Five SWOT Analyses:
Good:
1) Disneyland
a) Strengths-bright, cheerful, and colorful, music and video clips that automatically play, the language can be changed to an option of nine other languages, merchandise for sale, map of the parks, virtual tour of the hotels, it lists the entertainment schedule of the park, contact information, shows driving directions from different freeways and airports, gives a lot of tips and information about the park and its history
b) Weaknesses-the site is a little overwhelming with all of the different things that are on the site to search through (I honestly could not find anymore weaknesses about the website)
c) Opportunities-My Disneyland, the three Disney hotels nearby, can buy park tickets and print them at home, can book a room at one of the Disney hotels, special offers are available, shows the park hours along with a calendar that shows the hours for several months, great weather in Anaheim, advertises for events that can be held at Disneyland (i.e. weddings and meetings), there is a guidebook of the park that can be downloaded for people with disabilities, it talks about the ways of transportation available to get to the park
d) Threats-other amusement parks in California, the bad economy, people selling their old or unused Disney land tickets on e-bay for a cheaper or more expensive price
2) The W Hotel Scottsdale
a.) Strengths-shows the weather and the time in Scottsdale, shows great pictures of the hotel, merchandise for sale, there is an option to change the site into six other languages, it describes, in detail, each type of room they offer, talks about all the different features of the hotel, it explains all the standard amenities of the rooms
b.) Weaknesses-they are facing foreclosure, it was easy to navigate away from the specific Scottsdale site (made it confusing), spa appointments cannot be booked online and their prices are not shown for different spa treatments
c.) Opportunities-allows people to book a room online, they are offering better prices right now, they have several restaurants/bars that can be eaten at by guests or non guests, they hold many events there to bring more business, they advertise that you can follow them on Twitter or be their friend on Facebook, there is a section about how meetings can be held there
d.) Threats-other resorts in Scottsdale, the bad economy, other restaurants and bars/nightclubs in the area
3) The Official Site of the Eiffel Tower
a.) Strengths-there are seven other language options to change the site to, can buy merchandise online, informative map, there is a link to their restaurants’ site where reservations can be made online, great pictures, loaded with information/facts and figures about the tower, gives detailed information about room rentals which can be used for conferences, seminars, etc., can download a visitor’s guidebook, plenty of contact information available, there is a section made for children to explore
b.) Weaknesses-it does not translate the euros price to dollars, not all computers can view the 3D Eiffel Tower virtual tour, there are too many things that need to be downloaded in order to view (it makes things complicated and time consuming)
c.) Opportunities-says that people in wheel chairs can go to the firs and second floors, shows the hours of operation, new technologies are being created to help preserve the tower
d.) Threats-people in wheel chairs can only go the first and second floors, other popular site seeing attractions in Paris, the weather (wind)
4) Royal Caribbean International
a.) Strengths-many great pictures of the ships, rooms, destinations, and activities available, gives a brief description of what clothes to pack for the different destinations, can take a virtual tour of the room types and different ships available, very helpful to new cruisers (it takes a survey before a person enters the site to see if they are new to cruising, if they have been on a cruise before, but not with Royal Caribbean, or if they have sailed with them before), there is a glossary of ship terms, there is a FAQ section, explains how they are doing their best to be “Green”, can change the language of the site to Spanish, it lists the required travel documentation needed
b.) Weaknesses-the only language that the site can be changed to is Spanish, there is an overwhelming amount of things to look through, the site can be changed to someone looking at it from a different country, but the language does not change
c.) Opportunities-it shows the social networks that they are connected with (including, Facebook, Twitter, flicker, blogs, and more), can book a cruise online, there is a number for their certified vacation planners (internationally), My Cruises, special offers are available, it is handicap accessible, offers discounted rates to senior citizens, police and firemen, and people in the military, advertises for meetings and incentives
d.) Threats-other cruise lines, the bad economy, the Swine flu, people’s fear of
boats/ships, drowning, and the water
BAD:
5) Tennessee Tourist Office
a.) Strengths-there is a link to the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development, there are links to fourteen Tennessee cities to get further information, there is plenty of contact information, the language of the site can be changed to French, there is a link to go to another site to book hotel rooms
b.) Weaknesses-no pictures, it is obviously low quality work, the only other language option is French, the picture of the map does not show up on the site, the only color on the page is a golden yellow background, nothing on the site talks about Tennessee (i.e. no attraction information, Tennessee history, etc.)
c.) Opportunities-guides people to better sites, there is a Google search engine at the bottom of the page if a person cannot find what they are looking for at the site, there is an icon at the bottom of the page that says “Add a link, information” (when clicked on, an e-mail becomes available to ask a question or to inform the site owner about a good link to add to the site)
d.) Threats-the site is not eye catching so people will look for a second, leave, and go to a different site, it leaves out many of the other Tennessee cities, there are other Google Tennessee tourism adds on the page that will make people leave their site
Most Likely to Improve Tourism Spending:
It is a magical place where dreams come true. It is a place where there are worlds of the future, fantasy, and adventure, there are princesses and characters that roam about, and it is a place where kids can be kids and adults can behave like kids. What is this dreamland? It is Disneyland, of course. I believe that out of those five websites Disneyland is the most likely to proportionately improve tourism spending to the entity featured.
