MARKETING YOUR TOURISM PRODUCTS - Gov

6Industry, Tourism and Investment – GNWTDestination CanadaThe Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment(ITI) of the Government of the Northwest Territories(GNWT) regularly releases and updates tourismstatistics and trends relating to tourism in the NWT.On a national level, Destination Canada is much likeNWT Tourism. It’s Canada’s DMO. The organizationmarkets Canada as a destination and tracks trendsand statistics pertaining to tourism in Canada, suchas who the inbound tourists are, and where they arecoming from.This information includes but is not limited to: NWT tourism visitation and expenditures, territorial park indicators, road visitor survey data, Yellowknife airport arrivals by country of origin, Yellowknife hotel occupancy rates, sector visitation data, and regional tourism indicator data.This information can be found on their website:www.iti.gov.nt.ca/en/tourism-researchNWT TourismNWT Tourism is a non-profit organization in chargeof marketing NWT tourism products and marketingthe NWT as a tourism destination. NWT Tourism isthe destination marketing organization (DMO) ofthe Northwest Territories, which promotes tourismproducts nationally and internationally.NWT Tourism produces an annual marketing planwhich outlines their approach to marketing the NWT inthe coming year. It includes a diverse set of informationabout marketing the NWT including several keyindicators such as current tourism trends and targetaudience (tourists) demographics and psychographics.This information and more can be useful to you when itcomes to defining who your target audience is.NWT Tourism also keeps track of all NWT tourismproviders, organized by activity and location/region.This is an excellent resource for understanding whoyour competition or potential partners could be.Information from NWT Tourism can be found invarious places: spectacularnwt.com, media.spectacularnwt.com, marketing.spectacularnwt.com, orTourism representatives, who can be contacted NWTthrough their websiteSignificant information about tourism in Canada canbe found on their website: destinationcanada.com/en/researchAdditional Available ResearchAdditional available research can also be found on theinternet through various organizations. World Tourism Organization – www2.unwto.org Travel and Tourism Research Association CanadaChapter – ttra.com/canada-chapter/about/

MARKETING YOUR TOURISM PRODUCTS WORKBOOKExercise 2List all the places you can collect data relating to your business and how you plan on collecting it. For example, ifyou have a list of past clients or list of friends and family, you could call or email them with a set of questions aboutyour business.7

8Current Marketing SituationWith the data you have collected from your personalresearch and through research that is alreadyavailable you can now establish a current marketingenvironment for your business.This will require you to go through the research youhave collected to determine if it is relevant to yourbusiness or not. There are several components toestablishing the marketing environment for yourbusiness. In some cases, you will find the research willidentify gaps in your business and marketing, and thisis alright. The purpose of the situational analysis is tobegin analyzing where your business falls within themarketplace, where it excels, as well as where it needswork. Following sections of this workbook will helpyou fill identified gaps.Current Tourism TrendsCurrent tourism trends are generalized and broadpatterns that can be pulled from the information youhave collected regarding tourists (visitors) and theirbehaviour, as well as how your local tourism industry isreacting to them.Some examples of these trends might include:increase of a specific type of tourist coming theto your region, the change in economy in your region,average length of time a tourist is spending thein your region,average amount of money a tourist is spending theon products, services, or experiences, how a tourist is booking their travel, the cost to get to your destination, anda tourist is finding information about howtravelling to your region.As you go through your research to understand thetrends of your regional tourism industry, ask yourselfhow each trend relates to your business. The goalof defining these trends is to help you align yourmarketing with them so that you are maximizingyour efforts.One example of a trend might be a year-over-yearincrease in Chinese visitors who are purchasing yourproducts. By knowing about this trend, you couldposition your marketing to better appeal to this groupof visitors.Another example of a relevant trend might be knowingthat tourists will first use an internet search engineto look up information about a destination or tourismproduct before purchasing it. With this informationyou could then put more emphasis on search enginemarketing.Product SituationDiving deeper into your business, your productsituation looks at where your products are situatedwithin your tourism industry marketplace.To determine your product situation you might answerthe following questions:my products primary or secondary products Arefor a tourist in my region?For example, if a tourist chooses your destination becauseof a product, service or experience you offer, you have aprimary product. Or if they choose your destination foranother reason, but would benefit from your product,service or experience, you have a secondary product.my products geared to one target audience Are(type of tourist) over another coming to my region/destination? Can my products be geared towards aspecific tourist demographic?For example, if your products can be offered in Spanishwith a Spanish-speaking tour guide, your products mightbe more appealing to tourists from Mexico than China.do tourists typically book my type Whenof products?For example, a tourist wanting to see the aurora borealismight book an aurora tour three months in advance, butonly book a hiking tour once they have arrived at theirdestination.

