10 secrets to tourism success

Tourism is an amazing industry. Someone has described it as the best product in the world: the customer arrives, empties his wallet and returns back home. Properly managed, tourism is a sustainable, profitable and very rewarding industry for any society. How come then, parts of it are fragmented with low margains? Well, from my point of view there are a number of reasons. One is that nobody “owns” the whole product – in this case a chain of services. Tourism described as a product is something the guest consumes at the very same moment it´s being produced. Talk about moments of truth! Cooperation between producers is a keyword.

From a tourism study I did a while ago, where I interviewed a number of international top level tourism consultants, I´ve listed “10 secrets of tourism success” factors for attracting tourists to a destination.

1. You need a major attraction to build destination appeal. One that are outstanding in its field, motivating distributors to include your region in their brochures at the expense of other tours. In Sweden, one example is the famous Ice Hotel.
2. There needs to be a cluster of service providers in the area surrounding the major attraction. A wide range of services, accommodations and other amenities/attractions that are available for visitors, which builds the destination´s profile.
3. Don´t create a major attraction unless you also develop the destination profile (and vice versa).
4. A critical factor for the community is to invest in the destination for small entrepreneurs and at the same time invest in entrepreneur training so that the services, guides and products are of sufficient quality to meet target market demands. If you do, it´s sustainable year after year.
5. It is imperative that the target markets and activities are compatible. You need to sometimes keep some market segments separate.
6. You need professional tour producers creating packages including your destination, combined with others to cross-county or even international programs.
7. Make your programs saleable in the already existing distribution network of travel agencies and tour operators, that already has your potential guests, by quoting the prices from their perspective, not yours, allowing them an acceptable commission. You´ll most probably have to negotiate your costs with your suppliers to reach an acceptable market price.
8. You need a destination manual with facts, information, photos/films. A price list for simple services. A program of tour packages (combined services).
9. Maintain the price level. Allowing guests a cheaper price when booking directly with you, rather than through their travel agent, makes you loose the distribution network.
10.  Most major attractions that I know of are created by “mad entrepreneurs”. Find one and support him.

/ Curt Landin