Marketing Responsible Tourism Products. Trudi Pearce Head of Destination Partnerships

Transcription

1 Marketing Responsible Tourism Products Trudi Pearce Head of Destination Partnerships

2 Your challenges 1. How tourism providers can market responsible tourism products 2. How do we screen our suppliers? 3. How does responsibletravel.com help to promote destination level sustainability 4. Destination Partnerships 5. Our recommendations for Caribbean destinations 2

3 How can tourism providers market RT Some things don t change

4 Key decision factors Location Room types Service Price Food quality Availability

5 The market 10 things that are changing

6 1. A dramatic shift of power from industry to the client

7 Mintel Oxygen Reports July Number 2. Underlying the market is a growing polarisation in the holidaymaker mind-set between security, luxury and convenience on the one hand and freedom, independence and authenticity on the other Mintel Oxygen Reports July 2011

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9 3. The experience economy The next economy following the agrarian economy, the industrial economy, and the most recent service economy Businesses must orchestrate memorable events for their customers, and that memory itself becomes the product - the "experience A commodity business charges for undifferentiated products. A service business charges for the activities you perform. An experience business charges for the feeling customers get by engaging it.

10 Are you in the service industry or in the business of orchestrating memorable events?

11 3. We live in the experience economy EFM is becoming as important than VFM Experience for money vs. value for money We are seeing experience inflation What seemed a big experience 10 years ago is not now 12

12 4. Changing expectations of luxury

13 Changing expectations of luxury Baby boomers For Boomers, it is enough that a product is expensive because it s luxurious and exclusive; and it s luxurious and exclusive because it s expensive Generation Y Unlike Boomers, Gen Y demand to know the origin of luxury products where was it made, how, and by whom? Shoppers between 18 to 29 years old are the fastest-growing luxury consumer segment Duke Greenhill, Founder and CEO of Greenhill + Partner

14 The back story The back-story of products is becoming more important Who made it? When/how did they make it? With what impact on the environment and local community? Leading marketers are exploiting this Re-connecting people who buy with people who make things..

15 Back story Wholefoods NYC

16 Telling the back story

17 5. Responsible tourism

18 1950s to 1970s The circle of destruction - Discover - Develop - Exploit - Move on

19 Early ecotourism

20 Tourists must leave behind more than footprints Tourism and the travel industry is essentially the renting out for short-term rent, of other people s environments, whether that is a coastline, a city, a mountain range Lord Marshall, British Airways

21 Responsible Responsible tourism More authentic experiences that create better places to live in and to visit 22

22 6.

23 6. Financial crisis The post 2 nd World War atmosphere of selective austerity, deferred desire and earned pleasure, sustainability vs. waste, a yearning for connection and contact, is recognisable once more Robert MacFarlane

24 7. Quest for authenticity Truthful, Original, Genuine, Sincere, Authentic, Real

25 Authentic vs. commodity Authentic Genuine Real Honest Truthful Commoditised Culture changed for tourist consumption Sometimes its original meaning can be lost Places that see themselves through the eyes of tourists are lost..

26 8. New approaches to product design

27 Traditional model Active firm - passive consumer market Active firm passive local communities/stakeholders A construct of the past

28 Designing authentic experiences Co-create with local communities Examine ways of life Old ways and stories Old paths + routes Traditions and rituals Language and dance Co-create with tourists Find willing pioneers, test it with two people Experiment and evolve with input from tourists Pick the winners A constant process..

29 9. Influencing the buying cycle...

30 Marketers seeking earlier influence in buying cycle...

31 Social media 10. Stories are the new marketing currency

32 Why social recommendation suits travel The consumer travels to the product Rather than the other way round See it then buy it Buy it then see it

33 Social media Enables marketers to access to ideas/inspiration phase of buying cycle through family/friends

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35 Why importance of Facebook and Twitter will accelerate.. They are far more dominant vs. Google on these than on PC s..

36 In summary All 10 things I ve outlined are related Real experiences designed around local stories and ways of life, authenticity, responsibility and stories to tell I think the correct positioning of Responsible Tourism products is essential and can deliver results

37 However.. Its not enough to Think you are just in the business of selling tours, rooms & providing a service Build a corporate website showing the tours, rooms + a booking engine List a few local things to see & do The same as on every other site Recycle the towels Have a basic Facebook page Good luck!

38 Now that you have more knowledge on how to market responsible tourism products What s next?

39 Our inspiration Click here for video

40 Click here for video

41 In numbers Founded 2001 Worlds 1 ST and leading travel portal for green, responsible and sustainable tourism Holidays sold worth $100M Site has 4,000 tours, 2350 accommodations and almost 600 day tours and attractions 350,000 monthly visitors Database of 161,000 people Founders of The Responsible Tourism Awards celebrating it s 10 th anniversary this year 42

42 Our audience

43 How do we screen our suppliers? We ask all our members to sign up to our promise. This means that all the tour operators and accommodation providers who advertise their holidays on our site have agreed to it and described on their page how they have chosen to implement it locally. 1. Environment - We ask our members to describe how they address two or more of the environmental sustainability promises that are most important in their local area. 2. Community - We ask our members to describe how they address two or more of the community sustainability promises that are most important in their local area. 44

44 Environment 45

45 Community 46

46 Membership 47

47 How does rt.com help to promote destination level sustainability? 48

48 Destination Partnerships 49

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50 Our recommendations for Caribbean Destinations 1. If your not the cheapest re-position the destination with higher value authentic tourism 2. Are you in the service industry or in the business of orchestrating memorable events? 3. Learn from other Caribbean destinations that are already marketing RT successfully in Trinidad and Tobago, Cuba and the Cayman Islands 4. Look beyond the existing image/brand of your destination, there is authentic tourism in every destination 5. Work with us to develop a strategy around responsible tourism to increase your visibility as a advocate of RT and increase enquiries 51

51 Q&A session now open or go to Thank you