Software giant Adobe Systems has decided to highlight the digital transformation of Odisha Tourism as a succinct, yet insightful case study. The selection recognises the one of its kind implementation of the Adobe stack in the government, or public sector.
Last year, Odisha Tourism revamped its website to position it as a one-stop shop for all needs of tourists. Moreover, the launch of the 5T (Technology, Transformation, Teamwork, Transparency & Time) governance framework has accelerated Odisha’s bid to leverage technologies to unlock its potential in an inclusive manner.
Vishal Dev, secretary (tourism & sports affairs), led the transition in Odisha’s digital presence before the Men’s Hockey World Cup was organised in Bhubaneswar in November 2018.
The tourism department envisioned the website to be a one-stop solution for all travellers, supported by an entire ecosystem of tourism service providers on the same platform. In a span of a little over a year and three developmental stages, Odisha Tourism’s website, social media and digital campaign now run as an integrated well-oiled machine, disbursing uniform brand messaging across platforms.
AEM’s Adobe Analytics continues to be used to increase the efficacy of targeting travellers, influence their purchase decisions thereby resulting in increased tourist footfall in the state. With the use of an extrapolated Return on Investment (ROI) model, the company aims to orient digital marketing spending strategies to attract high value tourists. The website features a travel aggregation portal for travel and tour operators to showcase their products and services, a contribution portal for bloggers and vloggers (video bloggers), a ready reckoner on 50+ tourist destinations in Odisha, along with a trip planner. It also features booking for Odisha Tourism Development Corporation (OTDC) hotels, heritage properties and various hotels.
“The digital initiative has come a long way from its nascent version of just being an idea backed by will, to a tangible asset positively impacting tourism. We plan to leverage the website to bring onboard affiliate travel agents from different geographies to increase the influx of tourists across the globe”, Dev said.
The digital initiative has given a tremendous boost to the Odisha brand and has generated over 1100 online leads and nearly half a million monthly website visitors. The website features registered travel agents, 232 hotels and their 115 crowd sourced packages and trails and over 70 active members from the bloggers’ community. These statistics are a definite indicator of the enhanced interest in exploring Odisha by potential tourists, sector intermediaries and content generators from across India and the globe.
The technology implementation partner for Odisha Tourism is CSM Technologies, a home-grown firm with an active presence in Indian & African markets. In addition to preparing a UX (User Experience) blueprint based on user personas, CSM has leveraged its expertise in the Adobe Experience Management stack to deliver a state-of-the-art website for Odisha Tourism.
Source: Business Standard
