visitnh.gov Website Conversion Report
Summer 2002
Prepared for
The New Hampshire Division of
Travel and Tourism Development
by
Stephen H. Thurston
The Institute for New Hampshire Studies
Plymouth State College
Plymouth, New Hampshire
03264
October, 2002
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
- EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
A. Background/Introduction...... 1
B. Methodology...... 2
C. Major Research Findings...... 3
D. Conclusions/Implications...... 4
- RESPONDENT DEMOGRAPHICS
A. Annual Household Income...... 6
B. Country/State of Residence...... 7
- WEBSITE USAGE PROFILE
A. How Locate DTTD Website...... 8
B. Incidence of Printing Pages...... 10
C. Incidence of Requesting Additional Information...... 11
D. Satisfaction with DTTD Website...... 12
E. Incidence of Visiting Other States’ Websites...... 15
F. Incidence of Requesting Information from Other States...... 16
- NEW HAMPSHIRE TRAVEL
A. Visit New Hampshire?...... 17
B. Influence of Website and Promotional Materials...... 18
C. Conversion Rate Analysis...... 19
D. Previous Seasonal Visiting Patterns...... 20
E. Likelihood of Future Visits...... 21
- CHARACTERISTICS OF TRAVEL PARTIES...... 22
- NON-VISITOR INFORMATION
A. Reason for Not Visiting New Hampshire - Summer 2002...... 23
B. Other Destinations Chosen...... 24
C. Reason for Choosing Other Destination...... 24
VII. APPENDIX……………………………………………………………………… 25
A. Copy of Survey Instrument
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Background/Introduction
In a continuing effort to help gauge the effectiveness of its marketing programs, The Division of Travel and Tourism Development (DTTD) has been conducting research of people making inquiries for several years. While the primary objective of such research has been to measure “conversion” (the percentage of people making inquiries who actually visited New Hampshire during a particular season), there were other research objectives as well:
$ documenting the nature of travel party visits to New Hampshire (party size, incidence of group travel, length of trip, incidence of staying over night, total expenditures)
$ identifying the major reasons for not visiting New Hampshire
$ quantifying the likelihood of visiting New Hampshire during future seasons.
Since previous research has shown that “conversion rates” for people making inquiries via DTTD’s website (www.visitnh.gov) were substantially higher than for those making inquiries via other means and considerable marketing resources have been dedicated to developing and improving the website, specific research has been conducted of website inquirers for the Summer 2002 season. In addition to addressing the typical “conversion-related” issues identified above, specific questions were asked about the use and usefulness of the site itself. A similar study was previously conducted for the Winter 2001/2002 season.
Methodology
A questionnaire was developed (copy in Appendix) to be administered online to a sample of 3,743 people who had made inquires via DTTD’s website during the months of April and May 2002 perhaps in anticipation of visiting during the Summer season. A ‘broadcast” email inviting them to complete a survey was sent to those inquirers who had indicated a desire to receive periodic updates from DTTD. If interested, they were provided a password and link to take the survey online. (Note: while the actual questions in the online version were the same as the hard copy in the Appendix, the presentation was enhanced with summer images and contained automatic “skip patterns” for ease of administration.)
A total of 806 usable responses have been tabulated representing a response rate of 21.5%. This
report, however, only presents survey data for those residing in the United States since the
sample sizes for Canadian and other International respondents were too small to be meaningful.
Major Research Findings
Website Usage
$ 60% of respondents reported using a search engine to locate DTTD’s website. Those most-mentioned were Google, Yahoo, and MSN.
$ 53% of respondents reported printing pages from the website - primarily having to do with “things to do”, “lodging”, and “maps”, and “events”.
$ Some 80% requested additional information - most typically by ordering a NH Guidebook.
$ The vast majority (90%) reported DTTD’s website provided all the information needed for their travel planning efforts.
$ 75% reported also visiting other states’ websites - primarily Vermont, Maine, and Massachusetts; 65% reported requesting travel information from other states - again, primarily from the 3 neighboring states.
NH Travel
$ The conversion rate (% of people making an inquiry who visited New Hampshire during the Summer of 2002 was 62%.
$ 43% of the respondents reported that the website influenced them to visit. This percentage was somewhat higher (51%) for the advertising/promotional materials.
$ The incidence of first-time visitors was 22%.
$ Return visitors reported having most often visited during the Summer over the last 3 years. Likewise, future visitors were more likely to visit during the Summer than other seasons over the next year.
