Developing a strong tourism marketing plan and execution

As you seek to breathe fresh life into your tour and activity company’s marketing strategy, you’ll want to make sure that you have a solid understanding of the role that tourism marketing plays. Your understanding of tourism marketing can help you create and implement tourism marketing plan that drives results and increase bookings.

What is tourism marketing?

Tourism marketing is the process of promoting the activities, accommodations and attractions available in a given destination. A tourism marketing plan is more than an outline of specific tasks and techniques to promote your tour and activity company. Rather, they’re an outline of how to approach each individual task. The tourism marketing strategy will outline your business goals and how to achieve them.

Things to consider when creating a tourism marketing plan

• Your Customer Segment. 

   

  Most tour and activity companies offer products that appeal to niche groups of consumers. For example, a kayaking company that offers thrilling adventures on the open ocean will be more appealing to younger, more active travellers. As you create your marketing plan, use data to determine who your business persona is. Then appeal to that specific persona with all of your marketing materials.

• Your SMART Goals

   

  “SMART” stands for specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and timely. The goals that you establish need to have all of these qualities. SMART goals allow you to identify areas to grow and create a plan for bringing those goals to life.

• Distribution Channels per Target Market Segment

  As you create your business persona, you’ll identify the market segments that your tour and activity company appeals to most. Once you complete this crucial step, you’ll need to decide which distribution channels will help you reach those market segments. Millennials, for example, are often looking to OTAs to learn more about options for their upcoming trips. Baby boomers, on the other hand, are prefer using search engines to find the information they need.

• Your Key Value Proposition

  Your value proposition is what makes your experience unique or valuable to the individual consumer. Focus on your key value proposition in all of your marketing materials. This is what is going to attract your target market segment and increase bookings. Consumers across all demographics are searching for businesses that are going to offer them the most value for their dollar, particularly when they are investing in a vacation abroad.

Your tourism marketing strategy should be a living document that you constantly revisit and update according to the latest industry trends. Traveler preferences are always changing, and new technology often leads to exciting marketing opportunities. To stay informed about the latest trends and techniques in tourism marketing, download the Rezdy online marketing e-book now.

If you enjoyed this article – Developing a strong tourism marketing plan and execution – then follow the Rezdy blog. There are a lot of marketing tools and resources designed with businesses like yours in mind.

Want to learn more? 

Wondering what customers look for before making a booking with you? Read the article here to learn more. 

Read our blog on ‘5 ways to attract tourists to your tour or experience business’ here.

Image credit: Alvaro Reyes