Examining the Level of Sophistication and Success of Destination Marketing Systems

Abstract

Great variations have been observed in the sophistication, interactivity and quality of the destination marketing systems operated by destination marketing organizations (DMOs). This paper argues that DMOs' Website characteristics (i.e., sophistication and interactivity) have a great impact on the success of their online marketing activities. It also argues that DMOs' organizational factors not only determines the level of sophistication of their marketing system, but also defines the level of success with their Web-based marketing efforts. The study provides empirical evidence to support the notion that the sophistication level of destination marketing systems does positively impact the performance of DMOs' Web-based marketing efforts. The results of the study show that three organizational factors have the most impact on Web marketing success: technology competence, organizational innovativeness, and absorptive capacity. It also shows that two organizational factors have significant impact on Website sophistication: organizational innovativeness and financial commitment. Discussions and implications are provided based on the study results.

Key Words:

• Destination marketing
• destination marketing systems
• Internet marketing
• Website sophistication
• organizational factors