Page 116Marketing tourismdestinationsLearning outcomesAfter reading this chapter and answering the questions, you should beable to:●understand the concept and elements of a destination●recognize the role of destination marketing and destination marketingorganizations.●identify aspects of marketing planning, imagery and advertising forreaching target consumers●understand the need for branding in destination marketing.OverviewThe application of marketing and advertising principles in tourism is largely undertaken by the private sector, seeking to communicate and sell their products and services to tourists. Yet since tourism services and products are an amalgam of different elements of tourism supply by businesses, an organizing framework is needed to integrate these components of supply into a means by which tourists can easily understand the products different places can offer. One mechanism to do this, is to develop the concept of a destination, around which the marketing, advertising and development of tourism products and services is undertaken. This often requires an organization such as an NTO or destination management organization to lead this process, around which the unique selling proposition of the destination is developed to give it a competitive advantage.

Page 2IntroductionDestinations are often seen by the tourist as the outwardly facing element of a tourism service or product, being a place where their consumption occurs. At a global scale, the growth of international and domestic tourism has seen the exponential expansion of places seeking to develop their tourism potential. Even very unlikely and unattractive places have developed a tourism economy, based on the principles of creating a destination and a demand for the products and services they offer. This chapter examines the concept of a destination and how it has been used in a marketing context (Pike 2008), and it develops many of the ideas covered in Chapter 15 on the role of the public sector, as well as the marketing and advertising concepts covered in Chapter 14. In this respect, it provides a synthesis of how destinations harness marketing principles and implement them. One of the central themes of this chapter is also to show how tourists perceive destinations, and how they develop destination

images. In a strategic management context, this chapter also highlights the link which marketing and management have in seeking to ensure the long-term sustainability and prosperity of destinations, the need to delight the visitor and engender notions of satisfaction from their experiences and to ensure that the area does not decline (Buhalis 2000). One of the very early tourism marketing texts by Wahab et al . (1976: 24) outlined the scope of tourism destination marketing: The management process through which the National Tourist organizations and/or tourist enterprises identify their selected tourist, actual and potential, communicate with them to ascertain and influence their wishes, needs, motivations, likes and dislikes, on local, regional, national and international levels and to formulate and adapt their tourist productsaccordingly in view of achieving optimal tourist satisfaction thereby fulfilling theirobjectives.In operational terms, destination marketing has a crucial role in ensuring that the destination lifecycle does not enter into a stage of saturation or decline, in communicating with the target markets at each stage of development (ie to raise visitors' awareness at the initial stage of development, to inform in the growth stage, to persuade visitors to come in a mature and saturation stage and to retain visitors and introduce new markets in the declining stages) (Buhalis 2000). As Chapter 15 and the resort lifecycle suggest, marketing is also vital since other destinations develop in competition, thus destinations have to formulate strategies to differentiate themselves. As Porter's model in Chapter 15 shows, destinations need to compete but are constrained by one critical constraint, the resource base and its sustainability, since once the resource base is destroyed it cannot be replaced. Nevertheless, destination marketing has to make critical decisions on strategic issues related to product, promotion, price and distribution strategies for tourism, since the resort lifecycle means that the destination is constantly evolving and changing, making strategic marketing a necessity. In extreme cases, destinations overrun by visitors may also have to use marketing to de-market their locality through dissuading visitors from coming at peak times in conjunction with visitor management tools.One interesting attempt to set the destination in a competitive framework was made by Gilbert (1990), who argued that destinations could be classified along a continuum. At the initial stages of development, a destination achieves a status at which its unique attributes are not substitutable, so consumer loyalty and willingness to pay to visit are high. Through time, as the destination develops and competing destinations come on stream, decisions to visit it are based more on price competitiveness and high-spending visitors are not attracted. The destination then assumes a commodity status, though in reality Buhalis (2000) suggests that mostdestinations are located at some point between these status and commodity positions. In some cases, destinations have sought to develop niche markets as a process of continuous innovation, in order to diversify their market base and remain competitive, retaining their unique appeal. However, in locations that have followed

cost-leadership strategies, mass tourism has caused irrevocable damage to the resource base. Whatever approach to destination marketing an area develops, the starting point must be a fundamental understanding of the elements, which coalesce to form the destination (Brey et al . 2007).356Part III Managing tourist operations and communicating with the visitor16

Page 3The destination conceptTourist destinations are a mix of tourism products, experiences and other intangible items promoted to consumers. This is not a new concept, since resorts and many areas which developed large tourism industries in the eighteenth and nineteenth century used guide books, posters and brochures to promote travel to their area. At a general level, this concept of a destination can be developed to represent geographically defined entities such as groups of countries, countries, regions in a country (ie The Rockies in North America), a city (eg London), a rural area (eg The Swan Valley, a wine tourism region in Western Australia), a resort or a wide range of experiences created by tourism marketers. Increasingly, the notion of a destination is something perceived by consumers, although most conventional definitions emphasize the geographical element of a specific place. From a tourist's perspective, a destination may usually be classified into one of the following: conventional resorts; environmental destinations; business tourism centres; places one stops en route to another place; a short-break destination and day-trip destinations. In essence, destinations are places which tourists visit and stay at.Whatever way one approaches the concept of a destination (ie from an industry-supply perspective or from the consumer's viewpoint), there are a range of six components which comprise a destination as Figure 16.1 shows.The destination is often refered to as an amalgam of the six As:●available packages●accessibility●attractions●amenities●activities●ancillary services

FIGURE 16.1 The elements of a tourist destination

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and in the most developed destinations, a public/public-private or private sector organization may be responsible for the coordination, planning and promotion of the destination.Early forms of destination marketingThe history of such organizations can be traced to the nineteenth century in the USA, where much of the focus was on attracting meetings and conventions, which is one facet of the events industry (Ford and Peeper 2007). In the USA, the formation of the Detroit Convention and Businessmen's League in 1896 is seen as the formal beginning of the US destination promotion industry, handled by their Convention and Visitor Bureau organizations.Whilst much of their initial interest was on domestic tourism, New Zealand was the first country to begin overseas promotion, as shown in Insight 16.1 In the UK, many individual resorts began to advertise in parallel with developments inNorth America and mainland Europe. For example, in 1879 Blackpool Town Council levied a local tax on the rates to undertake advertising at railway stations, attractions and amusements via its Advertising Committee, initially using leaflets and after 1881, with posters. As attractions were added to the town's tourism infrastructure (eg Blackpool Tower in 1894 and the illuminations in 1912) these featured in posters. Such advertising, sometimes in conjunction with railway companies, was aimed at the domestic tourism and day-trip market. Despite attempts by central government in the UK to limit municipal spending on promoting tourism,this became a highly competitive activity prior to 1914. Yet even during the First World War with government restrictions imposed on domestic travel and tourism, destinations were still promoted by some of the most influential place-promoters of the time – the private railway companies. The most prominent advertiser was the Great Western Railway Company (GWR)358Part III Managing tourist operations and communicating with the visitor16INSIGHT 16.1In 2001, the New Zealand Tourism Board celebrated 100 years of public service to tourists, emphasizing its long history and associations with tourism and indigenouspeople, being the first country in the world to market and promote itself formally overseas. The country was receiving international visitors after the establishment of the country in the 1840s, with domestic tourists travelling north of Auckland to Wairewa to the hot springs and making visits to the thermal resort area of Rotorua in the central North Island to see one of the wonders of the world – the Pink Terraces (destroyed by an earthquake in 1886).Much of the hospitality and tour guiding was provided by the local Maori iwi (tribe) – of the Te Arawa.

