Benchmark survey of Destination Websites - Part 2

In part one of this analysis (read it now if you haven't yet), I wrote about how we selected our sample of websites for the benchmark survey. We follow fifteen websites that provide visitor information for the island of St. Maarten / St. Martin in the Caribbean.

Our first observation point, which we will use as a baseline for comparison with future data, was the end of April 2009. Initially, we only meant to use the data as a way to gauge the strength of DineSXM.com versus other information providers. But, our curiosity got the better of us during the slow Summer season and we repeated the excersise: the next dataset is from the end of August, four months later. Since the second dataset revealed a lot of interesting material, it has now become our intention to repeat the survey once every quarter. Hence, we'll take our third performance snapshot of SXM tourist information sites at the end of October, and follow it up once more in January of 2010.

1st snapshot: April 2009

The graph below shows a histogram of estimated daily page views, together with a line diagram of each site's traffic rank. The figures are based on data from WebsiteOutlook, which was retrieved on or around April 25, 2009.


When we took our first comparative look, the DineSXM restaurant reservations and dining guide had only been online for 14 months. It was reassuring to see it compare well to established properties like Mr. St.Maarten and Everything St. Maarten on our left, and close enough to SXM Info - another longtime player in the market.

Other remarkable findings include the success of another newcomer, namely Discover-StMaarten, and the ability of St-Maarten dot com to maintain such a high traffic ranking after losing its affiliation with the Tourist Office. As the original developer of VisitStMaarten, I was also pleased to see my other brainchild, built as a consumer portal for the St. Maarten Hospitalty and Trade Association during my tenure as its Executive Director, do really well.

The follow-up: August 2009

The tourist season in St. Martin and St. Maarten starts after Halloween, and ends with the Easter weekend. Apart from a handful of French visitors in July and August, the island tends to quiet down rather dramatically in Summer. General interest in island travel information tends to die out somewhat as potential visitors spend less time surfing the web and aren't making plans yet for their upcoming Caribbean vacation.

We expected a general drop in traffic, but not quite the drama that is depicted in the image below...


Where did they all go? St-Maarten dot com traffic rank drops to under 2,000,000. ZebraBot is completely repurposed. StMaarten-Info changes ownership and gets a design overhaul. Discover-StMaarten ceases operations. And finally, Mr. St. Maarten loses some 30-40% of traffic, presumably due to a design change. There are also some positive developments: VacationStMaarten and VisitStMaarten seem to be growing, TravelTalkOnline and DineSXM are both holding their ground during low season.


In about a week, we'll take a renewed look at our competitive environment. The season is about to start... DineSXM underwent some minor, yet important changes over the Summer, it will be interesting to see if those changes have their intended effect.

Meanwhile, we'll be looking for two new websites to replace ZebraBot and Discover-StMaarten. One likely candidate is Best-StMartin. The second one is still up in the air. Our colleagues at Litemoon have recently launched yet another directory, maybe we'll include their MapSXM in the mix...

We're always open to ideas, please leave your comments and suggestions below!

Norbert