Web 2.0 as a destination marketing tool: evidence for Italian Destination Management Organizations (DMOs)

Based on a triangulation of data stemming from the analysis of semi-structured interviews, Consumer Generated Content, and archival data, this paper explores why and how local Destination Management Organizations (DMOs) in Italy strategically employ the Web 2.0 to market their destinations. Moreover the article sheds light on the factors contributing to advanced level of social activity and finally identifies several best managerial practices in the use of social media by Italian regional DMOs. Our preliminary findings indicate that the adoption of social media is still in its early years for many Italian regional Destination Management Organizations (DMOs) which use social media without a real awareness of their actual potential. More specifically, the study shows that social media strategies vary significantly across Italian regional DMOs and only a few DMOs (namely the ones located in the Tuscany, Emilia-Romagna, Trentino, Apulia, Sicily and Marche regions) effectively deploy the Web 2.0. As clear from the analysis of the level of social activity generated through Facebook and Tweeter, the regions with the most active Community Manager (such as Emilia-Romagna, Piedmont and Marche) are also the ones which apparently generate the highest degree of tourists’ satisfaction with social activity by DMOs. Last but not least, it appears that social media represent just a further tool that is being juxtaposed to the traditional marketing tools, without replacing them tout court.