In 1901, the New Zealand government established the New Zealand Tourist and Health Resorts (THR), the forerunner of the New Zealand Tourism Board, to encour-age and develop tourism, particularly the facilities, marketing and publicity necessary to attract overseas visitors. Its success can be gauged in the development of international arrivals as shown in Table 16.1: international tourism now represents a NZ$4 billion industry.This is a major achievement for a country so distant from many of the world's major tourism-generating regions and whose primary means of transport prior to mass jettravel was sea. In 1902 the THR also established a network of tourist information centres to advise and help tourists in Auckland, Rotorua, Wellington, Christchurch,Invercargill and Dunedin. In 1903, revenue from international tourism had reached £5490, 10d, and by 1913 this had grown to £28 000. In 1927, the THR also estab-lished a network of overseas offices to promote the country in the UK, USA, South Africa, and Australia, which were key source markets, and offered links forvisiting friends and family and for business travel. The establishment of the first National Tourism Organization, the New Zealand Tourist and Health Resorts (THR) in 1901 with literary and visual representations drawing upon the concept of departure and the aesthetic appeal of the coast. In some GWR posters, travel embodied a sense of adventure, or might involve a glamorous event as well as the pleasure of the journey itself. In the UK in 1921 the Health Resorts and Watering Places Act formally approved municipalities expenditure of a 1d rate to undertake certain forms of destination advertising to attract existing rail-borne travel and the potential of car and charabanc (early coaches) trips to the coast. This development of formally-funded place marketing in the 1920s, typically through guide books, posters and newspaper advertising, helped to provide the modern-day foundations of the destination marketing organization.One of the principal tasks of destination marketing organizations (DMOs) is to increase visitation levels in a marketing context. However, DMOs also have a management function including the coordination of planning, economic development, the role of stakeholders including the host community, private sector tourism interests, public sector (including local and national government), tourists and other bodies such as pressure groups. These different stake-holders are an important focus for planning, since they may have different political agendas which makes seeking to derive a consensus destination marketing a complex task and illustrates the importance of collaboration.Formulating the destination marketing mix:The role of the DMOA central feature of any destination marketing strategy will be the formulation of a destination product. In some cases, a destination may find that competitive forces have caused it to begin to decline. This may be due to a wide range of reasons such as lacklustre performance or complacency by the DMO or NTO or both, since NTOs will

market countries as destinations, while DMOs will develop their own distinctive approach at the local destination level to develop a unique selling point and highlight key factors to appeal to visitors. For example, Sharpley and Pearce (2007) examine the tourism marketing undertaken by English National Parks and their ability to champion sustainable tourism as the principal challenge of balancing visitor needs and the environment. As Middleton and Clarke (2001) suggest, most DMOs do not have the ability to control tourist travel to destinations: they can only influence it because,as Chapters 3 and 4 have shown, a wide range of factors impact upon demand. DMOs are only part of the total marketing spend for a destination, since the private sector also uses brochures, websites and other campaigns to promote the products available for sale in the destination as Chapter 16 Marketing tourism destinations35916TABLE 16.1The evolution of tourist arrivals in New Zealand 1903–2002Figure 16.1 shows. In the best case scenario, only a small proportion of these suppliers will have formal links with an NTO or DMO, although experiments in online DMOs such as VisitScotland.com have started to change this situation.One starting point for DMOs is the marketing strategy, which will identify the marketing mix needed to promote the area after a marketing plan has been created. At a generic level, destination marketers need to constantly evaluate the strategic fit of the destination product with changing consumer tastes. The case of VisitScotland (Insight 16.4) also sets out a blueprint for the tourism industry to develop destination products in each area of Scotland's product portfolio, to maximize the impact of product campaigns. This emphasizes the need for a DMO to provide leadership and a focus for industry coordination and planning of marketing efforts to gain synergies, consistent marketing messages to consumers and partnerships to facilitate joint marketing campaigns.In formulating the destination product, the DMO will always have an intentional focus, meaning that it will be directly seeking to influence visitors to come in the short-term as well as aiming to raise general awareness for future visits. One of the core functions of any DMO in communicating to stakeholders its direction and focus will be its strategy document; in Insight 16.2 the strategy document for a DMO at the state level in Australia – Tourism New South Wales – is outlined. It is an example of a domestic marketing strategy for showcasing the destination and the DMO's support for the tourism industry in terms of advertising, public relations and direct marketing.Middleton and Clarke (2001) point to the wider role which NTOs can play in support of DMOs such as TNSW in the source markets and in support of the tourism industry:●providing market intelligence and research data●running web-based advertising●organizing trade shows

●hosting familiarization trips for foreign travel agents, travel writers and tour operators●providing online travel trade manuals as reference guides●participating in joint marketing●running a DMS (see Chapter 6) to provide direct access to consumers and bookings●running destination quality schemes to raise standards and engender a wider concern for tourist well-being (see Chapter 26 for more detail).What these potential roles and support functions of the DMO highlight is the need to under-take the following generic tasks in a marketing (and destination management) context:●understanding consumer markets●ensuring accessibility to the market (eg the Scottish Executive provided a £6 millionfund to help fund the establishment of new flights to Scotland to make it more accessibleas a destination)●understanding and communicating the core offering●recognizing, analysing and addressing the competitive forces affecting the destination●identifying the tourism development needs of the destination to nurture visitors and to improve their experiences as Insight 16.1 illustrates●coordinating and leading destination marketing activities● reformulating the marketing mix● monitoring sustainability to ensure that activities do not destroy the long-termmarketability and resource base in the destination● identifying new ideas, trends and how to be an outwardly facing organization able in order to understand the global marketplace and adopt a creative approach to destination marketing.DMOs also have a key role in understanding the pricing of the destination product, even though this is largely in the control of the private sector businesses. In the case of the largeINSIGHT 16.2Tourism New South Wales marketing strategy 2003–2004 In 2005, the readers of the North American newspaper USA Today voted Australia as the most desirable touristdestination to visit. This underpins the phenomenal success of Australia's growth as a visitor destination in the 1990s. On of the country's major gateways is Sydney, New South Wales, and this provides many opportunities for the state’s tourism organization – Tourism New South Wales (TNSW). TNSW has developed a strategy which isconsumer driven. In 2003/2004 TNSW saw its main challenge was to:

