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Marketing in the Travel and Tourism Industry - Activity

Tintagel on the Cornish coast

Towards 2015(http://www.towards2015.co.uk/) is the name of the tourism strategy from South West Tourism (SWT). It identifies 9 'brand clusters' or types of holiday wanted by people coming to the region:

  • Sheer Indulgence
  • History and Heritage
  • Romance
  • Close to Nature
  • Discovery
  • Easy Pre School
  • It's Adventure
  • Chill Out
  • Traditional Beach Holiday

Image: Tintagel - part of Cornwall's rugged coastline. Copyright: Clare Talbot, stock.xchng

Task 1

From what you know of the region, carry out the following task:

  1. Write a list of 3 example activities or holidays to fit 3 of these brand clusters.
  2. Think about the kind of customer that these clusters could represent.
  3. Write a list of characteristics that might be shared by customers in 3 of the clusters, for example, income, age of children, accommodation needs and so on.

Towards 2015 is also about streamlining the responsibility for giving visitors what they want. This way, South West Tourism hopes to eliminate waste and inefficiency. It has created Destination Management Organisations (DMOs) to merge many of the activities previously carried out by individual bodies.

The Eden Project

Image: The Eden Project - one of the south west's best known attractions. Copyright: Ian Rummey, stock.xchng

SWT's strategy is based on research evaluating the impact of current levels of tourism and assessing the potential in future. One section of what is called the State of Tourism is available [PDF, 116 KB](http://www.towards2015.co.uk/downloads/StateofTourism_155-198.pdf). This document identifies each separate part of the travel and tourism 'offer' to visitors. It lists a total of 17 segments, each of which generates revenue from SWT. Each of these 17 segments is analysed to identify:

  • A definition of the segment - so segment C2 'Family Holidays and Breaks' is defined as 'UK families with dependent children aged under 16 taking family breaks and holidays within the UK'
  • A calculation of the size of the segment and its value - so segment C2 has an associated spend of £5,450 million
  • The importance of the segment to the south west
  • The segment's characteristics and profile, with descriptions of the segment and a statistical profile
  • Trends and prospects with forecasts of the growth of the segment - so segment C2 is likely to shrink in next decade
  • What the segment wants - length of journey, activities for children - segment C2 demands a child-friendly experience
  • How to reach and influence the segment, to reinforce people's nostalgic view of family holidays in the south west, by using TV and magazine features on the region
  • How the south west measures up - is it the UK's most preferred destination for this segment?
  • Its key competitors in this segment, for breaks, are foreign cities, the Lake District and Ireland and Scotland; for holidays, are destinations in the sun, Brittany and Ireland
  • Where to find out more - this section points to additional research sources in the appendix

The executive summary of the Towards 2015 vision identifies a number of key threats to SWT, if no action were to be taken to manage its development in the next decade. As you have seen in the Presentation(http://www.bized.co.uk/educators/16-19/tourism/marketing/presentation/marketing1.ppt), organisations need to carry out a SWOT analysis in order to decide what action to take to achieve their aims.

Task 2

What follows is an incomplete SWOT analysis for SWT. Your task is to compete the analysis by evaluating the opportunites that exist for SWT in the next ten years.

Strengths
  • Earns over £8 billion per year to the south west
  • 26 million visitors annually
  • Supports 300,000 jobs
  • Most visited part of the UK
  • Number of World Heritage sites
  • Many areas of outstanding natural beauty
  • Coast and countryside in abundance
  • Warmer weather than other UK areas
  • Food and drink
  • Lots of places to go
 Weaknesses
  • Lack of major city experiences
  • Weather, especially compared to overseas sun destinations
  • Cost comparison to overseas sun destinations
  • Transport infrastructure
  • Staff skills
  • Traffic congestion
  • Lack of warmth of local communities
Opportunities Threats
  • Growth will mean increase in low quality, seasonal jobs
  • Growth will bring more visitors to parts of the region already up to capacity
  • Lose support of local communities as they suffer from more traffic and environmental damage
  • Cheap flights to overseas destinations and within the UK
  • Competition from other areas is growing stronger

Access the Spring 2004 edition of SWT's newsletter(http://www.swtourism.co.uk/additional/docsys/00728%20SWE%20Nwsltr%202003%20AW04.pdf) [PDF, 525 KB]. This is one of the region's chief promotional publications. As part of the Towards 2015 strategy, an analysis was made of the south west's competitive position(http://www.towards2015.co.uk/downloads/StateofTourism_122-146.pdf) [PDF, 121 KB]. In this section of the research document, the south west's promotional materials were compared to those from its key competitor regions: Wales, Brittany, Scotland and Ireland. The following analysis is a summary of what was found:

Region or CountryComments on Promotional Material
WalesUses celebrities to vouch for the country. Strong on activities and events
BrittanyStrong on themes, such as the 'Year of the Painter', culture and landscape
ScotlandEmphasis on scenery, wildlife and architecture
IrelandPeople and the warmth of welcome
South West EnglandClinical presentation with focus on information about facilities

Task 3

Write an brief analysis of the Spring 2004 edition of SWT's newsletter(http://www.swtourism.co.uk/additional/docsys/00728%20SWE%20Nwsltr%202003%20AW04.pdf) [PDF, 525 KB], in relation to the comments in the table above. If you have time, access materials produced by SWT's competitor regions/countries and make comparisons.