Languages of DMO official websites
Despite a lot of discussion, the problem of the language barrier remains relevant in most destinations. In many destinations, tourists suffer from a language barrier.
At the same time, we see a steady trend in tourism towards an increase in demand for unique cultural and historical tourism experiences and impressions. It is logical that the maximum experience can be obtained in the native language.
In addition, the language barrier makes the stay of tourists in the destination uncomfortable and there are no tourists in the world who would not like to receive services in their native language.
Unfortunately, most travel sites, including official destination sites, only contain content in local languages and English at best.
Choosing languages for the site
Despite a lot of discussion, the problem of the language barrier remains relevant in most destinations. In many destinations, tourists suffer from a language barrier.
At the same time, we see a steady trend in tourism towards an increase in demand for unique cultural and historical tourism experiences and impressions. It is logical that the maximum experience can be obtained in the native language.
In addition, the language barrier makes the stay of tourists in the destination uncomfortable and there are no tourists in the world who would not like to receive services in their native language.
Unfortunately, most travel sites, including official destination sites, only contain content in local languages and English at best.
The most popular languages in the world
There are also 6 most popular languages defined by the UN in which it is desirable to make content for destinations, unless of course they want international arrivals.
Languages on the sites of the best destinations
We have studied several examples of the TOP 10 destinations according to Euromonitor index 2022, which really solve the problem of the language barrier. The STWL index developed by us shows how multilingual the official website of the destination is. Read more in our analytical report “Top 10 destinations in online”.
Maximum index score = 10. Only 2 of the Top 10 destinations have this score: Paris and Dubai. At the same time, they also occupy the first lines in the Euromonitor rating. Something to think about other destinations…
Destinations | Web–site | languages | STWL index |
Paris | 11 | 10 | |
Dubai | 21 | 10 | |
Amsterdam | 7 | 7 | |
Madrid | 9 | 9 | |
Rome | 5 | 5 | |
Berlin | 5 | 5 | |
New York | 5 | 5 | |
London | 6 | 6 | |
Munich | 2 | 2 | |
Barcelona | 4 | 4 | |
Optimal |
| 11 |
According to our calculations, the optimal number of languages on the site is 11.
Languages on tech company websites
Perhaps destinations should take a cue from technology companies, for example (as of April 2023):
Booking.com works in 43 language.
Getyourguide has been translated into 22 languages.
Tripadvisor is available in 22 languages.
We believe that supporting different languages on travel sites makes tourism smarter and more conscious. Tourism content in different languages develops real smart tourism.