As competition for leisure time grows increasingly diverse and complex, more and more destination marketing organizations are migrating from a marketing to a management role. Our VCB is following this national trend by taking on a greater product development role in order to stay ahead of the curve in the marketplace, particularly in today’s challenging economy. We have had a longstanding tradition of funding infrastructure and product development through our Beach and Shoreline Program, and our latest efforts build upon that legacy.

As part of this broader initiative to proactively foster product development and offer value-oriented vacation experiences, we are launching a booking engine this month on our existing consumer Web site at www.FortMyers-Sanibel.com. (Click here to read FAQs about the new service.) So far, 37 properties and four attractions already have signed up to participate. It is the fastest subscription to a new booking engine that our partner ARES has ever experienced for a destination client!

This new booking capability is just in time for our second annual Islands FallFest promotion, which runs from Sept. 1 through Nov. 14, 2009. With special packages created to encourage fall visitation to the area, the promotion combines annual events and festivals with special rates and value-added deals for visitors to our unspoiled island sanctuary. The new online booking service also will be incorporated into our new consumer Web site, which is slated for redesign in our next fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1, 2009.

Visitors using the new booking engine will be able to build customized packages to meet their vacation needs as well as shop rates and availability for accommodations, attractions, airfare, ground transportation and other vacation offerings and then book the experiences directly on the site in a matter of minutes, just like they already are doing for other destinations. A recent survey conducted by the VCB revealed that, of 77 competitive destination marketing organizations, 55 percent already have online booking capability; and 17 percent of those are packaging their destination using their online booking capability.

Adding a booking engine to our Web site opens up a new distribution channel for our industry partners to conveniently deliver a variety of vacation offerings; and it is a logical next step to the vacation planning tools we already feature on our consumer site. We’re investing significantly to drive consumers to our Web site through a variety of online and traditional marketing channels, and we’ve been highly successful in our efforts. The site ended 2008 with 972,666 visits and 763,561 unique visitors, which is quite a bit higher than the Web sites of similar-sized destination management organizations. We are probably much more on par with larger-sized destinations like Fort Lauderdale. Now we want to capitalize on the interest generated in a vacation to our destination by closing the sale more immediately.

Recent research supports our move into online bookings for the destination. A J.D. Power and Associates’ Independent Travel Web site Satisfaction Study conducted in 2008 shows that, of the total travel bookings done in the year 2008 globally, close to 70 percent were made online. Other research indicates consumers still are planning to travel, but that they are altering the way they travel by shopping for value, trading down in their choices, and shortening the length of their trips all in an attempt to reduce the cost of travel.

And the Internet clearly is a weapon of choice in this movement. The February 2009 edition of the travelhorizons survey, a nationally representative survey of 2,200 U.S. adults, revealed that 64 percent of respondents intend to comparison shop online. Another 87 percent plan to book packages to save money.

So, the more industry partners work with us to create and market unique packages, competitive rates and other vacation offers, the more incentive consumers will have to visit our destination and to stay longer while they are here. Since we’re pooling and pre-packaging compelling experiences for them, they’ll not only receive great value but they will also save vacation planning time. So, if you’d like to join the more than 40 industry partners who already have signed up to participate in our exciting new online booking capability, simply e-mail our ARES representative Mark Farrell at Mark.Farrell@aresdirect.com for details.

We’re excited to be adding the convenience of one-stop shopping for our visitors. The new service will give our partners a fresh channel for bookings to their business and a leg up on destinations that don’t currently offer such a service. Building on Lee County’s unique product offerings helps differentiate our area from competitive destinations.

Through the use of year-round themed promotions supported with aggressive advertising programs and this new initiative to foster package development throughout the destination, we hope to rally our local tourism industry to package existing offerings in a more compelling and competitive manner, as well as create new products that meet marketplace demands and respond to overall travel trends.