MARKETING YOUR TOURISM PRODUCTS WORKBOOKmy products Market Ready? Is it easy Areand clear for a tourist to research and bookmy products?For example, if research shows that the majority oftourists coming to your region book online, you shouldensure that information on your products is availableonline, whether through your own website or through adirectory or association.These are not the only questions you can ask yourselfabout your products within your tourism industry; theresearch might draw out additional questions. As wellthe following sub-sections might also help you identifyyour business and product situation within your localtourism marketplace.CompetitionIdentifying your competition helps you to be awareof what others in the tourism industry are doing, theproducts or services they are offering, what they arecharging, and how they compare to the products orservices you are offering.Understanding what similar businesses are doingcompared to your business will help you identify howto differentiate your marketing efforts so that you canset yourself apart.You can ask yourself the following questions aboutsimilar businesses and products:other businesses offer similar products, Whatservices or experience as I do? What is the duration of their products? How much do their products cost?do they offer their products/when do Whenthey operate? How long have they been offering their products?makes their business or product stand out Whatin the industry? What types of marketing are they currently doing?9Potential PartnershipsAt the same time as you want to identify yourcompetition, you should also identify what businessescan be potential partnerships.Potential partnerships will help increase the visibilityof your own business by combining your marketingefforts and cross-promotion with another business ororganization. You will be able to leverage the marketingeffects of your partner’s marketing, while they will alsobe able to benefit from your marketing.An example of a partnership would be an aurora tourcompany partnering with a hotel to provide potentialtourists with a packaged product. By marketingthe tour package with accommodations, the valueproposition (overall value of the product) becomesgreater for the visitor who is then more likely topurchase your product because it will mean less workon their part.Partnerships can be formed with many types ofbusinesses, such as complementary tour businesses,restaurants, accommodations, airlines, and so forth.

10Exercise 3Identify one trend you have noticed about your local tourism industry and note how it relates to your business.Identify one business that is similar to yours in your region and then what makes your product, service, orexperience different from theirs.Identify one business your business could form a partnership with in order to increase your marketing valueproposition for potential visitors and how it might work.

MARKETING YOUR TOURISM PRODUCTS WORKBOOK11SWOT AnalysisA SWOT analysis is an organized chart of your businessstrengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.Strengths and weaknesses are internal to yourbusiness (think: location, customer service, access toinformation, people, etc). Typically, you can changethem over time by adjusting what you do or don’t dowithin your business. Opportunities and threats areexternal to your business (think: competitors, pricing,supplies, weather, etc). They are what is happening inthe marketplace whether you like it or not. They cannotbe changed.A SWOT analysis is often done at the business planningstage, but can be customized for your marketingspecifically. So rather than looking at your business asa whole when considering strengthens, weaknesses,opportunities and threats, think of it in terms of justyour marketing and what you are learning in thisworkbook.A marketing strength for your business could be thatyou have an established Facebook page with an activefollowing. A weakness might be that your website isnot mobile friendly. An opportunity could be that youhave a highly desired product or experience, while athreat might be your closest competitor has establishedthemselves on a prime piece of land.Exercise 4Draw or divide a piece of paper into four equal sections, normally two rows and two columns. In the top twosections write “S” and “W” respectively. In the bottom two sections write “O” and “T” respectively. Once you havedone that consider your business and your marketing and write down three points for each �»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»