Profile of Travel Parties
$ The incidence of visitors staying overnight was 91%
$ The average travel party was comprised of 2.6 adults and 1.6 children for a total of 4.2 persons.
$ The average travel party reportedly spent 7.1 days in New Hampshire and another 5 days in other states/provinces for a total trip duration of 12.1 days.
$ The average amount spent in New Hampshire was $885.90 which amounts to $29.70 per person/per day.
Non Visitors
$ The most-mentioned reasons for not visiting New Hampshire during the Summer of 2002 were “personal/family”. A second tier of reasons included “choosing another destination”, “economics” and “lack of vacation time”.
Conclusions/Implications
This research confirms previous indications from other more general conversion studies:
$ DTTD’s website is a strong generator and “converter” of US inquirers.
$ There is a high level of satisfaction with the website with regard to it providing all the information needed for people’s travel planning efforts.
It also provides more insight into the information needs of inquirers and the competitive nature
of the travel and tourism marketplace:
$ The majority (53%) of inquirers “printed out” pages - mostly related to “things to do”, “lodging”, “events/activities”, and “maps”. These topics also happened to be the areas receiving the most responses to the question about information found lacking.
$ 80% of inquirers requested additional information - most typically by ordering a NH Guidebook.
$ 75% reported visiting other states’ websites and 65% requested travel information from other states. Those states most often mentioned in both cases were NH’s immediate neighbors - Vermont, Maine, and Massachusetts.
The research, however, is somewhat inconclusive in other areas due to the wider geographic
distribution of respondents compared to previous conversion surveys:
$ While the conversion rate (62%) is actually as high as that reported by those residing in closer states, the relative influence played by the website and advertising/promotional materials (NH Guidebook) was reportedly less than previous surveys. While this could mean that people had already decided to visit before visiting the website or requesting travel information, it could also indicate that those traveling from farther distances have different information needs than those who live closer to New Hampshire.
Implications for DTTD’s future marketing and promotional efforts, however, seem clear:
$ Resources should continue to be devoted to enhancing the website to provide even more complete information for people’s travel planning needs. Areas for improvement seem to be related to “things to do”, “lodging”, and “maps”.
$ Continued efforts should be devoted to differentiating a “New Hampshire Experience” from that available from our neighboring states of Maine, Vermont, and Massachusetts.
While additional research is planned on the process by which people make decisions about travel to new destinations and the role of various information sources in that process, more research is recommended to better understand specifically how the NH Guidebook meets people’s information needs.
RESPONDENT DEMOGRAPHICS
Annual Household Income
As indicated in Table 1, over 20% of respondents reported annual household income of
$100,000 or more - a particular target of DTTD’s marketing efforts.
Table 1
Distribution of Respondents by
Annual Household Income
US
Income Group (n=609)
Less than $20,000 2.3%
$20,000-$34,999 8.7
$35,000-$49,999 19.5
$50,000-$74,999 26.6
$75,000-$99,999 21.8
$100,000-$149,999 14.6
$150,000 or more 6.5
_____
100.0%
State of Residence
Table 2 presents the distribution of US responses by state or geographic region. As can be seen,
while the distribution is nationwide, over one-third of respondents reportedly reside in New
England.
Table 2
Distribution of US Respondents by State/Geographic Region
(n=699)
New England States:
Massachusetts 15.2%
New Hampshire 7.9
Other 12.5
Subtotal 35.6%
Central States 22.9%
Mid-Atlantic States:
New York 11.3
Other 14.6
Subtotal 25.9%
Other East Coast states 9.1%
Western states 6.5%
Total 100.0%
WEBSITE USAGE PROFILE
How Locate DTTD Website?
Respondents were provided a list of sources that could have been used to locate DTTD’s website
and were asked which one(s) they actually used. Tables 3 and 3a summarize the responses
which indicate that:
$ Search engines were reportedly used by 60% of the US respondents. Those search engines reportedly used most were Google, Yahoo, and MSN.
$ Specific mentions of other websites visited prior to DTTD’s were: state.nh.us/webster (10); nh.com (5); mt. washington (2); boston.com (2); others - 1 each (23).
$ Specific magazines mentioned regarding advertising seen were: Yankee (18); NH Guidebook (11); Outside Magazine (3); Country Living (3); NY Times (2); Travel Magazine (2); Country Home (2); RCI Vacation Magazine (2); Reader’s Digest (2); Rand McNally Road Atlas (2); others - 1 each (18).
