Strategic Planning for International Tourism - Essay Example

?Strategic Planning for International Tourism - Visit Britain Introduction In the context of globalisation the development of effective marketing strategies has become a challenging task. Firms operating in various industrial sectors have tried to identify the strategies that will help them to promote their products more effectively – compared to their rivals. Strategic planning, as a process ‘for preparing a direction and a broad programme of activity for an organization’ (Veal 2002, p.88), is used as a tool for increasing the competitiveness of organizations. At the level of the state, strategic planning ensures the stabilization of the national economy and the increase of the power of a country as a member of the international community. Current paper focuses on the examination of the effects of strategic planning on international tourism. The case of Visit Britain, a British Tourism Organisation, is used for highlighting the effects of strategic planning on the tourism industry. Particular emphasis is given on the branding choices of Visit Britain as these choices affects the performance of the organization but also of the national economy. 2. Visit tourism – choice of branding 2.1 Branding in international tourism – theory, practical implications In the tourism industry, the context of ‘destination’ is of critical importance for the development of effective branding policies. This means that those involving in the design and development of branding strategies in the tourism industry need to understand the content of ‘destination’, as the term is used in the tourism industry. Pearce (1989) notes that in the tourism industry, destination is a term used in order to describe ‘an amalgam of products and services available in one location that can draw visitors from beyond its spatial confines’ (Pearce 1989 in Keller et al. 2006, p.65). Moreover, the motives that are likely to affect the choices of consumers in the tourism industry – i.e. ‘variably, novelty and strangeness’ (Cohen 1972, p.172 in Keller et al. 2006, p.66) – have to be taken into consideration when developing branding policies related to the specific industry. Strategic planning is among the key elements of tourism management ensuring the development of competitive tourism policies (Page 2006, p.55). Moreover, the use of effective strategic planning techniques in international tourism can lead to the increase of power of the specific industry as a contributor of the national economy, even if this fact is not always recognized by governments worldwide (Duval 2007, p.39). In accordance with Edgell et al. (2007) the international tourism industry enhances various sectors, such as’ agriculture, accommodation and brewing’ (Edgell et al. 2007, p.11). The use of theories and models, which are already tested through appropriate empirical research, could secure the effectiveness of branding policies in the international tourism industries. Two approaches are most likely to be used for evaluating brands: the ‘plus product’ approach, which considers brand as ‘an addition to the product’ (Cooper et al. 2007, p.229) and the holistic approach, which considers brand as the view of the consumer on a particular product/ service. Cooper et al. (2007) note that it is the holistic approach on which destination marketing is mainly based. Moreover, tourism products are distinguished by the products of other industries in regards to the following characteristics: ‘intangibility, heterogeneity, inseparability and perishability’ (Shostack 1977, in McCool et al. 2009, p.133). Furthermore, in the context of tourism industry, branding needs to ‘connect the customer with the destination in the present or in the future’ (Morgan et al. 2000, p.216, in Page et al. 2006, p.335). On the other hand, the development of effective branding policies in international tourism can be a challenging task mostly because of the following reasons: branding in tourism industry has many dimensions, as explained above; the identification of effective branding schemes in this industry would require high skilled professionals, a good understanding of the sector’s needs but also adequate resources for supporting the relevant initiatives (Morgan et al. 2004, p.15). Also, the uniqueness of a state or region is a key criterion for its development as an international tourism destination (Dasgupta 2011, p.201). 2.2 Evaluation of branding choices of Visit Britain The development of international tourism in Britain is regulated by the ‘1969 Development of Tourism Act’ (Boniface et al. 2005, p.112) through which the country’s main tourism boards were established: ‘the English Tourist Board and the British Tourist Authority’ (Boniface et al. 2005, p.112). In 2003, the above two authorities were merged, forming the Visit Britain (Boniface et al. 2005, p.112). This was a major indication of the restructuring of international tourism strategies in Britain. Up today, Visit Britain is highly involved in many activities worldwide, aiming to promote Britain as an international, and domestic, tourism destination. The performance of Visit Britain and the challenges that the specific organization has to face within the British market, can be understood through a SWOT analysis, analysed as follows: a) Strengths: the organization has been created through the merge of two powerful organizations of the British public sector, as explained above; it is assumed that the organization is able to face unexpected market turbulences or economic pressures. The brand name of the organization is quite powerful, being known in most people across Britain – as also worldwide; b) Weaknesses: the lack of flexible and innovative branding; the lack of strategic alliances with firms in the private sector; c) Opportunities: the tourism industry is a powerful industrial sector in Britain; the Olympics 2012 give to the country many prospects in terms of its tourism industry; the development of cooperative schemes with similar organizations of other countries can help towards the improvement of the firm’s branding policies, d) Threats: the exact effects of the global crisis have not been, yet, fully identified; the British economy has been strongly affected by the recession; the economies of other countries worldwide and within the EU have been also strongly affected by the crisis, a fact limiting the tourism activities of local population. The branding policies of Visit Britain can be identified in the organization’s website (Visit Britain 2011). It is made clear that emphasis is given on the provision to the travellers/ potential visitors of a wide range of information related to Britain as international and domestic destination. The branding policies used by Visit Britain are common with those used in all industrial sectors, i.e. media, press, funding of activities supporting the communities/ culture. It is clear that measures should be taken for the update of these policies, an issue, which has, is also revealed through the comments made in relation to Britain as a destination. The branding that Visit Britain uses for the destination’s key products within its portfolio can be analyzed as follows: a) search engines, like Yahoo, have been employed