New Brunswick Selects Solution for Internet Business
Tourism in Focus is the Province of New Brunswick's new tourism development strategy, unveiled in March 2003. A key part of the plan is based on a multi-channel technology approach, designed to improve the exchange of information between consumers, tourism operators and the New Brunswick Department of Tourism and Parks. The ultimate goal is to create an interest in New Brunswick that drives travel purchases.
Working closely with Microsoft Certified Partner, T4G Limited, the department deployed the MyTravelHost platform to provide critical functionality, which will enable visitors to easily research, plan and book their accommodation, leisure activities, restaurants and road maps online. This enhances the vacation experience as data is now centrally stored and accessible through various channels: online with a simple Web browser; at visitor information centres and kiosks; at the provincial tourism communication centre; and through wireless connections in the near future.
MyTravelHost is based on the Microsoft Solution for Internet Business. The solution has helped New Brunswick create internal efficiencies while improving service to visitors and meeting the province's goal of driving revenues for both tourism operators and the province. Furthermore, by delivering information via the Web, the department has reduced the costs associated with the printing and mailing of hard copy information kits to prospective visitors.
Situation
Within the province of New Brunswick, tourism is a key driver for economic development, creating jobs, stimulating growth and generating tax revenues. 2002 was New Brunswick's most successful year for tourism to date, with a record two million visitors experiencing the natural beauty, rich history and culture of this maritime province.
With the goal of improving upon the success of 2002, the Province of New Brunswick unveiled a new tourism development strategy in March 2003 with the mandate of continued growth for the tourism sector. "Tourism in Focus" is a three-year plan, which focuses on building a competitive advantage over other provinces and neighbouring U.S. states. The plan details 10 specific areas for program innovation and development ranging from market research to infrastructure. A key part of the "Tourism in Focus" strategy is based on using leading edge technology to attract and service visitors.
The Department of Tourism and Parks clearly recognized a fundamental consumer shift in the methods of accessing information and booking travel, and wanted to take full advantage of the opportunity provided by emerging online, Internet and wireless technology. To drive forward the technology aspect of the Tourism in Focus plan, the Department of Tourism and Parks developed an Internet strategy as a means to exchange information between consumers, tourism operators and the Department, which would ultimately result in increased travel purchases.
"The Tourism in Focus strategy provides our Department with a three-year evolving plan for action," stated Tourism and Parks Minister L. Joan MacAlpine. "Tourism is a worldwide business which is rapidly changing, so we've created a plan that will guide us by building tourism's revenue-earning capacity and increasing visits. Technology is a key enabler for our province, and governments around the world, which improves the quality of service to citizens, while providing a powerful tool."
Solution
To meet the mandate for growing the tourism industry using technology, the Province of New Brunswick worked closely with T4G to implement a comprehensive Internet-based solution. T4G is a Microsoft Certified Partner and a leading North American full-service technology consulting company based in Toronto, with additional offices in Saint John and Halifax. The goal was to design and deploy an Internet business solution that would enable visitors to research, plan and book their accommodation, leisure activities, restaurants and road maps online, creating a customized itinerary that would improve their overall vacation experience.
A key competitive advantage is linking Internet access to other channels of information delivery such as the visitor information centres. For example, a traveler will be able to change that night's accommodation simply and easily by stopping at a roadside provincial visitor information centre.
"We required a strategic partner who would bring the most up to date technology to the table, enabling us to meet a variety of technical requirements," explained Mark Gaudet, Director, Corporate Services, New Brunswick Department of Tourism and Parks. "T4G brought the expertise we needed to create a customer-facing Web site that enables prospective visitors to plan a vacation from start to finish."
Working together, the Department of Tourism and Parks and T4G deployed MyTravelHost, which is designed to meet the unique technology needs of the travel industry. MyTravelHost combines information about travelers with accurate and timely details on tourism offerings, delivering highly relevant and customized information to everyone in the tourism supply chain. T4G is now planning to sell the MyTravelHost solution to other tourism authorities that require a technology platform to extend superior customer care to tourism operators and travelers.
The underlying technology for the MyTravelHost solution is the Microsoft Solution for Internet Business. The Microsoft Solution for Internet Business provides functionality that can transform the way business is conducted at every level by integrating content, commerce and collaboration into a single seamless offering. Microsoft Solution for Internet Business integrates Microsoft's leading products, technologies and solutions including Windows® 2000 operating system, Commerce Server, Content Management Server, SQL Server™, Internet Security and Acceleration Server, BizTalk® Server and SharePoint™ Portal Server, to enable organizations to build a dynamic Internet presence.
To deliver the Internet option, the Department of Tourism and Parks had several key technology requirements, in particular the need to integrate with legacy systems and content management capabilities.
Integration with Legacy Systems
It was critical that the new application enable the organization to run its customer- and industry-facing aspects of their business, while unifying existing data on disparate systems. Prior to the implementation by T4G, there were two databases - one that housed information on tourism products such as hotel rooms and excursions, and another with critical customer information related to individual tourists and tour operators. In addition to combining the two legacy systems into a single database, the department needed to ensure that all of this information could be delivered to a variety of channels ranging from kiosks to call centres and the Internet.
