Improvements

I've chosen Bilbao and Jyvaskyla as the two sites out of the four that needs improvements. The two sites are, no doubt, very informative and well organized. However, when I first visited the sites I felt a bit overwhelmed. To start off, Bilbao's homepage didn't create a positive first impression nor did it define a quality to me. I wasn't able to access the homepage from the logo on the top left corner because it wasn't enabled. The colors, fonts, and heading didn't draw my attention; I wasn't able to define a purpose for the site due to lack of graphics, images, and multimedia. The selected picture on the main page didn't capture any value nor captivate the significance of Bilbao. The items on the homepage were aligned but once I began to click for information, it seemed cluttered. As far as navigation, the site uses the breadcrumb navigation but the font is both light and too small to find on the first visit. The page layout for “where to eat” section provides a small map of the city with tiny font listings of restaurants, bars, and cafes. The content design of the map is not professionally displayed nor legible due to its size. The site also doesn't provide any search function or multimedia. Overall, the site's lack of optimizing user experience and drawing viewers attention leads me to conclude that it is in need of desperate improvements.
All the four sites that I was assigned to, Bilbao and Jyvaskyla was always standing at the bottom two for cities that I wouldn't most likely visit due to its presentation. After carefully analyzing the site by checking through the list of what a good website should have, I was only able to point out a few flaws. Jyvaskyla's site is intriguing and it is appropriate to audience. My guess is that the site is targeting couples to visit their city because the selected pictures for each categories show a couple that convey intended messages. As far as improvements, I would suggest that they change or fix the target audience; I was entertained by the graphics and images but I didn't have a positive first impression because I don't fall in the category as a visitor. The homepage is simple with plain white background and font; the heading, titles are different and larger. They stand out more but the title is in a different language even in the English setting. The color selections are a bit distracting however the positive side is that helps me remember which sections I've visited. A couple other flaws I noticed were the lack of multimedia, missing search function, and the content design.

"Let us listen to the good practices."

Social media plays a large role in both our personal and professional lives because not only does everyone utilizes it but it's also a growing method to engage and build relationships with customers, friends, families, and so on. In the case of the video, the study on social media was performed on 14 locations in Europe. Of all the locations, studies show that all except one location participated with social media. A couple of the motivations for engaging in SoM were direct contact, information, modern image, interaction, new channel, feedback, and so on. The statistics show that the direct contact was the highest reason for taking a part in SoM. Because there are more than 800 million active Facebook users, Facebook landed as first in list for the most visited platforms. Following Facebook are Twitter, Youtube, Flickr, etc. The study then continued to analyze how many hours were spent per week in workload; the highest resulted in 40hours and the lowest 0.5. When questioned if the SoM performance satisfied each destination, half responded somehow due to conducting experiments.

Thus, leading to the strategies of SoM; 5 destinations were for experimental strategies, 7 for follow defined strategies while 2 were in line with overall strategies. From the gathered facts, study concluded that there were three experimental levels of SoM expertise for the destinations. Level one was simply learning by doing without much effort, and contributing or investing up to 2hours each week. While level one only relied on sort of a trial-and-error system, level two invests up to 10 hours per week and had a predefined strategies to cover specific targets niche markets. Lastly, level three holds everything in line with overall strategies, covers niche markets, and create buzz building campaign for the target markets.

Moving on with the success factors, the popular responses were likes on Facebook, Twitter followers, then with fewer responses in traffic, interaction, recommendation, PR value, etc. The study continues to analyze the success factors and how to find out which factors work. One method was to observe user behavior matters, in other words, listen and learn. By using different tools, destinations could track websites and find out if they've achieved their set goals. However, not everyone is same and it's more than just tracking the websites or checking bounce rates or utilizing traffic sources. Another factor is that there are more than one websites for a specific destination. One method for creating a better destination website is by listening to the voice of the customers, asking questions such as why they're on the website, was the visit successful, why wasn't it successful, and lastly whether they had a good experience or not. The usage of Facebook plays as an example and discusses many aspects of managing success, social media strategies and expertise, success beyond control and much more. In terms of managing success, there is the information delivery opportunity, relation building opportunity, and channel dis-/reintermediation opportunity. Businesses establishes direct contact and take into account of spreading information about their company and its primary purposes. By using the fan-page site from Facebook platform, creating a blog, or Tweeting, they build a two-way relationship with customers where customers can contribute their thoughts and virtually interact and participate while maintaining a direct contact.

Opatija vs. Tarragona's social media aproach

As professor Költringer stated during lecture, the number of consumers utilizing the web as a tool to perfect their traveling experience are gradually increasing. Because 6 out of 10 leisure travelers obtain information through the web(Lecture, unit 4), there is a continuous competition within the online services. Services such as Couchsurfing to hostels to travel sites have implemented and approached various methods to grabbing their customers and keeping them.

