Norstat Partners for Travel Ratings Launch

Oslo-based data collection company Norstat has partnered with German agency dp2research to develop the Destination Satisfaction Index (DSI), which evaluates travel destinations on twenty factors to produce an overall attractiveness rating.

Using the DSI dashboard, clients can compare competitors within a single region and identify ways to make their own destinations more attractive. Data is taken from online interviews, and currently covers trips between January and April 2017 - another four months of data will be added later in October.

Norstat has strengthened its senior team and European network since the beginning of 2016 with the appointments of new leaders in Lithuania, Denmark, Poland, Sweden, France and the UK. Tourism MR specialist dp2research is a recent start-up drawing on almost twenty years of experience in international MR.

In the current European DSI ranking, Cyprus (8.6) leads, ahead of Austria and Malta, each on 8.3. However global leader Bermuda, with a score of 9.1, is way ahead and no European country makes the worldwide top ten (Cyprus is 13th).

Marc Leimann (pictured right), MD of Norstat Germany, comments: 'Unfortunately, many studies are unclear as to how the review data applied in the travel industry to make important decisions was obtained in the first place. We wanted to change that with our offering. We conduct 20,000 interviews in 24 countries every four months through our standardised online surveys. This data is authentic as well as representative and statistically reliable'.

Dp2 MD Dennis Pyka (pictured left) adds: 'Many destinations expend an enormous amount of effort to increase the satisfaction of their guests. Yet, they are often short-sighted in their approach. Our data enables a detailed analysis of 20 factors that play a role in the satisfaction of travellers as well as a comparison with other destinations'.

Web sites are at www.dp2research.de and www.norstatgroup.com/dsi .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.