Philip Island Beach Resort - Australian Coast - Case Study Example

Destination Marketing Plan: Philip Island Beach Resort –Australian Coast Executive summary Philip Island is one of the leading coastal destinations in Australia. It is located about 120 kilometers to the south-east of Melbourne, Australian Coast. The destination is frequented by visitors from all parts of the world as well as those from within Australia especially during summer season. However, like any other leading destinations, Philip Island experiences low seasons of visitation especially during winter. As a result, most destinations along the Australian coast have embarked on various strategies to maintain a relatively stable visitor’s population throughout the whole year. Philip Island enjoys a number of privileges as a result of its physical and geographical location. For instance, its proximity to Melbourne town makes it the first priority for visitors who might not want to travel far and beyond looking for accommodation. Within the whole of the Australian coast, Philip Island is the only place where one can view and enjoy the penguin parade. The famous and renowned Australian Grand Motor prix is usually held at Philip Island. Philip Island intends to thus design and implement promotional and co-operative advertising plan as the major strategy to not only beat competition but also attract large numbers of visitors especially during the low season. Within the proposed strategy, Philip island management also intends to incorporate concepts of signage and branding to increase awareness about the destination hence drawing more visitors throughout the year. Table of contents 1.0.Introduction 9 Phillip Island is situated about 120 kilometers, a maximum of ninety minutes’ drive, to the south-east of Melbourne, Australian Coast. It is the most frequented spot by tourists, both local and from all over the world. Philip Island has been ranked amongst the top seaside resorts due to its unique landscape and physical scenery. At Philips Island, the picturesque farmland joins the sea characterized by undulating coastline, with exemplary massive rocky cliffs and extensive swimming beaches. The island’s natural beauty and attractions have been further enhanced by abundant man made constructions distributed all over the island. These include art and crafts works as well as historical paraphernalia with an island race track which often is used to conduct major track events notably the annual Australian Motorcycle Grand prix usually held in October. The outspoken and world famous nightly penguin parade is also found on this resort. 9 2.0.Philip Island Beach Resort Analysis 10 This section discusses the current state of Philip Island Beach Resort in relation to its ability to favorably compete against similar market participants especially during the low season. The ability of the facility to receive a significantly high number of visitors during the low season is a huge advantage since most of the tourism destinations along the Australian coast often lay off some of their staff due to significantly low visitors turn out and therefore inability to maintain huge wage bills. 10 2.1.Philip Island’s competitive framework 10 Tourists often like to associate themselves with destinations that offer unique and adventurous experiences. As a result, tourism management and destination marketing has become an extremely competitive industry. It calls for a simulated and well controlled approach that incorporates within its framework, a blend of collective contributions and strong partnerships to wade off such competition. Failure to implement competitive frameworks eventually results in low visitation which then impacts negatively on the various economic activities within Philip Island that virtually depend on revenue earned from visitations and visitors’ activities within the region. 10 Philip Island has a program dubbed destination management which aims at provision of positive response to the dynamic and demanding need for systematic, multidisciplinary and intersectional strategies. Destination management is one of the modern and recent conceptualizations adopted by destination managers and stakeholders to enhance responsibility and coordination in delivery of both products and services at any destination. The above strategies are then implemented so as to offer guidance for the overall management of Philip Island at standards accepted by visitors at all levels, local, regional and national level. 11 The management of Philip Island therefore expects to compete favorably with other destinations once the fundamental requirements of the destination management are fully adhered t. this guarantees high quality service delivery in all quotas through responsible performance amongst all stakeholders. 11 2.2. Philip Island Beach Resort Promotional materials 11 Philip Island has a number of materials in place and in circulation for the purpose of promoting the destination to the various categories of visitors. The initial stakeholders of the destination had designed and erected signage to direct visitors to the region. However, the location places have grown shrubs and mild bushes hindering clear visibility of such signage thus rendering them unusable. 