The web quality of italian ski resorts in the alps. An enquiry Alessia Rossanigo Roberto Peretta University of Bergamo
What Are We Talking About? 1. Alps, Climate and Competition 2. From A Wider Research 3. 15 Italian Sky Resorts 4. The 7Loci Methodology 5. Websites Quality 6. Networking 7. Web Presence Helps image credit to Travelers.com page 2
Alps, Climate and Competition Ski resorts face specific problems worldwide. Seasonal conditions, increasing snowfall shortage, fierce international competition, needs of a very careful market segmentation, and particular customer care to be granted to skiers are all crucial questions which not every other sort of tourism destinations have to address. Can web quality beyond being a must in digital times help managing some of these questions efficiently? page 3
Snowfall Shortage page 4
Climate Changes page 5
From A Wider Research The paper reports on an extensive quality evaluation of the web presence of fifteen Italian ski resorts in the Alps, which was performed while researching for a final dissertation successfully discussed in the frame of the Master Course in Project and Management of Tourism Systems at the University of Bergamo. image credit to Travelers.com page 6
15 Italian Sky Resorts The ski resorts considered were chosen for their connotative role in different sections of the Alpine range system. The resorts size was specifically taken into account, in order to guarantee a comparison between big, medium and small ones. A distinction between intercommunal resorts and proper destinations was also acknowledged. page 7
Resorts Considered page 8
Regions, Sky Resorts, KMs Valle d Aosta Courmayeur big 100 intercommunal resort Pila medium 70 intercommunal resort Torgnon small 25 destination Piedmont Vialattea big 320 (400) intercommunal resort Limone Piemonte medium 52 intercommunal resort San Giacomo Cardini Ski small 35 intercommunal resort Lombardy Livigno big 115 destination Aprica medium 50 destination Piani di Bobbio - Valtorta small 35 intercommunal resort Trentino-Alto Adige / Südtirol Madonna di Campiglio San Martino di Castrozza big medium 150 60 intercommunal resort destination Speikboden small 38 intercommunal resort Veneto Cortina big 115 destination Arabba - Marmolada medium 58 destination Sappada small 20 intercommunal resort page 9
The 7Loci Methodology Resorts and destinations websites were analysed and compared by putting the 7Loci quality evaluation meta-model to good use, which was developed at the University of Trento on a proposal by professor Luisa Mich. 1. Quis? Who? Identity 2. Quid? What? Content 3. Cur? Why? Services 4. Ubi? Where? Individuation 5. Quando? When? Maintenance 6. Quomodo? How? Usability 7. Quibus auxiliis? By What Means? Resources page 10
7Loci Questions: Quis? Who? Identity 1. Does the website clearly show an identity? 2. Does the website clearly identify what sort of tourism can be performed in the destination? 3. Does the website clearly identify where the destination is? 4. Does the website have a suitable graphic layout? 5. Does the website promise to provide different contents for different targets? page 11
7Loci Questions: Quid? What? Content 6. Do you believe that the website s content fulfils the managers' needs? 7. Does the website clearly provide information on the managers? 8. Do you believe that the website's content fulfils the users needs? 9. Does the website provide clear and sufficient text content? 10. Does the website provide clear and sufficient multimedia content? 11. Does the website provide useful external links? 12. Does the website provide information on scheduled events? 13. Does the website provide some useful downloadable material? 14. Does the website declare the involved copyrights? page 12
7Loci Questions: Cur? Why? Services 15. Do you believe that the website's services fulfil the managers' needs? 16. Do the website's services fulfil the users' needs? 17. Does the website provide meteo information? 18. Does the website provide or link useful information on local transport? 19. Does the website provide or link e-commerce functions? 20. Do the e-commerce functions, if any, work? 21. Is the website secure? 22. Does the website respect the users' privacy? 23. Does the website provide or link georeferenced cartography? 24. Does the website provide LBSs? page 13
7Loci Questions: Ubi. Where? Individuation 25. Is the website well positioned on the main search engines? 26. Does the geographical position of the website's managing office appear on web services like Google Maps? 27. Is the domain name easily remembered? 28. Does the website allow communication with its users? 29. Does the website suggest offline communication channels, too? 30. Does the website allow communication among its users? 31. Does the website manage social networking pages linked to the website? 32. Does the website effectively engage people through its social networking? 33. Does the website appear to allow communication among the destination's actors? page 14
7Loci Questions: Quando? When? Maintenance 34. Does the website's software work? 35. Does the website appear to be regularly updated? 36. Do all of the links work? 37. Is the website technologically updated? page 15
