Common practices in destination website design

The Internet has become a key marketing channel for tourist destinations. To identify typical features of destination websites, a content analysis of websites for top global destinations by number of international arrivals-was conducted. Six factors were evaluated: primary focus, navigation and interactivity, visual and presentation style, textual information, use of advertising, and use of social media and travel aids. In addition, a cluster analysis was conducted to identify homogeneous groups of websites in the sample. The findings revealed three naturally occurring groups. Inter-cluster differences suggest that DMOs use different approaches to target potential visitors, as evidenced by websites ranging from purely informative and simply designed to highly commerce-oriented and visually alluring. Based on the exploratory analyses, a conventional wisdom for destination website design is proposed. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.