●target and increase visitor nights, mainly from interstate markets (ie other states in Australia)●to target long-stay holidays currently being lost to Queensland●to continue to attract international markets.For 2003–2006, TNSW outlined ten key strategies:●to lead the New South Wales tourism industry●to align marketing efforts with corporate objectives (ie to increase visitor nights, to target new and emerging markets, off-peak and mid-week travel and to aid thegeographical dispersion of visitors in New South Wales whilst also increasing yields)●to build strong tourism brands to differentiate TNSW from its competitors●to take a fresh look at the way we view markets●to integrate marketing activity across TNSW, its regions and in the use of the promotional tools it uses, including the web●to develop new strategic product offers such as holidays for mature people●to showcase TSNW via its brands, products and showcasing experiences to bridge the brand–product link●to adopt a new approach to regional tourism partnerships●to develop a new approach to international marketing, working in close cooperation with the Australian Tourist Commission.As part of the marketing efforts of TNSW, three methods of communicating to the consumer focus on:●the brand, with the 2003/2004 'Freedom' and 'FeelFree' campaign;●showcasing the top six experiences which distinguishTNSW from its competitors:●Sydney●nature●Discovery/Drive (a touring experience)●food and wine●beaches●sports and events product, which comprises the holiday experiences.TNSW set about showcasing the region to provide potential visitors with the reason to visit, based upon capital city tourism, regional tourism events, business tourism andaboriginal tourism.Tourism New South Wales marketing strategy 2003–2004Image 16.1: Tourism New South Wales branding of Sydney –'There's no place in the world like Sydney', Source: Copyright, Tourism New South Wales

Page 8European tour operators who have been accused of driving down the prices paid to local operators, their size and power illustrates that small local businesses must

address reduced profit margins by new strategies (ie overpricing local services and products). DMOs have a central role to play in working with intermediaries (including e-mediaries) such as those involved in staging meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) who may bring lucrative business travellers.As Chapter 15 has shown, DMOs may have a communication role in promoting the destination by organizing a coordinated campaign. This may include above-the-line promotional activity , such as advertising, to develop the destination brand; this is discussed later. Below-the-line promotion , such as attending trade fairs and distributing brochures while meeting withintermediaries, is also undertaken. But how do tourists select a destination to visit, given the highly competitive marketing which many places are now undertaking?

Selecting a tourist destinationAccording to Seddighi and Theocharous (2002) understanding how tourists select the destinations they visit is central to destination marketers so they can decide upon which marketing strategies to use to influence consumer behaviour. At a simplistic level, any traveller is faced with a range of motives. In the case of business travel, this is often not a choice-related form of travel and is dictated by employment needs, although conference and incentive travel may be influenced by choice. It is the leisure holiday which has attracted the greatest amount of research, where the initial choice of destination facing the tourist is either a domestic or overseas destination(s), the decision being partly based upon the purchasing power of the consumer.The attitudes and perception of the prospective tourist towards alternative destinations leads to different preferences, as a multi-stage process. As Chapter 4 discussed, a wide range of demographic, gender, income and level of education impact upon holiday-taking. Seddighi and Theocharous (2002) also develop the importance of destination-specific factors including:●whether the visitor has been to the destination before●the cost of living at the destination●the price of the tourist package●facilities at the destination●the cost of transportation and time taken in travelling●the quality of the promotion and advertising●the quality of services●any political instability at the destination.This highlights the importance of destination marketing, as Buckley and Papadopolous (1986:86) argued, where Greater attention must be paid to the characteristics of visitors when trying to develop a marketing strategy … a clear market segment must be identified and an investigation made of the buying decision factors, which predominate in that segment … It is, however,important to recognise that the tourist product is a composite product and that there is more than one type of client.

This also indicates the importance of buyer behaviour as a key element in destination choice.As Middleton and Clarke (2001) indicate, models of consumer behaviour have traditionallyemphasized price as the key determinant of a purchase. But growing consumer sophisticationhas seen branding and other non-rational considerations and attitudes influence buyer behaviour. In a simplified form, this process can be summarized as follows:●destinations promote competitive products to consumers direct, and via the traveltrade/intermediaries362Part III Managing tourist operations and communicating with the visitor16

Page 9●advertising, promotion and the interplay of personal recommendation, family, friends,consumer trends, taste and the internet combine to shape buyer characteristics●these buyer characteristics are filtered by the learning behaviour of consumers, which has been influenced by marketing/recommendation. For example, Ashworth and Goodall(1988) observed that if a tourist is dissatisfied they will not recommend the destinationto others; a reminder of the importance of visitor satisfaction and word of mouth. It isalso shaped by the perceptions of consumers of brands and images of the destination,and their experience of travel (ie prior travel to destinations)●these characteristics combine in the buyer decision-making process where learning,perceptions and experience lead to the motivation to buy●at the motivation stage, the characteristics of the consumer (ie demographic, economic and social profile) combine with their psychographic characteristics as well as their attitudes to create: needs, wants and goals. In tourism purchases, Morgan (1996) suggests the family often acts as a single decision-making unit and Zalaton (1998) noted male–female differences in purchases●the consumer then chooses between different goods or services to purchase a product or brand to fulfil their motivation.Within buyer behaviour research, which derives from the sub-area of marketing called'consumer behaviour', the DMO may apply marketing segmentation techniques as describedin Chapter 4. Yet one of the most influential factors in the consumer's choice of destination is the destination image which is not necessarily grounded in experience or facts but is a key motivator in travel and tourism. Images and the expectations of

travel experiences are closely linked in prospective customers' minds and the ultimate objective of destination marketing is to: 'Sustain, alter or develop images in order to influence prospective buyers' expectations' (Middleton and Clarke 2001: 127). Again, this reiterates the importance of marketing research in seeking to understand the intrinsic attractiveness of a destination's image to a visitor, as well as how the perceived image can be used to position the destination to derive a competitive advantage.

The tourist destination imageWithin the literature on tourism marketing, the study of destination imagery is one of the major areas of academic endeavour. For this reason, this section will examine the factors which impact upon destination image including how to approach the study of image formation.According to Gallarza, Saura and Garciá (2002: 58), the initial development of destination image research can be dated to Hunt (1975). Most academic studies have focused on:●the conceptualization and dimensions of TDI●the destination image formation process●the assessment and measurement of destination image●the influence of distance on destination image●destination image change over time●the active and passive role of residents in the image of destinations●destination image management (ie positioning and promotion).This proliferation of studies has made the definition of TDI a complex task, with no consensus of the term and its scope, although it is broadly concerned with the way individuals and groups develop mental constructions about destinations, focusing on different attributes which are shaped by their beliefs, values, ideas, perceptions and impressions. As Beerli and Martin (2004a) suggest, the image of the destination might be classified into nine items as shown in Table 16.2, based on the attributes of the destination which are vast and very difficult to reduce to a series of simple constructs. A study by Echtner and Ritchie (1991) has added some clarityChapter 16 Marketing tourism destinations36316

Page 10364Part III Managing tourist operations and communicating with the visitor16TABLE 16.2

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to the wide range of definitions which exist by pointing to the existence of three axes that support the image of a destination:●a psychological/functional dimension●the common/unique dimension●holistic/attribute axes.

