East versus West: A comparison of online destination marketing in China and the USA

Abstract

The internet is playing an increasingly important role in destination marketing. To explore the current situation of online marketing in major destinations, this study compared destination marketing organisation (DMO) websites in the USA and China. By applying a modified balanced scorecard approach, website marketing strategies, web page designs, marketing information and technical qualities were evaluated. The main purpose was to determine similarities and differences among the official DMO websites in the USA and China. Four tiers of DMO websites were evaluated: state tourism offices and convention and visitors bureaus (CVBs) in the USA, and provincial and city tourism administrations in China. US DMO websites were found to be superior to those in China in terms of marketing strategies and information, and US CVB sites received the highest evaluations. Based on the evaluation results, recommendations were made on how DMOs can improve their websites to develop them into more effective destination marketing tools.

Marketing Small Wineries: An Exploratory Approach to Website Evaluation

“…The modified BSC approach was subsequently implemented in evaluating the Websites of other types of hospitality and tourism businesses. Examples were convention centres (Kim et al 2002;Kim et al 2004), national tourism organizations (Ismail et al 2002;So and Morrison 2002), destination marketing organizations (Feng et al 2003), andB&Bs (StJohn et al 2003). These studies used content analysis by one or more experts to evaluate the CSFs pertinent to the four perspectives specific to the business type ).…”

Strategic Performance Measurement and Value Drivers: Evidence from International Tourist Hotels in an Emerging Economy

“…A considerable number of studies have employed the BSC concept to examine the performance of hotels and the strategy of tourism [e.g. Struebing, 1996;Denton and White, 2000;Feng et al, 2003;Phillips, 2004]. For instance, by using the hotel portfolio managed by White Lodging Services Corporation as the research sample, Denton and White [2000] utilised the balanced scorecard to align owners' and managers' goals to overcome problems in managing hotel operations.…”

Evaluation of Web Site Performance: Korean Convention Centers

“…Figure 1 shows the BSC approach comprising four perspectives, used by Morrison et al (1999) to evaluate Web site performance. Feng et al (2003) adopted a modified BSC approach of Morrison et al (1999) to assess similarities and differences among the official destination marketing organizations' (DMOs) Web sites in the US and China. The authors adapted the perspectives to reflect the DMO situation better.…”

“…As a useful method to evaluate Web site performance, the modified balanced scorecard (BSC) approach has been used in several studies to evaluate the effectiveness of Web site performance of hotels in the UK (Morrison, Taylor, Morrison, & Morrison, 1999), destination marketing organizations in the US and China (Feng, Morrison, & Ismail, 2003) and convention centers in the US (D. Y. Kim et al, 2003).…”