12Identifying Your TargetAudience/VisitorA target audience is a particular group of visitorsidentified as the recipients for a particular typeof marketing or advertisement. A target audienceshares one or more similar traits that group themtogether. Your business can have multiple targetaudiences. These target audiences are identified fromyour research and knowledge of your product(s) andcustomers. By knowing these target audiences youwill be able to match them with your marketing andmessaging to ensure maximum effectiveness.To start narrowing down the mass market of potentialvisitors into who your target audiences are, you shouldfirst define the limiting factors of your product(s).Limiting factors are the lowest level of requirements avisitor must meet for your product(s) to appeal to them.As the business owner you will have a good idea ofwhat the limiting factors are.Limiting factor variables could include: time, cost, skill level or experience, comfort, tour location, interest, health/mobility, or equipment/clothing needs.Your products might have additional or differentlimiting factors, but this base will help you start tonarrow down who your visitors are.The visitors who meet your basic level of limitingfactors become the base of your target audiences.They have the time, money, skill, comfort, interest,equipment and mobility to consume your product, orthe means to acquire those prerequisites.An example of the limiting factors of a half-day driveyour-own dogsledding tour might look like: Time: is able to commit to an afternoon tour.is able to pay 125 per person with a minimum Cost:of two people.level or experience: does not need prior Skilldogsledding experience. Comfort: is able to be around hyperactive dogs. Tour location: is able to get to the tour start point.has an interest in traditional forms of Interest:transportation.is able to run beside and hang on to Health/mobility:a fast-moving sled.needs: has adequate winter Equipment/clothingclothing rated for –40 C.Knowing the limiting factors of your product(s)and the basic requirements of your visitors, you cannow begin segmenting those visitors by demographic,psychographic and geographic location. Keep inmind that you can have multiple target audiences,thus you can define multiple traits and attributes ineach segment.

MARKETING YOUR TOURISM PRODUCTS WORKBOOKExamples of demographic traits might include: age, gender, education, income level, marital status, family size, occupation, home ownership, religion, and language.Examples of psychographic traits might include: personality, lifestyle, social class, life values, hesitations, interests, activities, and opinions/attitudes.Examples of geographic traits might include: city, region, province/territory, and country.13Defining a target audience does not mean that onlythose visitors can purchase your products, it merelyhelps you identify who the majority of your visitorsare. You can still have visitors who do not fall withinany of your target audiences. Additionally, even if youonly have one product for your business you can stillhave multiple target audiences. You might determinethat you need to focus one type of marketing andmessaging on one target audience, while anothertype of marketing on another target audience withmessaging that is more relevant to them. A simpleexample might be focusing your magazine advertisingon an older demographic with no children, while yoursocial media marketing, specifically Instagram, mightbe more targeted to a middle-aged demographic with ayoung family.Remember to use your available research to helpdefine your target audiences, such as the NWT Tourismannual marketing plan.In the next section on developing effective messagingyou will further tie your marketing message to yourestablished target audiences.

14Exercise 5Part 1: Limiting FactorsThink about some of your business’ or products’ limiting factors to start defining your visitors. Use the chart belowto focus on each factor.LIMITING FACTORMY PRODUCT(S)TimeCostSkill level or experienceComfortTour locationInterestHealth/mobilityEquipment/clothing needsPart 2: Target AudiencesOnce you have come up with a few limiting factors, use that information and start to define two (2) different targetaudiences with the attributes listed above. Use the chart below to start, but expand it if needed.TARGET AUDIENCE 1DemographicsPsychographicsGeographicsTARGET AUDIENCE 2