As Beerli and Martin (2004a) suggest, a number of attributes have been studied in TDI studies which can be classified according to the functional–psychological axis. These studies can help in understanding what Gunn (1988) described as the personal factors affecting the tourist formation of a destination image:●the accumulation of images of the destination●modifying the initial image after gathering more information, creating an induced image●deciding to visit the destination●visiting the destination●sharing the destination●returning home●modifying the image based on experience to create an organic and induced image. This organic image, based upon non-commercial sources of data, is influenced by the media and friends. In contrast, the induced image is the result of commercial data and information such as destination or industry advertising.One consequence of these studies of TDI is that whatever measures are developed to understand imagery, one needs a framework within which to understand image formation.A model of destination image formulation Baloglu and McCleary (1999) provided a framework to analyse TDI, which is conditioned by two key elements:●stimulus factors (external stimuli, physical objects, personal experience)●personal factors (social and psychological characteristics of the consumer).As a result, three determinants of TDI were identified by Baloglu and McCleary (1999):●tourism motivations●sociodemographic factors●information sources.These determinants help shape the TDI as an attitudinal construct, that comprises aconsumer's mental understanding of knowledge, feelings and global impression of a destina-tion. As we discussed in Chapter 15, the image has a perceptual/cognitive as well as an affective element which generate responses to create an overall image of the destination as shown in Figure 16.2.

The construction of images of destination is clearly an area which can be studied using quantitative research methods to measure the elements of a TDI and the visitors' preferences.Yet there is also a growing interest in more qualitative studies which seek to examine the images portrayed in brochures by marketers to promote destinations. In the case of less developed world tourism destinations, Echtner and Prasad (2003) examined the visual elements in the brochures. They found images of lands which were unchanged, where unrestrained behaviour could occur and where 'uncivilized' people existed. They also highlighted the myths created in destination images by tour operators to represent the less developed world to appeal to particular market segments. Such destination imagery is demeaning to the host population and that this may attract visitors with false expectations and a form of tourism that is not compatible with the destination.Chapter 16 Marketing tourism destinations36516

Page 12Kim and Richardson (2003) point to a similar effect that may be generatedby motion pictures on destination images. Such images enter the domain ofpopular culture and the impact on place images can be very influential. In factGartner (1993) highlighted the interrelationship of cognitive and affectiveelements of destination images which have a strong impact on the decision tovisit. One example of this effect occurred in Scotland following the launch ofa childrens's programme, Balamory , set on a fictitious island of the samename, which was, in real life, the Isle of Mull, in the town of Tobermory(Figure 16.3) with its painted houses. This led to a tourism boom, followingthe rise of toddler tourism (Connell 2005). The local area tourist board,AILLST, promoted the area using Tobermory on the front cover of their 2004holiday brochure, adding to the tourist boom (Image 16.2). As Connell(2005) has shown, such place imagery can have an immediate impact on adestination, particularly when the images generated by popular culture (egthe BBC) are not matched in reality, and small-scale destinations find them-selves besieged in the peak tourist season (see Insight 16.3).366Part III Managing tourist operations and communicating with the visitor16Personal factors• Psychological• Social• Perceptual and

cognitiveevaluationAge, education,marital status,demographic profileValues, motivations,personality• Affectiveevaluation• GlobalevaluationStimulus factors• Information sources• Previous experienceDistribution of imagesAmount and typeDestinationimageFIGURE 16.2 The process of destination image formation.Source: Adapted from Bologlu andMcCleary (1999)Image 16.3: Argyll, the Islands, Loch Lomond, Stirling and the Trossachs Tourist BoardHoliday Brochure, 2004, with image of Tobermory, reproduced courtesy of AILLST

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{aici am ramas}Using destination imagery to gain competitive advantageWith growing global competition for tourists, destination marketers are constantly seeking new ways to overcome the problem of destination substitutability . The global expansion of destination advertising is highly competitive as the use of print media and the World Wide Web along with the travel sections of European Sunday newspapers show. Competitiveness is a byword for destinations in the twenty-first century. One method developed is destination positioning (DP). As Pike and Ryan (2004) observe, DP is based on three propositions:●in modern society, people are bombarded with information on a daily basis●the mind has developed a defence mechanism against this process of information overload●the only way to reach the consumer is through simplified and focused messages.

367INSIGHT 16.3There is a growing recognition of the importance of global forms of media in promoting visitation to places depicted in television programmes and films, known collectively as screen tourism (Olsberg/SPI 2007). The deliberate and indirect impact of this form of media in creating a destination image to a wide market has resulted in tourism organizations beginning to understand that screen tourism can boost tourism in the following ways:●The promotion of visitation to location(s) via a storylineor programme which is increased where realcharacters visit in the story;●In literature-oriented films, tourists visit the locationsand wider screen tourism impacts occur where thefilming includes historic/religious buildings, statelyhomes and rural village landscapes (Table 16.3);●The programmes and films also help to provide abrand for a destination, such as New Zealand TouristBoard's use of the filming of the Lord of the Ringstrilogy. The benefit here is in sustaining visitorawareness and visitation beyond the immediatescreening. In other words, it helps the destination tobecome more enduring even if peak visitation tails off.●Where the storyline of the production has an emotionalconnection with the audience, the impact in promotingvisitation can be long-lived: the BBC televisionprogramme – All Creatures Great and Small –generated long-term visitation to Thirsk in Yorkshire andthe creation of a visitor attraction based on the writerand his books.●Where the programme or film becomes a 'cult'classic, such as in the film Trainspotting , unusual andalmost bizarre visitor activity can occur which seeksto replicate scenes in the film. For example,pilgrimages to Corrour Station in the ScottishHighlands in the Trainspotting film has meant thatalmost ten years after the film's initial release, itremains an enduring theme.For destination marketers, collaboration with film-makersand appropriate marketing to ensure destinations cancater sustainably for visitors, may help to create new

locations for tourism. Visit Britain's Movie Map of the UKis seen as a cost-effective method of building on thepopularity of film tourism, creating regional tourism activ-ity. More organized packaging by destinations to createfilm tours, akin to the notion which Universal Studios filmset tour creates in Hollywood can provide an additionalmethod of tourism marketing. Stirling in Scotland demon-strated an early example of an initiative in this area as aLocal Authority and Tourist Board by bringing thepremiere of Braveheart to Stirling University, with presscoverage and associated promotion that is widelyacknowledged for creating the 'Braveheart effect' in thelate 1990s for the city.The impact of film and screen tourism as a form of destination promotion

