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Australian Tourism Data Warehouse uses MicroStrategy Business Intelligence for Enhanced Insights into Tourism Industry

17 August 2009, Melbourne -  MicroStrategy® Incorporated, worldwide provider of business intelligence software with direct operations in Australia, today announced The Australian Tourism Data Warehouse (ATDW) has deployed MicroStrategy as a proactive tool for monitoring the online performance of the tourism industry and providing enhanced insights into tourism.

The ATDW national platform provides central storage and distribution for tourism industry information from all Australian States and Territories. Content is electronically accessible by tourism operators, wholesalers, retailers, and distributors for use in their websites and booking systems. Over 150 websites access the ATDW content.

The integration of MicroStrategy’s powerful business intelligence software gives ATDW the ability to extract and analyse valuable industry metrics to measure performance online and to continue to grow the ATDW distribution network as a successful model for Australian tourism.

Through access to business intelligence captured from the ATDW distribution network, ATDW is able to provide detailed statistical tourism data on consumer activity, as well as call upon critical metrics in automated reports to demonstrate the value proposition of the ATDW distribution network to the industry.

“We are in a position to help our industry partners make informed decisions and to understand how to position themselves in the digital world, for maximum success. We are also able to measure and communicate performance successes to a granular level to stakeholders, including heads of States and Territories,” explains Liz Ward, CEO, The Australian Tourism Data Warehouse.

ATDW has configured a number of custom MicroStrategy dynamic dashboards as real-time windows into tourism performance per region, state, and operator. This information allows ATDW to take a proactive approach in identifying problem areas and addressing them early, as well as recognising and repeating best practices. With the ability to tap into a wealth of accurate information at the click of a mouse, ATDW is able to set realistic KPIs to monitor tourism performance across the network.

“MicroStrategy allows companies like ATDW to gain a deeper understanding of tourism trends in Australia,” said Patrick Elliott, MicroStrategy's Vice President for Australia & New Zealand. “With MicroStrategy’s easy-to-use Web interface and outstanding scalability, via ATDW, tourism operators can drill down into the data and seek the information they need to make strategic plans for boosting tourism numbers in this country.”

The decision by ATDW to enhance its platform comes on the heels of The Jackson Report, a key input into the development of the National Long-Term Tourism Strategy by the government.
According to The Jackson Report, the Australian tourism industry faces a short-term challenge and long-term decline unless action is taken to boost tourism. Tourism contributes over $40b to Australia’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), employing almost half a million people. However, Australia’s share of global tourism is in decline, showing a 14 percent reduction between 1995 and 2008. Among recommendations for addressing this issue are the following:

• To accelerate the online capability of the Australian tourism industry
• To set global key performance indicators (KPIs) for the industry, based upon plans for marketing Australia’s competitive advantages and top destinations
• Closer collaboration between governments at all levels and the tourism industry
• Better alignment between the demand and supply side

Essentially, insights from MicroStrategy dashboards will help to put ATDW in a strong position to address the recommendations outlined within the Jackson report for actively driving growth in Australian tourism.