"As customer information was saved in disparate systems, the Department of Tourism and Parks could not track or view visitor information, meaning that every point of contact was treated as a new instance," explained Geoff Flood, President of T4G. "We addressed this issue by unifying the two databases to enable what we refer to as multi-channel information delivery. Now that the databases are consolidated, they can deliver the customer information via a number of channels."
"Going into the project, we had fragmented applications and databases of information and recognized that we need to consolidate all data in one place," stated Mark Gaudet. "Our ultimate goal was to better service our customers through increased functionality on our Web site and we simply could not do that on our previous platform. Microsoft Solution for Internet Business deployed by T4G enabled us to meet our technology requirements delivering a huge leap forward for both visitors as well as the tourism operators within the Province."
Empowering Tour Operators
The "Tourism in Focus" strategy is based not only on improving service to visitors, but also around building strong working relationships with tourism operators. To include tourism operators as part of the new portal, the Department wanted to empower them with the ability to both add and edit content on the Department's tourism portal.
Microsoft Solution for Internet Business enables companies to communicate with customers by providing powerful tools including Commerce Server, to deliver dynamic content that targets the preferences of individual users. It can help offer a highly scalable and reliable infrastructure that speeds site development and deployment, enabling Web developers and designers to create guidelines and templates that are utilized by business users to create and publish content.
With the MyTravelHost platform, in conjunction with Content Management Server, authorized users will now be able to easily manage Web content without calling on the resources of the IT department. Using the content management functionality of the new portal, visitor profile information is tied together to deliver a highly personal Web experience. Furthermore, the content management model enables the department's Web developers to focus on crucial website components such as site navigation and branding.
"We were looking for a solution that would enable our end users inside and outside of the Ministry to be able to post updated information to the MyTravelHost portal," explained Doug Waugh, Manager Information Technology and Web Services, New Brunswick Department of Tourism and Parks. "The content management aspect enriches the quality of content on the portal and enables us to create strong relationships with key stakeholders in the tourism industry."
Benefits
As a result of deploying the MyTravelHost platform, the Department of Tourism and Parks will help improve internal operating efficiencies, drive revenues for tourist operators, improve service to visitors and lay the foundation for extra functionality to the site which will help ensure the province remains a leader within the tourism sector in Canada.
Improving Internal Efficiencies, Creating Cost Savings
The new solution creates multiple efficiencies within the organization, as well as collaboration with stakeholders in the tourism sector in New Brunswick. Overall, the ability to access legacy data through a single system will help improve the speed and quality of service delivery as the most up to date, personalized information will be readily available. For example, information from the website's databases will be linked to the tourism communication centre meaning that operators will know if a customer has visited the province before and if they've received information in the past.
Additionally, MyTravelHost's real-time analytics gives the Department detailed insight into the effectiveness of marketing campaigns and a much stronger ability to determine the ROI of those campaigns.
Beyond the benefits of improved access to data for all stakeholders, the department has created further efficiencies, as well as cost savings. By providing the Province's tourism publications in an easy to download format, the department has been able to reduce the number of hard copy information kits mailed out which cost the department approximately $5.00 per unit.
Content Management for Competitive Advantage
By using content management technology, the Department of Tourism and Parks has empowered those in the tourism business within the province to generate new revenue opportunities for the 1,400 plus operators. With the new portal, operators now have cross-selling opportunities, such as offering discounts and other incentives to visitors.
Content Management Server has enabled the department to eliminate the IT time required to update the portal. Also, more importantly, the department is ensuring that visitors to the portal are accessing content that is both up to date and personalized to the needs of individual visitors.
"Empowering tour operators to add and edit Web content without involving a Webmaster has enabled us to save both time and money," stated Doug Waugh, New Brunswick Department of Tourism and Parks. "Beyond the cost savings, we are creating true value for tour operators as they are able to use the portal to engage prospects and make a meaningful impact on their business."
Improved Service to Visitors
With the launch of MyTravelHost, visitors will have the convenience of being able to plan their entire vacation online - booking hotels, researching beaches, investigating new adventures and planning a road trip. Visitors can access information in the form they are most comfortable with while obtaining the information that they are most interested in.
"The goal is to sell out the province every night by providing visitors with the incentive to visit and the flexibility of booking their vacation by phone, kiosk or Internet," said Geoff Flood, T4G. "Ultimately this will help extend revenue within the province by increasing the total number of visitors and extending the existing travel season. Even if we add only a week on each end of the 10 week season, you are adding an additional 20 per cent in potential revenue."
The Future of Technology in Tourism
For the New Brunswick Department of Tourism and Parks, the delivery of the portal is the first step in using technology to drive tourism in the province. The Department is already planning to extend the delivery of tourism information, which could include providing information to PDAs or cell phones in the near future. Additionally, the Department is focused on using MyTravelHost to support future initiatives such as permission-based marketing and online travel counseling.
"The delivery of the Internet option as part of our mandate is evidence of New Brunswick's commitment to transforming the way we relate and communicate with our visitors," said Tourism and Parks Minister L. Joan MacAlpine. "We've seized on a significant opportunity to continue our leadership in the tourism sector, and in our innovative use of technology to drive opportunity and improve service delivery within the province."
Back to Case Studies