+++TABELUL 16.3 SI GATA:d:d:d:d

Page 14368Part III Managing tourist operations and communicating with the visitor16Film/televisionprogammeYears involved and impactsBalamoryIn 2003, the television programme generated an extra 160 000 a year.BraveheartVisits to the Wallace Monument increased from 40 000 in 1995 to 200 000 in 1996.Da Vinci CodeVisitor numbers to Roslyn Chapel rose from 38 000 in 2003 to 68 000 in 2004 and 120 000 in 2005.Gosford ParkVisitor numbers at Beningbrough Hall rose from 10 218 to 94 032 in one year.Harry PotterNorth Yorkshire Moors railway visits rose from 245 000 in 2001 to 297 000 in 2002 and 303 000 in2004: 15% of visits were due to the Harry Potter film and 38% due to Heartbeat.Alnwick Castle saw a 120% increase due to its use as Hogwarts. Alnwick gardens visitor numbers rose from13 627 in 2001 to 515 813 in 2003, a proportion of which can be attributed to the Harry Potterassociation.Lacock Abbey saw visitor numbers rise from 55 000 in 2000 to 93 000 in 2003 then fell to 88 000 in2004, after the film featured the location in 2001.Monarch of the GlenBetween 2002–2004, the value of tourism to the Moray, Badenoch and Strathspey area grew from £105million to £128 million, a proportion of which is attributed to Monarch of the Glen country.Mrs BrownOsbourne House, Isle of Wight, saw visitor numbers grow by 25%.Source: Adapted from Olsberg / SPI (2007) Stately Attraction: How Film and Television Programmes PromoteTtourism in the UK . London: UK Film Council,Scottish Screen, EU Media, East Midlands Tourism, Screen East, South West Screen, Film London and Visit London.

FIGURE 16.3 Location of 'Balamory'.Source: Copyright J. Connell

Page 15The core element of DP is image, which is the simplified messages and information associated with destination (see Image 16.3 and 16.4). These messages try and influence buyer behaviour, given the intangible nature of tourism and its experiences. DP requires a DMO to create a lasting favourable image or perception among prospective consumers. In technical terms, the destination marketer will need to understand the cognitive, affective and choice element in the decision or intent to visit a destination (the 'conative image'). To operationalize this, marketers will need to identify the important attributes which visitors perceive in the destination, and itsattractiveness to the target market . This needs to be understood in relation to how the competi-tion performs. Through complex statistical analysis (eg factor analysis andimportance–performance analysis), it is possible to group destinations in a matrix. This allowsmarketers to identify one or two key features to differentiate the destination image from that ofthe competition, whilst providing a mechanism to communicate that image to consumers. Atypical affective response matrix for competing destinations in the adventure tourism destina-tion market is shown in Figure 16.4.For example, Destination 1 is perceived as a relatively low-risk but challenging place toundertake adventure tourism whereas Destination 3 is perceived as a relatively passive andChapter 16 Marketing tourism destinations36916Images 16.3 and 16.4: The Forest ofDean, the largest oak forest in England anddesignated the country's first National ForestPark in 1938, promotes the tranquility andrelative isolation of the area to position itselfas a short break destination and as anoutdoor event destination.

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boring location and should reconsider the suitability of its image for the market it is trying toattract. Figure 16.4 shows that this type of competitor analysis is helpful in that each desti-nation can see how suited it is to specific promotional messages which are aligned toconsumer perception. A study by van der Ark and Richards (2007) examined the attractive-ness of European capital cities in terms of culture to assess their relative positions as destina-tions, with their attractiveness dominated by London, Paris and Rome whose cultureenhanced their rankings.Communicating the destination image:The role of advertisingMarketing concepts in tourism allow us to understand some of the tools and techniques used tocommunicate with consumers, yet to the consumer these may seem abstract and very distantfrom the real world. This is because the tourist only sees the outwardly facing elements ofmarketing by businesses and destinations, and the most visible elements of this is advertising.According to Middleton and Clarke (2001: 237), advertising and public relationsare primary means of manipulating demand and influencing buyer behaviour. Simplystated, they enable businesses to reach people in their homes or other places away from theplaces of production and delivery, and to communicate to them messages intended toinfluence their purchasing behaviour.This suggests that buyer behaviour is a very complex process. Advertising is one of the mostwidely used marketing communication tool in tourism, mainly because the product or service isintangible. It is often based on real or perceived images of tourism and destination. What isnotable in tourism is the massive scale of advertising spend. According to Middleton andClarke (2001), advertising spend on display advertising for tourism in the UK in the late 1990swas £425 million. The tourism sector is a high spender on tourism advertising to get itsmessages across as any review of post-Christmas television advertising by European tour oper-

ators will show. This is designed to influence consumers in the traditional December–Januaryperiod when they are looking to book summer holidays.More recent data for the USA were compiled by W”ber and Fesenmaier (2004) who noted thatUS state tourism offices spent US$178.2 million on domestic and US$49.7 million on interna-tional advertising which was over 30 per cent of the total US$685.1 million of combined budgetsof these tourism offices. In 2005, these state budgets had dropped to just over US$600 million,370Part III Managing tourist operations and communicating with the visitor16ChallengingHigh riskLow riskPassiveSafe1ExcitingBoringRelaxing1 = Placing of competing destinations24563FIGURE 16.4 Affective response matrix for competing adventure tourism destinations

Page 17illustrating the economic pressures being placed upon the sector. This is reflected in the debate in2008 in the state of Kansas. The state has one of the lowest spends on State Tourism Offices ataround US$4.1 million and a Task Force advocated raising the budget to US$15 million. Yet thestate governor has proposed reducing the budget to US$3.1 million back to its 1993 funding

level. In contrast, Ohio, with a US$7 million budget and US$33 billion tourism industry, support-ing 500,000 jobs was significantly below the US average State Tourism budget of US$12 million.By looking at alternative funding scenarios and the return on investment, it was estimated thatraising the budget to US$25 million would generate a greater return of 10.5: 1, generatingUS$3845 million in visitor spending. This compares to the current return on investment of 6:1 onthe US$7 million budget. The return on investment measure, which is widely used by StateTourism Offices, measures the number of incremental trips generated by each dollar spent onmedia advertising, of around 0.81 trips per dollar. These two examples illustrate why StateTourism Office budgets assume such a significant role in seeking to promote tourism at a statelevel. There is great variation across the US in terms of the taxes used to support these offices(including sales taxes, bed taxes, meal taxes and taxes on automobile rental), with the mostcommon a bed or 'lodging tax' of between 3 per cent and almost 14 per cent of the room rate.Across the US, over 30 states fund their state tourism budgets from public funds and anotherproportion rely heavily on state funding. Taxes contribute to the running costs whilst WestVirginia funds its state tourism activity from lottery funds and a significant proportion is directedto Kansas. A selection of these expenditures can be found in Table 16.3 which illustrates thesignificance placed on tourism in states with a highly developed tourism industry. But it is expen-sive to undertake advertising and hard to assess its impact in any definitive way without expen-sive tracking and conversion studies. Yet for the highly developed and competitive tourismmarketplace, it is not the only tool used to inform, persuade and attempt to induce consumer

activity in the fast-moving consumer goods sector, where products such as holidays have a limitedshelf life. Advertising in a marketing context is part of the promotional mix identified in market-ing plans and strategies, but it has to be viewed as part of a more integrated communication strat-egy for businesses and NTOs to speak with one voice to their existing or potential customers.Advertising and tourism: An integral relationship?The consumer buying process in tourism often involves the consumer seeing imagery of places,products and services, rather than being able to physically experience them before buying.Consequently, advertising is important in developing the buyer attitudes, behaviour and theperceived image of a prospective purchase. Advertising is designed to move the consumer froman awareness of a product to a situation where it can be comprehended in relation to itsfeatures and benefits. The consumer then has to accept that the product meets their needs,Chapter 16 Marketing tourism destinations37116Budget (US$)Hawaii69 millionIllinois47 millionPennsylvannia33 millionTexas30 millionFlorida28 millionWest Virginia23 millionLouisiana18 millionSource: Various sourcesTABLE 16.4

