Bodensee-Vorarlberg Tourism goes completely digital

DESTINATION 2015 was a successful year for Bodensee-Vorarlberg Tourismus: the vacation destination recorded an increase of 4.4 percent in arrivals, 2.5 percent in overnight stays and 100 more events than in the previous year. The marketing strategy was strongly focused on digital channels. This is the destination's response to the behavior of vacation guests, who mainly use mobile devices for their research.

Vacation offers bundled according to guests' individual interests are available on the new website of Bodensee-Vorarlberg Tourismus - for example, for lovers of shipping.(Photo: Petra Rainer)"Mobile first" is the motto of most vacationers: They book and obtain information primarily online before and during their trip. Bodensee-Vorarlberg Tourism therefore invests three quarters of its marketing budget in digitalization. "With an average stay of currently two nights in our region, vacationers want to find their way around quickly," explained Managing Director Urs Treuthardt at the annual general meeting in the Spannrahmen in Hard on Lake Constance. The new website went online at the beginning of June.The Lake Constance-Vorarlberg tourism region covers the Vorarlberg Rhine Valley from Feldkirch to Lake Constance. In 2015, it recorded a total of 1.3 million overnight stays by vacationers as well as congress and conference guests. This is around 2.5 percent more than in the previous year. One third each of the guests come from Germany and Austria, around 10 percent from Switzerland, and the rest from other countries.Popular event regionBodensee-Vorarlberg Tourism also includes Convention Partner Vorarlberg. The business unit handles events throughout the state. According to records, 1265 congresses, seminars and corporate events took place in 2015 - one hundred more than in 2014. Participants spent over 135,000 nights in the region, and the average daily budget was 350 euros. "Events are a value-added industry that will continue to grow," Treuthardt is convinced.Bundled offersOn the new, responsive website, all information for guests is available - clearly arranged in bundled offers. The results of visitor flow analyses according to the St. Gallen destination model have been incorporated. Accompanied by Prof. Dr. Pietro Beritelli from the University of St. Gallen, several workshops were held with employees of tourist information offices, hotels and cultural institutions.The behavior and vacation motives of relevant visitor groups in the vacation region were surveyed. "Employees of businesses know how and where their guests spend their vacation days, where their interests lie. We have been gathering this experience in workshops since 2015 and are continuously building the content of the new website on this," explained Treuthardt.Vacation - and now!The "Now" application is also aimed at this. The application, which is expected to be available from the summer, will be playful: Depending on the links selected, it will take into account the guest's individual preferences during research and recommend selected vacation activities. For example, there will be suggestions for chocolate lovers, architecture enthusiasts, festival guests, cycling vacationers or wine lovers. The new website of Convention Partner Vorarlberg is also being planned. It is expected to be launched in August.Info under www.bodensee-vorarlberg.com