorset Tours
Digital Destination Project 2012/13
Case Study
www.discoverdorset.co.uk

6. Introduction
• Discover Dorset Tours is a Bournemouth based day tour operator. It has a
website, Facebook, Twitter and Trip Advisor presence.
• Our student Harry Corr has conducted a thorough analysis of our current
digital marketing and developed a number of recommendations.
• We are currently in the process of implementing these recommendations.
• Aims and Objectives
• Increase online customer engagement through Facebook
• Create a video marketing campaign to target new and existing markets

7. Actions
1. Update Facebook page more often and run incentives to encourage ‘likes’ and tagging.
• • Have been adding additional content, mostly images, especially news worthy like the recent landslide at
St Oswald’s Bay
• • Updated follow up email, sent after tour with links to Facebook, Twitter and ‘add a review’ link on Trip
Advisor
• • Have put signs up inside buses with QR code links to Facebook.
• ToDo.
• • Photo competition email to be sent during day, instead going to do as an SMS on certain trips, firstly
Jurassic Coast.
• 2. Commission Video for the Jurassic Coast Experience
• • Have built a new website for the Jurassic Coast Experience and rebranded.
• • Worked with Bmth Uni students to produce video of Jurassic Coast, did not come to anything.
• • Commissioned Tourist Network Ltd to produce video of Jurassic Coast Experience, including getting off the
train, ferry, stripy bus etc..
• ToDo
• Video shoot on Friday 7th of June
• • Edit, and publish on our website, YouTube, and Facebook/Twitter

8. Summary and Conclusion on Project
In keeping with many other businesses I do not feel that my expectations for
this project have been met, they have in fact been far exceeded through the
work and consideration given to this task by Harry.
As a business faced with the cloud of opportunity and competitive threat
Social Networking and digital marketing present, it is very hard to define
where your efforts and money should be best spent.
Being only one subject within a final year degree course, there is only a
limited amount of time that an undergraduate can spend with a business. As
business owners and managers, many of us think of little else apart from our
businesses, there is therefore and inherent risk of conflict between what is
expected and delivered.
Harry’s biggest contribution has been the helicopter view that he has been
able to bring to bear and teasing out the important factors for us as a business
to focus on. Using some solid marketing concepts and tools Harry has
revealed some useful new ideas and perspectives and reminded us of some
things we have forgotten in the fug of day to day operations.
Whilst the scope of the project was quite rightly narrow and precise, the report
Harry prepared was useful for other parts of our business and act as a good
reference document. A number of other people who work in the business or
who are closely connected with it have also read the report and are impressed
by its contents.
The commitment shown to this project by all the participants clearly illustrates
a rare and happy union of the academic and commercial world. I do think that
this should be developed further and I would welcome the opportunity to work
with another student in 2013/14 to take this project on to the next level.

9. For more information on DIGITAL DESTINATIONS contact:
Dr Philip Alford, Bournemouth University
ddp@bournemouth.ac.uk
@schooloftourism | @philipalford
#DDBU