Selected US state tourism budgets 2005

Page 18which is where the advertising process is crucial. Here providing a compelling reason for theconsumer to prefer the product, ideally as a unique offering means that advertising is to helpcreate a purchase. Advertising not only helps to aid purchase but reinforces the importance ofthe purchaser in meeting their satisfaction. By understanding the process by which advertisingwill influence consumers, the advertiser may look at the wide range of tools they have at theirdisposal to use advertising to communicate with their target group. For example, destinationadvertising may use media advertising such as television, press and billboards as well as theInternet and trade publications. They may also use public relations to provide media exposureas unpaid advertising. Major exhibitions such as the World Travel Market and ITB in Berlinwill provide exposure to consumers, wholesalers and retailers who may wish to visit the desti-nation. Other tools, such as direct mail or email may help build up an advertising relationshipwith key groups along with sponsorship For example, in 2008 VisitScotland promoted its'white' winter campaign by sponsorship of small advertisements on milk cartons to targetdomestic tourists. However, as Insight 16.4 shows, destinations may employ a wide range ofpromotional tools to create an attractive destination proposition.The holiday brochure, combined with powerful television images, is a major mechanismused by tour operators to seek to influence consumers that they will derive personal value andbenefits from their holiday product. At the same time, such intentional advertising is oftensupported by destination marketing in terms of posters, billboards, brochures and media adver-

tising to reinforce and encourage an interest in a certain destination. One illustration of onefacet of a media campaign and the cost for industry partners can be seen in the SeeAmerica.orgmedia promotion in the UK market in 2005.SeeAmerica.Org media planning for promotion in theUK market in 2005In 2004, over four million UK residents visited the USA. Despite the growth in arrivals of 8 percent 2002–2003 and 11 per cent 2003–2004, the Tourism Industry Association of America (TIA)launched the See America campaign (as discussed in Chapter 14). In 2005, See America launcheda campaign to offset the negative imagery associated with the Iraq war and to target the growingUK market. This was part of a US$4 million advertising campaign led by See America. As part ofthe advertising programme for 2005, See America provided US tourism operators with the oppor-tunity to advertise in the following UK consumer publications as travel supplements:●January 2005, Sunday Times , national edition (1.4 million circulation and 3.25 millionreadership)●March 2005, Sunday Times , regional editions, and the Mail on Saturday (one millioncirculation and two million readership)●September 2005, Sunday Times , regional editions, and the Mail on Sunday .A direct mail to UK ABTA members in February, April and September was also planned to 16000 members, reaching 96 000 tourism trade readers.What is interesting from an advertising perspective, is the cost to See American members. Aprogramme with advertising, editorial coverage, supplements in consumer publications, anonline sweepstake, opportunity to join a database of interested readers and the ABTA mail outwas priced thus:For three-time participation in the programme (and one time in brackets)½ page display advert US$130 000 ($55 000)

¼ page display advert US$73 000 ($32 500)1/8page display advert US$41 000 ($17 050) (Adapted from www.seeamerica.org SeeAmerica 2005 UK Campaign, February 2005)which highlights the high cost of advertising in the media. The target audience was the UK ABC1 aged 25 to 54 with annual household incomes of over US$72 000. The SeeAmerica campaign372Part III Managing tourist operations and communicating with the visitor16

Page 19Chapter 16 Marketing tourism destinations37316INSIGHT 16.4Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, Berlin Tourismus MarketingGmbH has had the task of promoting Berlin as a touristdestination. It is among the most visited cities in Germanyand was designated a world heritage site in 1999 byUNESCO. The city has over 170 museums and 400 artgalleries making it an art and culture city (see Chapter 23on urban tourism). The city has a fascinating history afterits division in 1945 and its subsequent reunification. BerlinTourismus (BT) works with other tourism partners in the cityto market and promote it, as the destination received over17 million overnight stays in 2007. BT's role is to developproducts suitable for the city's tourism markets and theprovision of information on the range of attractions in part-nership with the local tourism industry. This Insight focuseson how BT has promoted Berlin as a tourist destination,using a themed campaign, supported by seasonal market-ing and PR campaigns to create an internationally recog-nizable image amongst consumers and the tourism sector.Its most recent campaign – Berlin, Berlin wir fahrennach Berlin (Berlin, Berlin, we're going to Berlin) – wasdeveloped in 2007 with a budget of R8 million. It soughtto showcase Berlin's cultural landscape in a glossy and

emotionally appealing manner using images of a fascinat-ing metropolis. The campaign emphasized the friendlinessand confidence of Berliners along with the unique brand ofart, culture, nightlife and history. For this reason, thecampaign identified a number of core themes:●Trends (design, club scene, galleries, fashion, modernart, music scene)●Entertainment●Opera/classical music●Art (museums, special exhibitions)●History in the makingto position Berlin nationally and internationally as a uniquecultural capital. The promotion uses a wide range ofcommunication mechanisms such as:●Print media●Online media●Website: http: //www.fahren-nach-berlin.de●Additional PR campaigns●Joint advertising with partnersto attract the German and selected European markets over40 years of age and young event-oriented visitors. BT iden-tified the following target markets for the geographicalmarketing of the city including:●Within Germany, the regions which were already thefocus of the Winter Magic campaign●Europe, the UK, the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Denmarkand Switzerland●In the US a wider focus on the 'Central European

Experience' joint marketing campaignAs BT state in relation to the advertising campaign theyhave employed:Each image presents one particular aspect of the vastarray of events in Berlin's cultural sector and links it to aninspiring Berlin headline. The copy then embeds theimages in their context and narrates an appropriate story(or stories). The claim sums up and expresses the enthusi-asm in and for Berlin, and is simultaneously used as thecampaign logo. The claim has deliberately been left inGerman: Berlin, Berlin, wir fahren nach Berlin.Source: Developed from http: //www.berlin-tourism.comThe marketing and promotion of Berlin as a touristdestination