MARKETING YOUR TOURISM PRODUCTS WORKBOOKObjectivesWhen executing any marketing it is wise to establishmarketing objectives for your business so you caneffectively measure what you are doing. How tomeasure the success of your marketing is furtheroutlined in the “Measuring Success” section of thisworkbook (see page 22).Before you can measure the success of your marketing,you need to establish objectives or goals that youwant reach through your marketing. These marketingobjectives can be derived from the results of yourSWOT analysis, target audience development andcurrent marketing situational analysis. They can alsocome from other areas of your business or industry,such as achieving a financial target or filling a gap inthe market.Examples of some basic marketing objectives include: increase sales, build company awareness through social media, grow market share, launch new products or services, grow paying visitors in a specific target audience, enter new markets internationally or locally, enhance customer relationships, improve internal communications, and increase profit.Exercise 6You can have many different reasons behind developing objectives, but for the purpose of this workbook, go backand look at your weaknesses section of your SWOT analysis. Choose one weakness and write down a marketingobjective what will decrease or remove that weakness. For example, if you know you need to be on social mediabut don’t know how, your objective might be to learn how to manage social media accounts effectively, with theoutcome being a greater social media presence for your business.15

16Developing Effective MessagingDesire/DemandA very important component of successful marketingand meeting your objectives is establishing effectivemessaging. Your messaging throughout your marketingmust be relevant and consistent with the type ofmarketing you are doing, and it must be relevant to thetarget audience that will be consuming it.When developing your marketing and advertising tograb the attention and interest of potential visitors, youshould be considering the needs of those visitors andhow your products will meet those needs. When youalign your products with the needs of those potentialvisitors you are creating a desire and demand foryour product. Your products will then become a needssatisfier for those visitors.The messaging you will have in your print advertisingwill be much different than the messaging on yoursocial media accounts. However, all your messagingshould follow what is referred to as AIDA.to capture the attention of the target Attention:audience you are marketing to.to generate interest in your product, Interest:service or experience.or demand: to create a desire or demand Desirefor your product, service, or experience.to persuade that potential visitor to Action:take action.AttentionAttention is the act of actually marketing or advertisingyour business in the locations that your target audiencewill see it and react to it. The following section ondifferent types of marketing will outline the differentmethods you can take to market your business anddraw the attention of potential visitors.InterestOnce you have gained the attention of potentialvisitors you need to keep them interested longenough to communicate the features and benefits ofyour products, and to establish their value. This canbe done with the help of well-designed and wellwritten marketing and advertising content, such ashigh-quality photographs, eye-catching headlines,colourful descriptions, an easy-to-use website, easilyconsumable videos, and a variety of other tactics basedaround your products.ActionWhen you have grabbed the attention of potentialvisitors with an interesting marketing tactic oradvertisement and shown them how your products canfulfill their desire, the last objective of your effectivemessaging is to prompt that visitor to take action. Thisis called a call to action. The action a visitor takes couldbe a simple inquiry about your products, or it couldbe purchasing your products right away. Your call toaction will depend on the type of marketing you aredoing and, in some cases, include an incentive.Here are some examples of calls to action: Visit our website for more details. Call us today for 15% off your next tour. Save 10% if you book between now and April 15.up for our email list and be the first to know Signabout exclusive deals. Message us here on Facebook to secure your spot.us on Instagram to learn more about Followour tours.You should use AIDA in your overall marketingapproach and consider it when you are performingindividual marketing initiatives on an ongoing basis.

MARKETING YOUR TOURISM PRODUCTS WORKBOOKExercise 7Pick one of your products and follow AIDA to establish an effective message for one of your desiredtarget audiences.Attention – How will you grab the initial attention of your target audience:Interest – What makes your advertising interesting:Desire/demand – Why would the visitor want or need this product:Action – What do you want the visitor to do:17

18Understanding Different Typesof MarketingIn this section we will cover the different types ofmarketing that are available for you to execute for yourbusiness. First you will learn the difference betweenearned, owned and paid marketing and then aboutspecific marketing types.Earned, Owned and PaidMarketingThe first thing to understand about the different typesof marketing available to you is that each o

destination. In this case, the tourism products available are a large part of what determines the destination. In a situation where a tourist has no choice in the destination they are visiting, such as a predetermined business trip, they will seek out tourism products to fill their leisure time while at that specific destination.