Table 3a
How Locate DTTD Website
US
(n=699)
Via search engine 60.4%
Magazine advertisement 10.6
Via another website 10.3
Newspaper advertisement 4.7
Newspaper/magazine insert 1.3
Direct mail piece 1.1
Other 11.6
_____
100.0%
Table 3a
Search Engines Used
(n=414)
Google 38.6%
Yahoo 29.0
MSN 11.1
AOL 4.6
Alta Vista 2.4
Dogpile 2.2
Lycos 1.9
Internet Explorer 1.7
Ask Jeeves 1.7
Netscape 1.0
Other 5.8
Total 100.0%
Incidence of Printing Pages
Respondents were asked if they printed out any pages of the website for future reference and, if
so, what topics were involved. Table 4 presents the specifics which indicate that over half of US
respondents did so. The top four topics were: “Things to Do”, “Lodging”, and “Maps”, and
“Events”.
Table 4
Incidence and Topics of Pages Printed from Website
US
(n=699)
% Printing Out Pages 53.4%
Topic:
Things to do 79.9%
Lodging 59.2
Maps 52.5
Events 48.3
Quick Trips & Itineraries 20.4
Trip Planner 18.8
Other 7.8
Note: percentages add to more than 100%
due to multiple mentions
Incidence of Requesting Additional Information
In a similar manner, respondents were asked if, once on the website, they requested additional
information. Those who had done so were then asked how they requested the information.
Table 5 summarizes the responses which indicate some 80% of them did make such a request -
most typically by ordering a NH Guidebook.
Table 5
Incidence and Nature of Requesting Additional Information
US
(n=699)
% Requesting Additional
Information 79.1%
How Requested:
Ordered a NH Guidebook 83.9%
E-mailed NH Travel Office 32.2
Requested to be added to
e-mail newsletter 21.9
Called 800# listed 7.6
Other 1.8
Note: percentages add to more than 100%
due to multiple mentions
Satisfaction With DTTD Website
Respondents were asked, “Did you find that the NH website provided you with all the
information needed for your travel planning efforts?” As can be seen from the results in Table 6,
the vast majority (90%) indicated that they did.
Table 6
Satisfaction With DTTD Website
US
(n=699)
% Indicating Website Provided
All Information Needed 90.6%
Others were asked to indicate what information they felt was lacking. Responses have been
tabulated and grouped below into major categories such as Accommodations, Maps/Towns,
Events/Activities, etc.
Accommodations/Restaurants
- need more information on lodging (3)
- like to have better descriptions or ratings for accommodations
- campsites (2)
- not enough money-saving kinds of things to do - only expensive hotels & restaurants are listed
- still looking for cheap hotel near Hampton Beach to rent for a week & not go
broke
- very few restaurant listings
- lodging - the Europeans (UK & Italy) have this downpat- check them out.
- specific information on accommodations and prices
- hotel I was looking for didn’t seem to be included (Mountainview Grand)
- more prices at hotels
- opinions on lodging
- lack of information on private RV parks
- lodging that accepts pets
Maps/Towns
- need more maps (2)
- would like better mapping of areas - no clue what part or location some of the things to do were located
- where mills and bridges are located
- like to have real Guidebook to hold; quality of maps printed out are inferior
- maps of region were indistinct; no cities identified
- how to get there information (from Canada)
- more information on different towns
- more city-specific
Events/Activities
- various activities recommended to me by friends were not on website
- difficult finding information on agricultural fairs
- looking for backpacking, fly fishing, and camping (not RV-style)
- found very little about loons and moose hunting
- more things to do (2)
- had to use search engine to find theater & concert information
- more listing of attractions
- more about Events Calendar & more descriptions
- better information on less-traveled areas; we stayed in Greenfield and found nothing listed for activities; the few places on the website had either no information or wrong information (i.e. hours of operation, etc.)
- difficult to find information on August antiques week & maps to printout showing various locations
- like information on hiking trails, canoe, and kayak access points w/outfitters
- looking for more information on hiking and camping
- more information on moose siting tours, locations; Maine guide has more.
- specific hiking trails
- Keene pumpkin festival
- calendar not well maintained; dates don’t match events (moved forward 1 year without checking actual dates); difficult to plan
- more information on fees charged at events
Itineraries/Seasons
- with information split up by regions, difficult to plan multiple events in one weekend through multiple regions
- each area of NH should be broken down into sections and all areas of interest in each section identified, maps of areas provided (especially for fall foliage)
- looking for fall foliage forecasts not just current conditions