Tourism and Service Management

TourMIS Workshop 2012 was a smashing success!

8th annual TourMIS Users’ Workshop & International Seminar on Key Performance Indicators for Destination Marketing
September 13-14, 2012

Organized by the European Travel Commission, World Tourism Organization, European Cities Marketing & MODUL University Vienna

MODUL University Vienna was pleased to host two major events on September 13 and 14, 2012: the 8th TourMIS Users’ Workshop (day 1) and the International Seminar on Key Performance Indicators for Destination Marketing (day 2). 77 delegates from 27 different countries (as far as Australia!) attended this year’s events, the majority of which represented city and national tourist organizations, as well as universities and companies from the hospitality and tourism industry. What proved again correct is that TourMIS Workshop is an established annual event which brings together both delegates and speakers, so one could see a number of familiar faces in the audience.

The first day’s workshop provided an introduction, as well as an overview of the new features in TourMIS (www.tourmis.info), and focused primarily on the topic of benchmarking tourism destinations. The workshop was led by Dr. Karl Wöber, President of MODUL University Vienna and developer of TourMIS, and was further enriched by the contributions of the experienced TourMIS users: Tünde Mester (Hungarian Tourism Plc.), Vincent Nijs (Toerisme Vlaanderen), Irem Arsal (MODUL University Vienna), and Olivier Ponti (Amsterdam Tourism & Convention Board). As such, this workshop was a unique outlet for getting the training on how to use TourMIS and for discussion on possible future steps in developing the system.

The topic of the second day’s seminar shifted towards Key Performance Indicators for Destination Marketing. Besides the presentation made by Jim Eccleston and Kirsty MacMillan on the Handbook of Key Performance Indicators for Tourism Destinations, there were a number of case studies and benchmarking examples in relation to this hot topic. A number of speakers (Ulf Sonntag, Bozana Zekan, Hans Dominicus, Jakob Slej Mikkelsen, Ivan Gonzales, and Peter Nash) shared their expertise within this research area. The final panel discussion with Michel Julian (UNWTO), Leslie Vella (ETC), Olivier Ponti (ECM), and Karl Wöber (MODUL University Vienna) highlighted the major issues and challenges discussed throughout the day and closed the seminar.

Both events were kindly sponsored by Vienna Tourist Board and Austrian National Tourist Office and we would like to thank them for their continuous support. For anyone who would like to know more about these events, a detailed program, speakers’ information handout and all presentations are available for download on our website: www.modul.ac.at/tourmis

We are all looking forward to the next year’s workshop!

Prof. Dr. Karl Wöber President
Contact: Ms Bozana Zekan
bozana.zekan[at]modul.ac.at
Researcher and Lecturer MODUL University Vienna