11 Further promotional materials include an annual newsletter which often covers new attractions as well as tourism businesses within Philip Island. The newsletter is given free of charge to visitors of the visitors who come to Philip Island. Alongside the newsletter, there are brochures given out at certain points in the island. Such brochures often contain information about upcoming events, nature parks, promotional offers as well as directions and guidelines to various points within the Island. 12 Finally there is an active and interactive website www.philipisland.com.au managed by the local authority. The website contains information regarding the physical location of Philip Island, existing accommodation points within the island, existing attractions as well any current offers that might be available. The website also contains a portal through which potential visitors can make enquiries, seek clarifications where necessary and make online bookings and reservations for accommodation. 12 2.3.Philip Islands Beach Resort key resources 12 2.4.Key competitors 13 There are exists numerous tourism destination places along the Australian coastline. Some of these have been in existence for significantly while others are new entrants. Philip Island Beach Resort, a major tourist destination along Australian coast, experiences unequal competition from all these other destinations. However, two such destinations can be considered as major competitors, offering almost similar services and facilities at almost similar charges. They include Eden Accommodations and Prom Country- Victoria’s South Coast Resort both located on the South of the Australian coast. 13 2.4.1.Eden Accommodations 13 2.4.2.Prom Country- Victoria’s South Coast Resort 14 2.5.SWOT analysis of Philips Island 14 2.5.1.Strengths 15 i.Well established brands, strong interest and preference for Philips Island Beach resort across many markets which readily attract visitors to the destination. 15 ii.Availability of variety and wide range of unique attractions at Philips Island hence making it preferable by most visitors. 15 iii.Presence of experienced professional staff at Philips Island Beach Resort with long time experience in tourism management and general visitors’ treatments, offering quality services that attract more visitors. 15 iv.Presence of events and festivities held at Philips Island Beach Resort that are often attended by many people, both local and visitors. 15 v.Cooperative advertising partnerships with major operators which will see to it that the advertisements and promotions reach the possible maximum number of people. 15 2.5.2.Weaknesses 15 i.Perception and notion about the quality of services offered at Philips Island Beach resort. For example, a perception that Philips Island Beach resort offers expensive services 15 ii.Overall low visitations throughout the whole coast of Australia which subsequently limits the number of visitors reaching Philips Island’s Beach Resort. 15 iii.Insufficient statistics on visitors to Philips Island Beach resort which makes it hard to estimate the exact number of visitations made and expected numbers coming in. 15 iv.Insufficient online marketing advertisements hence limiting the target audience for most individual advertisement made by Philip Island’s Beach Resort. 15 2.5.3.Opportunities 15 i.A new approach to advertising and promotion; cooperative advertising approach which isn’t in use by other stakeholders hence offering higher chances of succeeding. 15 ii.Likelihood of cruise ships visits during the said low season adding to the expected increase in the number of visitations to be made. 15 iii.Proximity to Melbourne town which often receives many visitors who often seek alternative accommodation at Philip Island’s Beach Resort for their stay while in town. 16 iv.A well-established public media embracement among the Australian community. This further increases the audience population for the advertisements and promotional news. 16 2.5.4.Threats 16 i.Stiff competition from other similar players such as Eden accommodations and Prom Country Accommodations which attract visitors away from Philip Island’s Beach Resort 16 ii.The expensive nature of the chosen strategy which might easily hinder its full exploitation as intended and designed within the plan 16 iii.Limited financial resources set aside for strategy implementation 16 iv.Safety and security of the Australian Coast (Presence of beach pirates). Such incidences of pirates’ presence subsequently tend to scare away potential visitors to Philip Island’s Beach Resort. 16 3.0.Proposed Promotional strategy 16 This plan proposes promotion and co-operative advertising as the major marketing strategy to help significantly increase the number of visitations to Philip Island during the low visitors’ seasons. 