7Loci Questions: Quomodo? How? Usability 38. Is the navigation easy and clear? 39. Is an internal search engine provided? Does it work properly? 40. Is a site map available? 41. Is the whole homepage visualized in less than five seconds? 42. Does the website provide different editions in different languages? 43. Are the different editions really in different languages? Is the content completely located? 44. Does the website use clear and sufficient icons and language? 45. Is any special plugin (like Adobe Flash) needed? 46. Are impaired users considered? 47. Is the website readable on a smartphone, and/or recommends an app? page 16
Websites / 7Loci Quality Evaluation Livigno Feel the Alps 43/47 91 % very high quality destination APT San Martino di Castrozza 43 91 % destination Arabba Fodom Dolomites 43 91 % destination Pila Snowland 42/47 89 % high quality intercommunal resort Riserva Bianca Limone Piemonte 42 89 % intercommunal resort Ski World Ahrntal 42 89 % intercommunal resort Piani di Bobbio 41 87 % intercommunal resort Funivie Madonna di Campiglio 41 87 % intercommunal resort Cortina Dolomiti 41 87 % destination Courmayeur Mont Blanc Aprica Online 40/47 39 85 % 83 % medium quality intercommunal resort destination Torgnon Valle d'aosta 38 81 % destination Vialattea 38 81 % intercommunal resort Sappada Ski 35/47 74 % low quality intercommunal resort San Giacomo Cardini Ski 28 60 % intercommunal resort page 17
Websites / Cultures Livigno Feel the Alps EN GE CZ RU APT San Martino di Castrozza EN GE CZ PL Arabba Fodom Dolomites EN GE Pila Snowland EN FR Riserva Bianca Limone Piemonte EN FR Ski World Ahrntal EN GE Piani di Bobbio EN Funivie Madonna di Campiglio EN Cortina Dolomiti EN GE Courmayeur Mont Blanc Aprica Online EN EN GE GE FR FR CZ RU CH CH JP SL NE ES Torgnon Valle d'aosta EN FR Vialattea EN Sappada Ski San Giacomo Cardini Ski page 18
Networking Visits to the resorts official websites were checked using SimilarWeb. Checks were performed in September-November 2017, October -December 2017 and January-March 2018. While Courmayeur and Torgnon had about the same number of visits, other official websites namely San Martino di Castrozza, Livigno, Piani di Bobbio and Vialattea witnessed significant increases. All other significant parameters, like the bounce rate, or direct, organic vs. paid searches, were checked, too. page 19
Visits To The Official Websites September-November 2017 October -December 2017 January-March 2018 Differences Courmayeur Mont Blanc 58,625 134,204 66,272 7,647 Pila Snowland 180,195 298,302 301,812 121,617 Torgnon Valle d'aosta 63,986 52,497 66,337 2,351 Vialattea 150,891 169,143 471,871 320,980 Riserva Bianca Limone Piemonte 305,173 559,380 272,384-32,789 San Giacomo Cardini Ski 9,086 9,145 61,849 52,763 Livigno Feel the Alps 632,158 758,062 893,395 261,237 Aprica Online 126,049 167,403 215,740 89,691 Piani di Bobbio 156,521 294,647 468,497 311,976 Funivie Madonna di Campiglio 139,099 154,661 261,294 122,195 APT San Martino di Castrozza 245,472 387,346 420,679 175,207 Ski World Ahrntal 100,632 501,241 121,885 21,253 Cortina Dolomiti 100,112 127,607 119,085 18,973 Arabba Fodom Dolomites 26,682 46,304 111,892 85,210 Sappada Ski <5,000 8,001 15,774 >10,000 page 20
Social Networking Increase in the number of likes and followers to the resorts official presence in social networks were checked directly on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Differences were monitored from December 2017 to April 2018. page 21
Likes &Followers in Social Networking More Facebook Likes December-April More Facebook Likes December-January More Instagram followers December-April More Twitter followers December-April San Martino di Castrozza 7,682 3,273 436 - Livigno 5,799 3,863 6,455 3 Cortina 2,367 1,313 3,200 228 Pila 1,914 1,184 - - Limone Piemonte 1,598 639 4,643-4 Piani di Bobbio 1,406 1,044 603 5 Madonna di Campiglio 1,276 710 1,600 53 Courmayeur 867 699-80 Aprica 678 389 435 54 Arabba 637 373 798 - Sappada 493 310 222 - Speikboden 486 260 437 - San Giacomo Cardini Ski 446 232 526 = Torgnon 365 219 151 526 Vialattea 674 459 582 - page 22
Web Presence Helps The number of visits to the official websites has appeared to be related to the websites quality. The increase in the relevant social networking presence has appeared to be related to the number of visits and the websites quality. What s even more important, the wider research performed in the frame of the Master Course in Project and Management of Tourism Systems at the University of Bergamo has proved that the number of tourists is frequently related to the number of visits to the official websites, the websites quality, and the increase in the relevant social networking presence. page 23
Key Points 1. Alpine Tourism And Climate Change 2. This Is A Section Of A Wider Research 3. 15 Italian Sky Resorts Chosen 4. The 7Loci Methodology Adopted 5. Websites Quality Evaluated 6. Networking Assessed 7. Web Presence Help Verified image credit to 30cc page 24
Thanks For Your Attention Questions? Alessia Rossanigo Roberto Peretta University of Bergamo page 25