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Tourism Destination Development Strategy - Coggle Diagram
Tourism Destination Development Strategy
2.1. The situation analysis: Assessing the Destination’s Competitiveness
Market and competitive research and analysis -> SWOT analysis -> Development of destination vision, goals and actions
Research’s goal
market-orientated
Identify potential market opportunities
realistic assessment of the destination’s resources;
analysis of other destinations -> competitive analysis undertaken
Research is the Key
Conducting a proper situation analysis requires an investment in high quality research
-> Examine the dimensions of tourism performance (5 questions)
Market performance – e.g. occupancy, visitor numbers.
Yield and profitability
What are the overall dimensions of tourism demand and impact?
Peaks and troughs
How is the tourism product performing?
Source:
Attraction surveys
National Tourism Surveys on domestic and inbound visitors
Tourism Satellite Accounts (TSAs).
Local Economic Impact models
Occupancy surveys
Elements of the Situation Analysis
Macro environment
Realities facing:
outside the control of the destination marketer
environment is changing at an escalating rate
Evaluating existing and potential tourism resources
questions that should be covered include:
The capacity of tourism resources;
The quality of tourism resources;
The key motivation themes and their relative strengths, the unique selling points (USPs);
Current and potential investment.
The scale of the tourism product;
Factors
• Tangible resources
Accommodation stock in the destination
Transport
The key “attractors” in a destination (tourist attractions, historic sites, beaches,...)
Others
• Intangible resources
Reputation (value, service quality, hospitality, etc)
Image (safety, security, uniqueness of experience, etc.)
Culture (welcoming, hospitality, etc.)
• Human resource
Work ethic.
Training
Skill, qualifications and experinece
• Financial resources
Public capital (services, infrastructure, etc.)
Finances to develop and market tourism, etc.
Investment capital
Current and potential investment.
Audits;
Site visits;
Product databases;
Capacity studies
Assessing market trends and performance
Market performance evaluation of the destination should include an evaluation of the destination’s performance relative to its competitors
Aspects:
Source markets and segments
Market gaps
Market trends. Global movements, demand consistency and fluctuations, etc
Market impact
Total Market Review:
give a broad overview of the marketplace
which to look at potential markets
research to pull together information on the global tourism market
Sources: Vistors survey, Database analysis
Current Market Review: It is important to know who is coming now.
Assessing related and supportive industries
The ability of the tourism industry to be at the cutting edge of tourism innovation:
The price competitiveness
Innovation and diversity of facilities and services;
The quality and standards of facilities and services
the interest of developing and promoting the destination while competing with one another;
Technological astuteness & The ability of the industry to capitalise on new one
Institutional “thickness” and competitive maturity
SWOT analyses should focus minds on real strengths, significant weaknesses, the best potential opportunities, and the greatest external threats.
Destination tourism competitiveness depends heavily on the ability of related industries (retail, vehicle, etc.)
Identifying Competitors and Tracking the Competitive Environment
Who are your competitors?
All tourism destinations compete for a slice of tourism market
Competitors could be ranked by a range of criteria
Products and experiences promoted
Market segments targeted
Growth performance
Distance from our key source markets
Source markets
Peak tourism months
Finding Competitor Intelligence
Require valid and reliable information and knowledge of competitors. (very expensive)
The Internet has made it possible for obtaining extremely valuable market and competitor research.
Benchmarking Against Competitors
Benchmarking is an essential element of measuring your destination’s progress and performance.
Comparing with other destinations
The application of public resources
Tracking performance over time
Evaluating tourism strategy
Data for benchmarking purposes
Market share of key source markets
Annual average % growth compared to competitors
The volume/ value of tourists
Accommodation capacity growth/ occupancy rates
Tourism seasonality/ geographical spread
Watching the Competitive Environment
Threat of Entry (ex: quality and cost of new destinations)
Complementors (Additional products/ services)
Supplier and Buyer power (ex: price, financial ability, quality…)
Current Competitors
Setting a Vision, Goals, Objectives and Core Strategies
The destination vision should be a shared dream of a future destination, based on desired position
The vision should be
Achievable and consistent – it should be an anchor and hook to hang strategies on;
Formulated with broad stakeholder participation, using participatory methods.
Inspiring, imaginative and speak to aspirations of stakeholders;
The goals should:
Address key levers identified in competitive and macro analysis
Be a realistic and consistent guide to action
Be medium/long term focused
Build upon the destination’s strengths and take the best of the available growth opportunities
Break the vision into defined outcomes
Eliminate the weaknesses whilst also guarding against the threats in the external environment;
Based on the goals a range of specific objectives can be formulated. A good set of objectives should adhere to the SMART principle, i.e. they should be
Measurable. You should be able to measure if you met your objectives
Achievable. Are the objectives you set achievable
Specific. Objectives should specify what exactly you want to achieve;
Realistic. Can you realistically achieve them with the resources you have?
Timebound. In what time-scale do you want to achieve the objectives?
Examples of objectives are
Increase the value of tourism to the economy by X% by the year Y
Increase the volume of tourist arrivals to X by the year Y (this can be broken up into specific segments, depending on the strategy);
Generate an average of US$ X million worth of additional tourism receipts each year
Generate X thousand additional jobs in tourism by the year Y;
Create an additional X thousand bed-spaces by the year Y.
The goals and objectives should be supported by core strategies, which should be directives for achieving the destination goals. Strategies relating to the above imaginary SWOT analysis could
Use the destination’s outdoor activity strengths to position it as an attractive place for vacations and short-breaks.
Examine the scope for Public Private Finance Initiatives to help upgrade and develop the destination’s built infrastructure.
Establish a local Destination Marketing Organisation which makes stimulation of the local business community an early priority.
Also give early priority to working with other regional DMOs (or equivalents) in marketing and promoting the region and its destinations on the basis of sound market intelligence.
Develop local events that underpin the positioning of the destination whilst also seeking other niche marketing opportunities
In particular, focus on the market and product development opportunities associated with “wellbeing”, linked to both indoor and outdoor programmes, with these also being developed as niche products in their own right
Turning Visions and Goals into Actions
The Vision and Goals will not be delivered by simply defining them: they will require actions to be pursued
Involve as many of the DMO and wider tourism community stakeholders as possible
Preparation of the action/investment plan follows the development of the strategy
The process of identifying these actions should be inclusive
The development of the action/investment plan should involve appropriate stakeholders or key players
=>These action should initially be related to the strategic goals and to the DMO structure
Covers just one organisation or multiple organisations in the destination (from simple internal meetings to the establishment of
a steering group and a number of working groups with more specific interests and roles)
=> the actions that result in developing the vision and goals will also need to be
identified.
The action/investment plan itself needs to address a number of elements including:
The process and the partners – who is the plan for and who is involved in its development and implementation
Strategic direction – i.e. what the plan is broadly trying to achieve
The scope of the plan – its timescale and remit;
Specific objectives and targets;
• Action programmes relating to, for example
Tourism Marketing
Information and Visitor Services
Activities, Attractions and Experiences
Tourist Accommodation
Business and Workforce Development;
Integrated Transport Infrastructure;
Planning and the Environment.
Monitoring and review
Implementation processes;
In relation to the action programmes, the plan needs to identify:
A description of those programmes and what they will involve;
The lead agency with responsibility for delivery;
Projects/programmes of activity;
Other partners involved in delivery of funding;
Funding- amount and sources;
Timescales for delivery, and possibly key milestones;
Targets and monitoring where relevant.