16 3.1.Mission statement 16 1.3.Product strategy 20 In order to reap higher gins from the strategy, the implementation shall involve a series of activities. For instance, effort will be made to work towards complementing and leverage Experience Philip Island Beach Resort and Australian coast marketing campaigns and promotions. This will be achieved through encouraging advertising by Philip Island Beach resort management in premium private sector forums and similar provisions. 20 The second part of the strategy will involve design and development of a series of campaigns to run over the entire low season. Activities under this part will involve publication of such campaigns messages in the monthly prospectus, leaflets and brochures for Philips Island Beach Resort as well as sell buy-in to the tourism businesses in Philip Island. In order to encourage and emphasize on the efficiency of buy-in, the strategy will also put into consideration conducting of periodic campaigns that sufficiently achieved significant buy-in hence providing substantial feedback and responses to the individual tourism businesses and the entire industry on the outcomes of each of the conducted campaigns throughout the entire period. 21 1.4.Promotional strategy 21 The entire co-operate advertising and promotional strategy program will majorly concentrate on a co-operative approach to advertising alongside conducting promotional activities for Philip Island Beach Resort, the brand strengths of the resort. The theme of the strategy will be “Find a second home in Philip Island Beach Resort”. The approach will all along incorporate quality tourism services and products that have been identified and perceived as the major strength points of Philip Island Beach Resort and present the same to proven tourist markets through well designed campaigns that seek to address certain pre-identified market segments. 21 The Philip Island Beach Resort co-operate advertising and promotional strategy will also jointly bring together a variety of related tourism products as unique tourism experiences, often with a high sense of appeal and easily draws attention once introduced into the target market segments as well as new markets with existing similar products. For instance, activities under this move will include harnessing the access potential of the organization’s website www.philipislandbeachresort.com.ua , introducing online booking, reservations and enquiries, alongside elongated and frequent advertisement messages on mass communication platform and media such as radio stations, local dailies, brochures and bulletins. 22 1.5.Target market 22 The target market for the strategy can be split into two broad groups as elaborated in the subsections bellow. They include: 22 1.5.1.Domestic visitations 22 This category of visitors includes people coming to Philip Island from different locations along the Australian coast or territories within Australia: 22 Day trippers along Philip Island Coastal beach 22 Individuals visiting friends and relatives 22 Big group or institutional organized tours along the coast lasting between 8-14b days 22 All sorts of conferences held along Philip Island 22 Events held along Philip Island e.g. Australian Motorcycle Grand prix 22 Interstate visitors 22 Business events and trips to Phillip Island and Melbourne town 22 Short individual or group tours lasting between 1- 3 days 22 1.5.2.International visitations 22 International visitations to Philip Island may emanate from any of the following visitors categories: 23 Big tours, these might be institutional or group organized tours 23 Individuals visiting friends and relatives 23 Events held in Philip Island 23 Trade conferences 23 Cruise ships passengers 23 Conferences hosting and services 23 Day trippers often refers to those visitors who travel as far as beyond 50 kilometers round trip journeys and often find themselves far away and late for home by at least four hours of travel but do not intend to spend a night away from their homes. As a result, they are forced by circumstances to put up in destination sites along the coast. 23 Visiting friends and relatives are defined as those visitors who travel to Philips Island with the core reason being to visit friends and or relatives. It may also refer to family outings in which hosts opt to accommodate their visitors at the coast instead of keeping them in their homesteads elsewhere. This category comprises of both interstate as well as international visitors. 23 Interstate visitors on the other hand are a collective terms used to refer to visitors coming to Philip Island from another state or regional territory within Australia. It is considered a form of local tourism and mostly advanced by trade and other commercial activities along the Australian coast. 23 Intrastate visitors: - visitors who come to Philip Island from another location along the Australian coast. Most day trippers are often stranded intrastate visitors who find themselves stranded on their way or cannot make it back home on time. 23 International visitors are defined as visitors who come to the Australian coast from their usual residences outside Australia; in other countries abroad. This category purely consists of international tourists who contribute to dominant visitors at the destination facilities along the Australian Coast. These visitors visit the coast in certain patterns according to their home climate. 