One example is integrating social media and using that tool to give viewers different perspectives of their product. From the logo to its inviting homepage, Opatija approaches its media by providing a video for a virtual experience and links to Facebook and Twitter to get the feel for the community of Opatija. The two social network play a large role in the Internet world and the "The Conversation" web displayed from lecture. There are many functions and tools in the social web but Facebook and Twitter is most prevalent and utilized by both creators and viewers.

One factor the site is missing were the star ratings and "free of marketing bias" reviews of hotels, guides, and the location itself. The importance of those approaches create a substantial relationship between the giver and the receiver because it involves making big decisions for accommodation, travel guides, where to eat, etc. The information the site provides versus the viewer is a source of communication. The different functions and tools, such as Facebook and Twitter, in the web allows the communication to support and guide the decision maker. The site lacks other important factors such as a forum for FAQs, downloadable guides, and webcam. Not having such factors give a higher possibility of driving customers away.
Tarragona's Point of View
Tarragona, on the other hand, provides so much more sources than Opatija. They have taken the eWOM approach in order to generate a reputation for their site by inserting a link to pass information to friends.

The advantage of having this link is attracting and getting new customers. In addition to their link, they've provided external sources such as Tripadvisor and Trivago to give viewers unbiased opinions on the services. The only things that seemed to be missing were a forum for FAQs and a search engine. As far as integrating social media, the site meets my expectations and standards. Unfortunately they don't have a Facebook or a Twitter link provided on their homepage but all the other links such as Tripadvisor, Trivago, free downloadable audio guide, the mobile guide, and the video of Tarragona make up for it.

The mobile download can be accessed by many different phone brands and companies. I find this as a crucial part of the site, mainly to engage and converge travelers.With all the services the site provides, the travelers' perception of the chosen destination is altered from uncertainty and satisfaction. Therefore, the amount of social media integrated by services in the tourism and travel industries is important for both givers and receivers.

Universitat Photosynth

Bilbao, Jyvaskyla, Opatija, Tarragona

I was a bit surprised and excited when I first heard that our assignment was to write in a blog. I have another blog that I jots my thoughts on but as a class assignment...? still unable to grasp the idea but here I go.

1) Before I entered each site, I had no clue where each of the cities were located. Thanks to the "world wide web" and its never ending informations, I was able to google my way through each cities by finding them on the map.
The first city that I was assigned to analyze is Bilbao.  Located in Spain, the city offers many activities ranging from visiting museums to bike riding around the city to nightlife. The travel website, however, didn't draw my attention into wanting to travel to Bilbao due to the presentation of each category. There are no visual effects nor bright colors that make me want to continue browsing the site. Also, there are no videos or galleries promoting the city. Overall, the website is bland and it didn't capture my attention.
http://bilbao.net/bilbaoturismo/

2) Fortunately, the second website that I was dreading to analyze (because I thought it would be similar or worst than the previous site) was better and more lively. Although it didn't have any media clips of the city, the amusing yet decent images of each category did justice to keeping me curious and somewhat entertained throughout the search. Its simple design and the cool selection of colors makes it easy to comprehend and move from one category to another. They also have catchy phrases on their homepage that kept me motivated during the search such as, "Ideally located, right in the heart of Finland – the Jyväskylä Region is all yours." After browsing through the website, the region seemed to be "all mine" and a place that I wouldn't mind travelling to. 
http://jyvaskylanseutu.fi/travel

3) Each site gradually seemed to meet my standards. I'm hoping Tarragona, Spain will be the best of all sites. But before I express my opinions on it, I'll go over Opatija, Croatia. From the logo to its inviting homepage, I had felt as if I was there mainly because they had a link for a virtual walk through Opatija. Along with the virtual view, they have a photo gallery of for those wanting to experience the city through photos. The homepage had a 2-minute video clip of the city's view and attractions along with a melodious music played in the background. Almost everything is within a click of a mouse but if somehow, one can't seem to find a specific restaurant or hotel, there's nothing to worry since they provide a search function.
http://www.opatija-tourism.hr/en/

4) Last but not the least is Tarragona, another beautiful city located in Spain. This website has everything except for a search function. The thing I like the most is how all the information is organized and designed; it utilizes every space of the site. It might seem overwhelming to the viewer at the first visit but the way its neatly color coded and organized with tabs, getting around the site was easy. The main page includes a downloadable access for mobile guides of Tarragona. Thus, this has got to be the best out of the four travel sites I've visited.
http://tarragonaturisme.cat/