for promoting the organization’s products, b) social networking is also part of the organization’s marketing policies; the sites through which the organization’s products are promoted are the following ones: Twitter, Facebook and Flickr, c) top international publications and media are also among the tools used by the organization for the promotion of its key products; emphasis is given on the Olympics 2012, as an event that would attract visitors from around the world; appropriate PR support is provided by Visit Britain so that Britain to be promoted as destination through the media, the press and forums worldwide (Visit Britain 2011, Marketing), d) ‘cultural, sporting and business events’ (Visit Britain 2011, Marketing) across Britain are used for promoting the products of the organization’s portfolio; among these events, the most important is Olympics 2012, an event which is expected to highly contribute in the development of Britain as international tourism destination. The above policies, as part of branding of Visit Britain, have faced significant delays. One of the key problems regarding the promotion of Britain as international tourism destination seems to be the lack of support from the British government (Travel Daily News 2011). However, this gap is covered by the private sector - referring to the travel agencies (Eleftheriou-Smith, 5/1/2011). In a recent report of the WEF emphasis was given on the negative aspects of Britain as a destination, like ‘the high taxes and the poor marketing strategies’ (Pickup 2011). The above report reveals the failures in the branding policies of Visit Britain in regard to the promotion of Britain as a destination. In January 2011, the British government funded a ‘?100m global marketing campaign’ (Kimberley 2011) aiming to support the global promotion of the country as a tourism destination. In this context, Visit Britain updated its marketing strategy aiming to improve the image of Britain as an international tourism destination (Fernandez 2010). 2.3 Recommendations – the potential role of re-branding in the destination’s future viability The performance of Visit Britain could be improved if its strategic planning process would be changed. Particular emphasis should be given on the change of the firm’s branding policies. Re-branding would be an effective solution for supporting the future viability of destinations. The update of branding policies has to be based on specific procedure – aiming to secure the effectiveness of the measures taken. In accordance with Hall et al. (2006) one of the key requirements of effective strategic planning in tourism is the use of the appropriate material – reference is made to ‘the international tourism statistics collected by organizations such as the World Tourism Organization (WTO), the OECD and the ASEAN Tourism Working Group’ (Hall et al. 2006, p.81). It is noted that these statistics need to be taken into consideration by organizations – either of the private or the public sector – that activate in the international tourism industry. In accordance with Moutinho (2000) the effective strategic planning in tourism requires that all stakeholders participate in the various phases of the specific process. Moreover, traditional patterns and forms of strategic planning should be replaced, offering the chance to more effective strategic planning processes to be established. In this context, the re-branding of destinations in the tourism industry would be based on the following activities: a) the use of integral strategic planning processes which would be able ‘to cope with the complex of real systems’ (Moutinho 2000, p.10), b) the use of ‘long term thinking approach’ (Moutinho 2000, p.11) when planning the branding of a location; i.e the potential advantages and benefits of this plan in the long term should be taken into consideration rather than the benefits in the short term, c) the use of a ‘consistent action approach’ (Moutinho 2000, p.11); this means that the development of strategic planning initiatives in the tourism industry needs to be effectively supported in all its phases. In the case of Visit Britain, re-branding could have the following forms: a) establishment of different brands in accordance with the level of services provided/ prices; for example, Sandals, a well known resort company decided to create separate brands, the Signature and Classic brands in order to give to the public the chance to choose among different levels of service – Signature became a brand name referring to luxurious accommodation and travelling (Page et al. 2006, p.335); part of this effort could be the launching by Visit Britain, in February 2011, of a luxury marketing campaign targeting customers who can dispose more than $1m for their leisure (Eleftheriou-Smith, 25/2/2011), b) establishment of different brands in accordance with the targeted customers; for instance, destinations for students/ elderly/ young couple could be introduced, aiming to offer to the potential visitors ready travel/ leisure options, in terms of their potential interests, c) establishment of brands related to specific activities; for example, brands referring to sports should be distinguished for brands referring to the visiting of monuments/ places of educational value. 3. Conclusion The development of effective branding policies in international tourism industry has been proved to be a challenging task. In fact, the success of these policies is depended on a series of different variables which are difficult to be controlled. The experience of employees in Visit Britain in promoting Britain as an international tourism destination is quite important for the success of the relevant initiatives; however, it has been made clear that the viability of Britain as an international tourism destination in the future would require additional measures. Following the practices of well-known tourism brands worldwide would be a potential solution for securing the effectiveness of the relevant branding policies in the long term. At the next level, important changes should be made on existing branding practices, a process characterized as re-branding. The requirements of this project should be taken into consideration in advance ensuring the availability of necessary resources. The examples of other similar projects, as presented above, prove that the chances for success of these policies are many, but only the terms that all their phases are effectively monitored. References Baum, T. (2006) Human resource management for tourism, hospitality and leisure: an international perspective. Belmont: Cengage Learning Boniface, C., Cooper, C. (2005) Worldwide destinations: the geography of travel and tourism. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann Cooper, C., Hall, C. (2007) Contemporary tourism: an international approach. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann, 2007 Dasgupta, D. (2011) Tourism Marketing. New Delhi: Pearson Education India Duval, T. (2007) Tourism and transport: modes, networks and flows. Clevedon: Channel View Publications Edgell, D., Allen, M., Smith, G., Swanson, J. (2007) Tourism Policy and Planning: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow. 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