eTcoMM — eTourism Communication Maturity Model. A Framework to evaluate the Maturity of a DMO when it comes to the Online Communication Management: The Case of Canton Ticino and Lombardy

The online environment represents an important communication resource of a Destination Management Organization (DMO). Evaluating the level of preparation of a DMO on its processes dedicated to the online communication management is a challenge for organizational performances, especially if compared with the efforts spent by other tourism players on the web. This study presents the development of a maturity model, named eTcoMM, dedicated to assess the online communication management preparation of a DMO on five online related operational areas corresponding to: staff training, search engines management, web promotion through back-links, website usages analysis, and electronic Word-of-Mouth analysis. Results of its first application with seven Italian and Swiss local DMOs are presented and discussed.