Metrics That Matter - Stop Counting What Doesn’t Count

Metrics That Matter - Stop Counting What Doesn’t Count

Impressions, likes, page views…they can be interesting signals, but they don’t show the full picture. This blog explores how tourism businesses and regions can measure success in ways that actually lead to growth.

Tourism has never been short on numbers. We tally room nights, ticket sales, impressions, likes, page views, and website traffic. Some of these numbers are useful, but many don’t tell us much about the real impact of tourism. They make reports look impressive, yet they don’t always connect to what actually drives growth in businesses and communities.

Ten thousand impressions are meaningless if they never lead to bookings. A hundred likes on a post feel encouraging, but they don’t cover payroll. A surge in website traffic looks exciting until you realise most of those visitors left after ten seconds. The difference between looking busy and creating value comes down to which numbers we choose to focus on.

What matters most in tourism is whether people are engaging in ways that last. Did they book a stay, purchase a ticket, or explore a local trail? Did they share their experience with friends and decide to come back the next season? Did their visit ripple through the local economy, bringing business to restaurants, retailers, and cultural events? Those are the metrics that show the true strength of tourism.

The problem is that we often settle for what’s easiest to measure instead of what actually matters. Impressions, likes, and page views are simple to collect, so they become the default. Plus, it's what Meta and Google have been training us to care about...because it serves them. But they are signals, not outcomes. Outcomes are what create sustainable businesses: bookings made, dollars spent, jobs created, and community pride strengthened.

I’ve seen how this plays out on the ground. When I worked in the tourism sector I was more on the sales side of things, but I still remember many discussions about social media engagement or website visits as proof of success. Yet the most meaningful measure was whether those numbers led to more guests walking through the door, more experiences booked, and more locals feeling that their community was valued and supported. When those outcomes showed up, that was success. The rest was just background noise.

Measuring what counts takes more effort, but it changes everything. Tracking repeat visitation shows whether people see value in coming back. Monitoring customer lifetime value shows whether relationships are being built rather than transactions made. Looking at cross-season engagement tells us if we’re creating year-round resilience. And measuring how operators and communities feel about tourism tells us whether the system is sustainable.

At Roamlii, this is the principle we build on. Our Discovery Site and booking system don’t just track activity, they focus on real connections between travellers and businesses. Our CRM tools help operators see whether leads turn into loyal customers. Because at the end of the day, the goal is not to produce big numbers on a page, it’s to create real outcomes that sustain both businesses and communities.

So the next time you review your analytics, ask yourself whether those numbers represent progress that matters. Are you counting what leads to bookings, relationships, and economic value, or are you focusing on surface-level activity that stops at awareness? Tourism deserves more than vanity metrics. It deserves measurement that reflects its true impact.

When we shift our attention to the metrics that matter, we stop chasing empty numbers and start building strategies that actually grow businesses and strengthen communities. That’s where tourism proves its value, not just as an industry, but as an essential part of the economic and cultural fabric we all depend on.

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Let’s measure what really counts, and stop celebrating numbers that don’t move us forward. #GetRoaming and let’s build a tourism economy that values growth, connection, and outcomes that last.

Yours in tourism, innovation and startups,

Founder & CEO
Roamlii