Disneyland opened on July 17, 1955 and had one million visitors that year (“Disneyland Park”, 2009). Ever since then the number of attendees each year has risen with few valleys that have always gone back up to new peaks (“Disneyland Park”, 2009). In 2008 there were 14.29 million visitors to Disneyland (Disneyland Park”, 2009). That number has dropped a little from the previous year because of the economy, so the attendance for 2009 will likely be lower as well. However, as proof from previous years, whenever there is a drop in attendance, there is eventually a new peak amount of visitors that outnumbers the years before that. With the large amount of visitors, there is going to be an economic effect. $3.5 billion in economic revenue was generated in the first ten years of Disneyland being open (Cain, 2005). Along with its growth of visitors each year has come the development that would not be there today if it were not for Disneyland. It “has spurred decades of development in Anaheim, including a second theme park, hotels, and a convention center. It’s unlikely Anaheim would have baseball and hockey teams today if it weren’t for Disney” (Cain, 2005). Throughout the years, Disneyland and the area around it have continued to grow, causing more spending to be done at not just Disneyland, but also in Anaheim. From that evidence, it can be predicted that more creating and spending will be happening in the future.
Additionally, I believe that Disneyland’s website will produce the most tourism spending because of all that it has to offer. Not only can people purchase tickets for the park, but they can also book a stay at one of the three Disneyland hotels or go to a site from the list of several dozen nearby hotels and book a room. Furthermore, their site links to different transportation sites and there is merchandise for sale on the site. Those will both increase the tourist’s spending because it gives them more options of things to spend their money on. Moreover, there are numerous different discounted offers available. For example, for all of 2009, people have been allowed to go to Disneyland for free on their birthday. However, not very many people, if any, would want to go to Disneyland alone, so they will likely bring along one or more other people, which intern increases their spending amount because they may not have even gone to Disneyland if it was not their friend’s or relative’s birthday. Finally, allowing weddings, events, conferences, advertising their restaurants and shops, and having links to other Disney places, such as their other parks and hotels around the world and their cruise line will also improve the tourism spending for their entity because it will intrigue people’s interest. Tourism spending will improve for Disneyland due to several things; their continued growth, their near infinite amount of things to purchase on their website, and simply because they are Disney.
Sources:
-Cain, S. (2005). Looking Back at the 50 Years of Disneyland Effect. Retrieved September 4, 2009, from The Free Library Web site: http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Looking+back+at+50+years+of+the+Disneyland+effect:+Disney+has+spurred...-a0132193280
-Disneyland Park (Anaheim). (2009). Retrieved September 4, 2009, from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disneyland_Park_(Anaheim)
-Disneyland Resort. Retrieved September 3, 2009, from Disneyland Resort Web site: http://disneyland.disney.go.com/disneyland/en_US/home/home?name=HomePage
-Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines. Retrieved September 4, 2009, from Royal Caribbean International Web site: http://www.royalcaribbean.com/
-The Official Site of the Eiffel Tower. Retrieved September 4, 2009, from La Tour Eiffel Web site: http://www.tour-eiffel.com/teiffel/uk/
-Tourist Office/Tourist Board in United States, Area of Tennessee. Retrieved September 4, 2009, from Tennessee Tourist Web site: http://www.tourist-office.org/united-states/tourist-office-tennessee.htm
-W Scottsdale. (2009). Retrieved September 3, 2009, from W Hotels Worldwide Web site: http://specialoffers.starwoodhotels.com/W_Scottsdale/so.htm?EM=GOOGLEMAP_SOP_WH_1736_AZ
List of Tourism Related Websites Reviewed:
-Denver CVB
-Continental Airlines
-Southwest Airlines
-Tennessee Tourist Office
-Budget Rental Cars
-Hertz Rental Cars
-Disneyland
-European Tourist Office
-China National Tourist Office
-Virtual Library Museums Pages
-The W Hotel in Scottsdale
-Royal Caribbean International
-Radisson Hotel Key West
-Expedia
-Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide
-Niagara Falls New York State Park
-The Official Site of the Eiffel Tower
-Cannon River Winery- in Minnesota
