Tourism Promotion and Communication Strategies

Posted on Jan 5, 2025 in Other subjects

What Does “Promotion” Mean in Tourism?

Promotion refers to the different activities developed by a company to communicate the merits of its products and persuade the target audience to buy. In tourism, it involves providing information to consumers to influence their purchasing decisions.

Communication Process in a Tourist Office

Key elements involved in business communication:

  • Spokesperson: The entity delivering the message.
  • Message: The product, service, or idea being promoted.
  • Receiver: The target audience or potential customer.
  • Instruments: Structured techniques to achieve communication objectives, such as corporate identity, advertising, merchandising, and participation in trade shows.
  • Means: Human and technological resources used for communication, including signs, writing, telephone, and digital media.
  • Feedback: A positive or negative response from the receiver.

Objectives of Organized Communication

Communication should be organized to achieve the following objectives:

  • Attracting Customers: Attract customers or users from the potential market.
  • Customer Retention: Maintain the loyalty of current customers.
  • Demand Modification: Influence and change market demand.
  • Communication Facilitation: Ensure proper support and suitable graphics for effective communication.

Attracting Customers

To attract customers, the following communication tools are promoted:

  • Leverage “word-of-mouth” marketing.
  • Create tangible symbols that identify the service.
  • Ensure the service offered is understandable to the consumer.
  • Maintain communication consistency to embed the message in the consumer’s mind.
  • Create security in the customer’s expectations.

Hot vs. Cold Communication Instruments

  • Cold Instruments: Require effort to be captured, such as advertising and merchandising.
  • Hot Instruments: Easily accepted, such as public relations.

Building Customer Loyalty in Tourism

“Building Loyalty” means consolidating a tendency to use the same brand regularly or to frequent an establishment as a result of intentional behavior. Loyalty provides benefits to both the consumer and the tourist office.

Benefits of Customer Loyalty

What are the benefits of customer loyalty for both consumers and tourist offices?

Classical Function of Tourism Trade Shows

The primary function of trade shows is to introduce products and tourist destinations to potential customers and industry professionals.

Additional Functions of Tourism Trade Shows

Trade shows also serve several other important functions:

  • Designing a coherent message.
  • Benchmarking against competitors.
  • Learning new technologies.
  • Understanding new trends of thought.
  • Gaining insights from experiences.
  • Observing the evolution of the human resources industry.
  • Testing new products.
  • Investigating markets.
  • Identifying potential clients.

Characteristics of a Successful Trade Show

  • Neutral ground where clients attend freely.
  • Strategic event dates:
    • For professionals: 1st and 3rd trimesters.
    • For the public: 1st and 2nd trimesters.
  • Connection with a large number of potential customers.
  • Presence of qualified personnel.
  • Parallel activities to enhance engagement.
  • Attractive, comfortable, and well-situated physical environment.
  • Defined budget and timing.
  • Thorough planning and procedures.
  • Publication of a dossier by managers with instructions for contracts, installation conditions, and services.

Trade Show Stand Design

  • The fair organization may provide plans and decoration.
  • The exhibitor can also design their own stand.
  • A document with instructions for the designer should be composed, specifying whether an open or closed stand is desired, the types of uses envisaged, and preferred materials.

Budget Considerations for Trade Shows

When budgeting for a trade show, consider the following costs:

  • Rental of space.
  • Stand assembly.
  • Rental of materials (furniture, lights, fridge, etc.).
  • Production of promotional materials.
  • Production of audiovisual materials.
  • Preparation costs: time spent, mail, travel, and costs of auxiliary personnel.
  • Promotional activities: mailing, invitations, calls.
  • Consumption of electricity, telephone, and drinks.
  • Stand cleaning costs.
  • Insurance: personnel, material transport, theft, and monitoring.
  • Promotional events during the fair: coffee breaks, cocktails, and activities.
  • Transportation and subsistence allowances for staff.
  • Other staff costs: installation technicians, interpreters, and hostesses.
  • Other expenses: delivery of materials, acknowledgments, reporting, and ratings.

Classification of Tourism Trade Shows

  • Geographical Area: Regional, national, or international.
  • Business Area: Professional, general audience, or mixed.

What is a Tourism Workshop?

Workshops are professional meetings between entrepreneurs of a tourist destination and tour operators of an outbound market, held within a short time frame to conduct business.

Preparing a Tourism Workshop

Follow these steps to prepare a successful workshop:

  • Location: The decision on where the workshop takes place is guided by marketing and communication strategies.
  • Participating Employers: They should be knowledgeable about the market to which promotional efforts are directed. Provide them with a dossier containing information about the target companies (size, specialty, etc.).
  • Guests: Decide whether to invite wholesale agencies or tour operators. Avoid mixing them. Verify the mailing list.
  • Date: Consider national, local, and school holidays. Plan well in advance, as destinations are typically included in tour operator catalogs a year earlier. Take into account other events that may cause occupation or traffic issues.
  • Venue: Choose a well-known location with easy access and parking.
  • Invitations: Promote the benefits of attending the workshop and generate interest. The invitation should include the program of activities, information about the destination, and guidelines for logo usage and reproduction.
  • Space: Depending on the audience and activities, ensure there are adequate tables, chairs, an audio system, and audiovisual equipment. Decorate the space with promotional materials.
  • Execution: Supervise the assembly, receive guests, and distribute documentation.
  • Monitoring: Conduct an overall assessment through surveys of the organization and the meeting. Prepare an activity report and gather suggestions for future meetings.

What is a Fam-Trip?

Familiarization trips (Fam-Trips) are organized for tourist information officers, travel agents, and other professionals to promote and publicize the destinations and packages they sell.

Characteristics of a Fam-Trip

  • Duration: Between 3 and 8 days, depending on whether it’s a short, medium, or long-distance trip.
  • Participants: Typically 10 to 20 people.
  • Season: Usually conducted in the low season (November to May).

Objectives of a Tourism Advertising Campaign

  • Identify the target audience (e.g., family holidays, seniors).
  • Select appropriate media and supports.
  • Choose the optimal time and rhythm of publication.
  • Establish a budget according to the company’s size and available resources.

Infomercials in Tourism

Infomercials are a hybrid between advertising and communication. Direct marketing techniques are well-suited for tourist offices, including:

  • Brochures and catalogs.
  • Videos and CDs.
  • Radio and television.
  • Websites.
  • Fax and teletext.

Sponsorship in Tourism

Sponsorship involves reaching the target audience through a partnership with another entity that already has the loyalty of that audience.

Management Techniques in Media Relations

Overall Organization

Depends on the company’s size, objectives, and other factors.

  • Documentation: Gather all necessary documents to support the communication positioning.
  • Journalist Database: Maintain a file to track journalists and information intermediaries.

Oral Media

There are two types:

  • Formal: Telephone calls, interviews, and press conferences.
  • Informal: Press lunches or breakfasts, trips and visits by journalists, and professional meetings.

Audiovisual Media

  • Maintain an updated photographic file.
  • Utilize audiovisual and multimedia materials.

Control

Establish a system to monitor the evolution of the image through the media.

  • Collect press clippings.
  • Monitor relevant magazines.
  • Conduct periodic surveys.

Written Media

Can be divided into two groups:

  • Permanent written documents.
  • Specific written documents.

Press Conferences

  • Generate publicity.
  • Disseminate information.
  • Publicize services.

Hold press conferences in central, accessible, and well-equipped locations. Providing a “press kit” is recommended.