BDRC Continental evaluates drivetimes and demographics with MapMechanics suite

24 April 2014 --- By using GeoXploit, the powerful package of mapping and analysis software and data from MapMechanics, the travel and leisure team at independent market research consultancy BDRC Continental has been able to give clients new insights into the appeal of major tourist attractions, and draw more meaningful conclusions from visitor surveys.

The company is also using GeoXploit to analyse drivetimes to specific tourist attractions; and by tracking visitors back to their point of origin, it is able to identify promising areas for recruiting additional business.

Research executive Emma Hughes explains: “We can now give clients in this market sector much more granular information about the behaviour of tourists visiting their sites, and help them attract future visitors more effectively.”

She adds: “Being able to display complex information on a map gives clients a much clearer idea what they’re being shown, and the mapping features of GeoXploit are ideal for this.”

GeoXploit combines powerful GIS functionality with pre-configured data that includes demographics, street-level maps, postcode points, postal boundaries, web mapping via the HERE location platform (formerly NAVTEQ), aerial imagery and more. Having a pre-set system means that when users import data they can instantly see where customers are located, identify areas for expansion, or create catchment areas around locations such as stores.

Visitor feedback about tourist attractions is gathered by BDRC Continental from a variety of sources including face-to-face interviews at the actual locations, telephone interviews and online surveys. “With our previous software, we could do basic analysis such as displaying the postcodes of visitors on a map,” says Emma Hughes, “but with GeoXploit we can do much more meaningful analysis.”

For example, she says, the team can trace the starting point of visitors to specific attractions over a time period, and compare the findings at different times of year.

“We can trace and display point-of-origin hotspots such as train stations. We can show the direction of travel to the location, and show how many people travelled for, say, thirty minutes or forty-five minutes to reach the site.”

By taking account of demographic data, the company can also analyse factors such as the age profile of visitors to the various sites at different times of year.

This kind of information helps the operators of the attractions to target leaflet drops and other promotions much more effectively, knowing they are concentrating on areas with high levels of potential interest.

The information also helps the operators to plan focus groups and other activities to help fine-tune the marketing message in promising target areas.

Emma Hughes says she has been particularly impressed with the responsiveness of MapMechanics’ support team. “They’ve been endlessly helpful,” she says.

She adds: “Compared with some GIS products, GeoXploit is very intuitive, but inevitably there are times when we’re not sure whether or not we can achieve a particular result, and if so, how we should go about it. Whatever we’ve asked, the MapMechanics team have always said yes, and patiently explained the right way to do it. I can’t praise them highly enough.”

BDRC Continental is one of Britain’s leading market research consultancies, and operates in a wide range of business sectors including travel and tourism, hospitality, transport, culture and sport, media, retail, finance and business. It is a one-stop supplier, offering everything from brand and product development and communications to consumer surveys and analytics.

About MapMechanics

MapMechanics has been providing innovative solutions in sales and marketing, digital mapping, geographic analysis and logistics planning for over twenty five years.

• MapMechanics is a distributor of the Geoconcept geographic information system, which is used extensively in a diverse range of fields such as depot planning, retail planning, marketing, healthcare, environmental planning and management, transport and logistics, site selection and territory allocation, telematics and command and control applications, policing and broadcasting, and central and local government.
• MapMechanics distributes a wide range of data products including AA, HERE and Ordnance Survey digital mapping, as well as leading business and demographic datasets from many sources throughout the world. This data is listed on MapMechanics’ intuitive new transactional data web site, www.allmapdata.com, which is probably the most extensive and up-to-date listing of its kind in Britain.
• MapMechanics develops, supplies and supports TruckStops, one of the world’s best-established routing and scheduling solutions, and its portfolio includes a wide range of optimisation solutions. Examples include specialist systems for optimising transport of full or part loads, for servicing a high density of calls on the same streets and for optimising use of pallet networks.
• MapMechanics also uses digital map-based technologies to offer an extensive range of Web, desktop, paper and component solutions for a variety of business applications, from atlas production to business analysis, site selection, customer profiling and vehicle routing and scheduling.

Backing up its extensive product range, MapMechanics offers a comprehensive service of implementation support and training. 


Contact:

Katy McKenna
MapMechanics
Canal Court,155 High Street,
Brentford, London, TW8 8JA
Tel: +44 (020) 8568 7000
Fax:+44 (020) 8568 7400
Email: katy.mckenna@MapMechanics.com
Web: www.MapMechanics.com