Page 20saw films as a powerful trigger to visitors, seeking to get viewers to reconsider the USA as adesirable holiday destination. The evaluate the impact and effect of the campaign, eight focusgroups were carried out in the UK, and a benchmark and post-campaign survey were under-taken to assess the return on investment. Yet such advertising is only part of communicating thedestination image, which needs to be understood in the wider context of advertising.The process of communicating the destination imageIn its simplest form, advertising in tourism is a process and much of the discussion whichfollows is as relevant to destination marketing as it is for tourism businesses. In an operationalcontext Middleton and Clarke (2001: 241) point to the six stages of advertising:●advertising objectives (ie what is one seeking to achieve?)●target audience identification●creative planning (the pictures, images and symbols to use to convey the advertisingmessage)●media planning (ie what forms of advertising to use)●

media costs●measuring the results and effectiveness of advertising; this typically falls into responsemeasurement (ie in relation to a brochure request advertisement) and more in-depthmarket research studies of the communication effect. This will often be a costly marketresearch exercise to test measures of awareness, interest, attitudes and recall ofadvertising.The outcome of the advertising, as a communication process for destinations (and individualbusinesses) is shown in Figure 16.5. This combines much of the conventional research fromconsumer behaviour which suggests that advertising will be targeted at consumers, but onlyaround 12 per cent of the target is reached, since messages are filtered out by the consumersubconsciously. Once the message reaches the final proportion of consumers, a variety of differ-ent models of consumer behaviour suggest that potential visitors go through a series of stepsbefore deciding to visit a destination. One model, shown in Figure 16.5, is the AIDA (atten-tion–interest–desire–action) approach which dates to Strong (1925). Alternative models includethe Awareness to Reinforcement Process as described by Morgan and Pritchard (2000) as wellas that discussed by McWilliams and Crompton (1997).To convert consumers to buyers, advertisers need to be aware of the following issues:●advertising objectives : the identification of what a DMO or business wishes to achieve inits target markets, namely awareness, interest and activity resulting in a visit or purchase●target audience identification , by examining their media habits●creative planning , where pictures, symbols and words are used to convey the messagesimply, as discussed under destination positioning above. An example is British Airways

and the World's Favourite Airline image. The tourism sector, like many other industries,uses the creative talents of private sector advertising agencies to develop a creative set ofconcepts, which are tested on consumers using focus groups before launching the campaign●media planning , identifying and programming which advertisements will be shown. Thisinvolves identifying which audiences to target, the cost of reaching them, the scope forcreative activity depending on the media used, the space sought and receptiveness of theaudience●media costs , where advertising costs are identified as cost per thousand reached.To reach the target market, various rules of advertising have been developed since the 1950swhich include:●have a unique selling proposition (USP).374Part III Managing tourist operations and communicating with the visitor16

Page 21●a memorable slogan is needed.●a logo is needed in any advertisement.●humour is not necessary.●the product needs to be visible in the advertisement (Adapted from Morgan andPritchard 2000).However as Morgan and Pritchard (2000) demonstrate, these rules have been developed duringthe last decade to reflect the importance of creativity in gaining consumer attention. Thus theUSP may be replaced with emotional selling propositions and irrational appeals, while humour

is valid, as are slogans and logos. As Santos (2004) found in the case of Portugal, the opinionsof travel writers can also be extremely influential in the promotion and advertising of tourismproducts and destinations. In some cases, this can also lead to misrepresentations of destina-tions. Historically, such writers have been important opinion leaders and influencers of touristvisitation, creating images that have even been incorporated into the advertising of destina-tions. These intangible elements of a destination image have led many DMOs to use moresophisticated tools to develop this emotional link between the consumer and the destination,through branding.Destination brandingBranding is about helping destinations to harness their USP to promote their attractivefeatures (eg history, culture, landscape, the people and destination attributes) by building a

Page 22brand. Branding is designed, as Morgan andPritchard (2002) argue, to connect the consumer withthe destination in the present or future. As Morganand Pritchard (2000: 216) suggest, 'modern brandingis not just about developing appealing communica-tion strategies, it is also about defining and deliveringleading edge product or service quality to match orexceed customer expectations'. It requires a vision forthe brand to be established so that consumers willbuy into it; this can be expressed as the brand's corevalues. These values should be credible, plaus-ible,drivable and deliverable. These values are consis-tently reinforced through the product, the service andin all marketing communciations in all media tomaintain a brand presence (Image 16.4). Modern-daybrands have an emotional appeal, evoking trust,quality and reliability. Building a brand is a longprocess but destination advertising is crucial where abrand has been developed to position the destinationfirmly in the target markets. Insight 16.4 illustrates

this process in the case of Scotland which hasrecently re-imaged and repositioned itself as a desti-nation. Among the benefits of branding are:●it allows consumers to identify with the produce orplace. These are constantly evolving propositions:New York's Convention Bureau and Visitors'Bureau coined the 'Big Apple' in the 1970s, and theState of New York also developed the 'I Love NewYork' slogan at the same time. In 2005, the city ofNew York filed an application to trademark a newslogan – The World's Second Home●it helps to create an image of the product or service and raises visibility. In a moresophisticated use of branding, it may help a destination to target different markets,where multiple brands are developed. For example, in 2006, the resort company Sandalsused branding to differentiate its resorts into Signature and Classic brands according toservice levels. The Signature brand became the elite product with five-star restaurantsand butler service●it helps to reinforce imagery among customers and intermediaries selling tourismexperiences and may add prestige to the destination●a corporate logo, symbol or trademark may help to distinguish the destination fromcompetitors.As Insight 16.2 shows, a destination brand has been built by focusing on the emotional attach-ment which visitors have with Scotland, so that it is exciting, conveys powerful ideas, resonateswith the consumer and is reinforced by the advertising campaign: 'Live it – Scotland'. Anotherhighly successful advertising campaign in the 1980s was 'Glasgow – miles better', while NewZealand's '100% Pure' and Torbay in Devon's English Riviera campaign in the 1990s were successful too. But how can destinations evaluate the efficiency of their marketing efforts? One approach now being considered is destination benchmarking .Destination benchmarking

Benchmarking is a technique which has gained increased popularity in the tourism industrysince the 1990s. It looks at the performance of similar businesses or sectors to gauge how one is376Part III Managing tourist operations and communicating with the visitor16Nowhere else can you travel minutes from the city to one of over forty beautiful, secluded harbourside beaches.Soak up the views, letting the world's most stunning harbour be your canvas for summer, sun and life.To plan your Sydney summer escape, go to seesydney.com.au or call NSW Holidays on 1300 666 787.There's no place in the world like SydneyTNS0212_FPC_HG_S_Y&RImage 16.3: Promotional campaign for Sydney focusing on'There's no place in the world like Sydney' and its harboursidebeaches, 2005 campaign.Source: Copyright, Tourism New SouthWales

Page 23performing relative to competitors (Kozak 2003). It has seen applications in measuring destina-tion competitiveness, particularly in relation to productivity and the effectiveness of advertisingand marketing in relation to measurable outcomes (eg visitor arrivals, bed nights and receipts)as well as for more subjective measures (Lennon et al . 2006). Wöber and Fesenmaier (2004)used Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to assess the efficiency of destination marketing in theUSA. By examining the 48 state tourism offices (excluding Alaska and Hawaii), they examined three advertising elements:●total state tourism office domestic advertising budgets●total state tourism office international advertising budgets●other budget services.

