A country might be beautiful, but without marketing, people might not visit.
Whether you are running a state, winery, amusement park or even a whole country, you can't afford to simply sit back and hope people come and visit. You've got to take the matter into your own hands and employ a marketing strategy to maintain and develop tourism. After all, no one will visit you if they've never heard you.
Raising Awareness
Marketing can be used to bring a consumer's attention to a particular aspect of a state, region, or whatever kind of site or area you are marketing. For example, there might be a unique aspect of your state that is often forgotten about, such as a park of great beauty that's off the beaten track. Alternatively, the area you are marketing may have a limited period promotion going on that can attract people.
Motivating Consumers
Once a consumer has heard of a particular state or site, you'll then need to convince him he wants to go there. Marketing taps into what a consumer wants. For example, if a state can boast of its green credentials, its marketing can reflect this to appeal to tourists who want to travel "green."
Promoting Image
While some countries maintain a positive image to the outside world, for others their established image may be incorrect or outdated. Clever marketing can manipulate how tourists view that country, altering their perceptions in order to persuade them to visit. Hosting the soccer World Cup or the Olympics can persuade people to visit, long after the competition is over.
Convincing Consumers Of Hospitality
When it comes to selecting a product, people look for certain qualities. In a car, consumers might value reliability over other factors, for example. In the tourism sector, many consumers are going to look for high-quality hospitality. One job for marketing in tourism is to show outsiders that a particular site can deliver the standard of hospitality they expect and to convince them that they should give that site a try.
Generating Buzz
In 2009, the Queensland tourist board in Australia hosted the Best Job in the World competition. The board offered a salaried job as a caretaker on an idyllic island to one lucky applicant. There were so many applicants that at one point the website crashed because of the amount of people logging on to apply. The upshot was that people were talking about the competition, neatly demonstrating the ability of marketing to generate buzz around an area.
Tags: area marketing