The importance of market intelligence and research Market intelligence is vital to the successful development of tourism worldwide, being the bedrock on which all effective marketing is based.” (ETC website) "Market intelligence is vital to the successful development of tourism worldwide, being the bedrock on which all effective marketing is based.” (ETC website) Market intelligence is a core competence of the European Travel Commission, but it is undoubtedly also one of the most important goals of ECM. For effective marketing, data are essential and the first task of any kind of tourist organisation should be to transform general markets data into marketing which will help the destination in orienting its products and promoting actions. As we learned in our last ECM meeting, nowadays the importance of market intelligence comes into particularly sharp focus as Europe’s tourism destinations set their sights on new source markets such as India, Brazil, Russia, China, South Africa and Turkey (the so-called BRICST). But, what exactly is market research and market intelligence? And why do we need them? To know the market you need to have answers to these questions: What is your target? What are you selling? What kind of market are you dealing with (a “new entry” market or a stable market)?  What are their needs? What are they looking for? Where do they hang out? Who are your competitors? How many competitors do you have? A good marketing strategy helps you to use wisely the scarce resources available nowadays for tourism destinations. Pressure on budgets at national and local levels means that investment in tourism research must be well planned and meet user needs. An on-going challenge is also to ensure continuity in data trends, where these are required by businesses and partners across the visitor economy, as well as improving the comparability of data and intelligence. Relevant research and intelligence is of equal importance to businesses and public sector stakeholders.