Chapter 16 Marketing tourism destinations37716INSIGHT 16.5

Page 24This highlighted that 15 states were extremely efficient while 33 faced challenges in justify-ing the advertising budgets given the visitor expenditure and employment generated. This high-lights the value of DEA in benchmarking performance based on observed operations. It mayalso be useful when reviewing promotional campaigns, advertising and the long-term value ofbranding. In the case of branding, benchmarking may help to point to the brand lifecycle to seeif it is achieving the desired effects. As Morgan and Pritchard (2002) argue, brands (like thedestination lifecycle) pass through stages of growth when the brand is fashionable through tobeing famous, then familiar and then fatigued, when they need to be refreshed, relaunched orredeveloped. The key point here is that a destination's brand values will need to be reviewed,and benchmarking may be a technique to evaluate performance in a competitive context. In2008, the World Economic Forum (WEF) produced a Travel and Tourism CompetitivenessIndex, with 14 'pillars' that accommodate variables which enable the index to be compiled.These 'pillars' were:●Policy rules and regulations●Environmental regulations●Safety and security●Health and hygiene●Prioritization of travel and tourism

●Air transport infrastructure●Ground transport infrastructure●Tourism infrastructure●ICT infrastructure●Price competitiveness in the T&T industry●Human resources378Part III Managing tourist operations and communicating with the visitor1620052000VisionWhat Scottish tourismmust aim to achievePrioritiesThe targets that will helpachieve the visionObjectivesThe building blocks fordelivering targetsStrategic actionsThe steps towards ourobjectivesMARKETPOSITIONHIGH BRANDAWARENESSINCREASEDCONVERSIONAWARENESS TOSALESINCREASEDDIRECT ACCESSOPPORTUNITIESCONSUMER

FOCUSScotland is a must-visit destination, where visitors' needscome first, and tourism makes a vital contribution toeconomic growthTourism business actionsLocal and national public sector agency actionsScottish Executive actionsSUCCESSFULBUSINESSLEADERSHIPENHANCEDPRODUCTSAND SERVICESINVESTMENTIN PEOPLEAND SKILLSENHANCEDSTATUSWORKINGTOGETHERTAKINGACCOUNT OFTOURISMINCREASEDPROFILEFIGURE 16.6 Tourism Framework for Action.Source: Scottish Executive, reproduced courtesy of theScottish Executive

Page 25●Affinity for travel and tourism●Natural resources●Cultural resourcesAs discussed in Chapter 8 in relation to transport, Switzerland was the top ranked destinationin terms of competitiveness followed by Austria, Germany, Iceland and the United States. Of

the 124 destinations ranked in the Index, the bottom four were African countries reflecting thepoor scores on the critical factors. The WEF explained Switzerland's top ranked position interms of its high standards of health, hygiene and environmental regulation along with thequality of education, training, human resources and safety. The tourism infrastructure, espe-cially transportation, was viewed as among the best in the world for tourism and almost 30 percent of the country enjoys environmental protection status. At a government level, tourismpolicy is accorded a high priority given the long-standing importance of tourism to the Swisseconomy. Whilst such benchmarking exercises are not without their critics, it does provide aframework in which elements of destination competitiveness may be examined using quantitia-tive and qualitative measures.Chapter 16 Marketing tourism destinations37916FIGURE 16.7 The VisitScotland brand essence wheel.Source: VisitScotland, reproduced courtesy ofVisitScotlandLandscapeSpaceAdventureRelaxesStimulatesChallengesDiversityRomanceAuthenticDiscerningFriendlyUnpretentiousProfessionalRealProudIndependent

WelcomeCulturedSpecialEnrichedRejuvenatedInspiredIn aweSafeEmotionalRationalIndividualConfidentDifferentFacts and symbolsHighlands scenery, tartan, bagpipes,castles, lochs, whisky, golf, Edinburgh,accentPropositionScotlandA powerfully enriching personal experience'Live it'Essence– Enduring– Dramatic– HumanThe natural wonder ofNorthern EuropeValuesInnovation, integrity, pride, proficiencyBrand personalityDescribe theproductWhat theproduct doesfor meHow thebrand makesme feelHow thebrand makesme look

Vibrant citiesCulture and historyOutdoor activitiesWorld-class golfFestivals/HogmanayWildlifeFine food anddrinkCity and ruralbreaksB&B to 5* luxury

Page 26380Part III Managing tourist operations and communicating with the visitorConclusion: The future of destination marketingWith the rapid changes in consumer behaviour brought about by technology and changing tastes and trends, destination marketing will need to harness market researchto understand how such changes impact upon a destination. DMOs have many challenges to face and innovation will be a critical component, when harnessed with creative solutions to attract the future visitor. Among key concerns,according to Buhalis (2000), are:●public-private sector partnerships to gain cooperation to pool resources and collaborate on marketing initiatives●creating a comprehensive marketing strategy and mix to support the competitiveness of the destination●taking advantage of the new ICTs, particularly the useof DMS to coordinate the products and services offeredlocally, so as to promote globally●understanding the value of different markets, especiallythe yields of higher-spending tourists which can bemore lucrative than mass markets●pinpointing target markets and ensuring that the market-ing strategy for the destination does not alienate resi-dents through unsustainable development.This highlights the importance of marketing destinationswhich can affect the success or failure of a destination.Understanding how tourists select a destination is clearlyimportant, as are the more specific aspects of destinationimage, promotion and segmentation within the marketing

planning process as discussed in Chapter 15. There is aconstant process of change in tourism destinations as theypass through various stages of the destination lifecycleand, within any region or country, destinations will be atvarious stages of development. Destinations compete witheach other for both domestic and international visitors toensure their viability, and the growth of greater coopera-tive marketing efforts among destinations adjacent to eachother can assist in a wider regional marketing of regionswith a cluster of destinations and attractions. These typesof collaborative efforts are beginning to affect the waydestinations within defined regions are now beginning tosee the benefits of collaboration rather than wastefulcompetitive marketing. Destination marketing in the futurewill be increasingly more dependent upon achieving acompetitive advantage, and this will be done throughmore sophisticated research, creative marketing and theuse of ICTs. The global marketplace is now a reality formany destinations, but more responsible, sustainable andproduct-driven marketing will be the key to successful desti-nation development. Yet one of the ongoing issues for alldestinations will be the stage of development they havereached in the destination lifecycle, and the impacts whichtourism development generates. This is now the focus ofPart IV of the book to understand the effects of touristdemand, the supply by the industry and effect upon locali-ties and destinations.The destination policy formulation process needs toconsider the various stakeholders and external influencesthat will impinge upon future marketing strategies. Giventhe wide variety of people involved, disagreements areinevitable. Laws (1995: 39) notes that parties can be'poles apart', with some arguing for 'further development,others opposing it, perhaps even arguing for a reductionof current levels of tourism activity'.16Discussion questions1 Identify and describe the main components of a selected destination.2 What activities do DMOs undertake in order to market a destination?3 How do tourists choose which destination to visit?

4 How significant is the advertising process to destinations? What types of advertising can you identify for adestination you are familiar with?