24 Cruise ship passengers refer to a category of visitors who visit Philip Island in the course of their cruise ships experiences along the coast. These are people who opt to explore the coastal areas and the ocean using cruise ships as the dominant mode of transport. They include interstate, intrastate as well as international visitors. 24 2.0.Monitoring and control 24 A number of measures shall be instigated and put in place to monitor the performance and impact of the proposed Promotion and co-operative advertising strategy as measure to increase the number of visitations to Philips Island Beach resort. Such measures can be used to quickly point out weak points in the plan hence easy rectification to improve overall efficiency and effectiveness. These will include the following activities: 24 Keeping records and statistics of visitors as well as visitors surveys for evaluation and reference. The records will include all types of visitors (both domestic and international) as presented and illustrated under the target market section of this destination marketing plan. This will in fact be the chief evaluation and control criterion for the whole plan. The method is in line with the initial core objective of the plan; increasing the number of visitations to Philip Island Beach Resort by 10% during the off season (winter). The records will help identify the trend, whether increasing or decreasing as well as establish the exact adjustments in the same trends. 24 Another means of monitoring the performance of the strategy will involve ascertaining the overall stay of the visitors at Philip Island Beach Resort as well as the overall expenditure by the same visitors in terms of dollars spent. It’s possible to increase the number of visitations but maintain low number of nights spent at the resort and this is not the intention of the plan. The plan intends to simultaneously increase the number of visitations alongside nights spent at the facility as well as total expenditure when at the resort. In this case, this will be used to jointly evaluate the two major objectives of the plan; increasing visitations together with accommodation durations. In cases where the two scenarios don’t tally, it will be easy to identify from the records the areas that need adjustments or improvements to achieve the highest possible returns from the marketing plan, a major advantage of working with a plan. 25 The last monitoring and control approach for the plan will also include evaluation of the facility’s online platform. Under this category, the company website for Philip Island Beach Resort, www.philipislandbeachresort.wa.com.au , will be continuously checked to establish client gestures such as early bookings and reservations, enquiries and client feedbacks from visitors after accommodation at the facility. Information from the online platform will give a summative presentation of the plans performance since it will incorporate feedback on past practices, current state and future expectations at the facility. 25 3.0.References 25 MURDAUGH, M. E. (2012). Destination marketing insights: how to boost performance, increase customers, and maximize. [S.l.], Mill City Press, Inc. 25 WANG, Y., & PIZAM, A. (2011). Destination marketing and management: theories and applications. Wallington, Oxfordshire, UK, CABI. 25 GARTRELL, R. B. (2004). Destination marketing for convention and visitor bureaus. Dubuque, Iowa, Kendall/Hunt Pub. Co. 25 HARRILL, R. ;. A. H. &. L. E. I. ;. A. L. A., &. LODG. (2012). Fundamentals of Destination Management and Marketing with Answer Sheet (Ei). Prentice Hall. 26 LAWS, E. (2005). Tourist destination management: issues, analysis and policies. London, Routledge. 26 WORLD TOURISM ORGANIZATION. (2007). A practical guide to tourism destination management. Madrid, World Tourism Organization. 26 OWERS, S. (2000). Secrets, lies and other misdemeanours. Cowes, Vic, Phillip Island U3A. 26 SHORT, A. D., & MCLEOD, K. A. (2006). Beaches of the Queensland coast: Cooktown to Coolangatta : a guide to their nature, characteristics, surf and safety. Sydney, Sydney University Press. 26 VER BERKMOES, R. (2008). East Coast Australia. Footscray, Vic, Lonely Planet. 26 LLEWELLYN, M. (2008). Night + day Sydney (and Melbourne). San Francisco, Calif, Pulse Guides. 26 WHEELER, D., & EGGER, S. (2008). Melbourne. Footscray, Vic, Lonely Planet. 26 AUSTRALASIAN URBAN HISTORY / PLANNING HISTORY CONFERENCE, NICHOLS, D., HURLIMANN, A., MOUAT, C., & PASCOE, S. (2010). Green fields, brown fields, new fields: proceedings of the 10th Australasian Urban History, Planning History conference. Melbourne, Vic, Melbourne University Custom Book Centre. 26 (1930). Ideal summerland on the Nobbies Phillip Island. Melbourne, Phillip Island Holidays Development. 26 Phillip Island Conservation Society, and E. C. F. Bird. 1990. The problem of beach erosion on the north coast of Phillip Island: a position paper. Cowes, Vic: The Society. 26 BASSETT, J. (2002). The Facing Island: a personal history. Carlton, Vic, Melbourne Univ. Press. 26 1.0. Introduction Phillip Island is situated about 120 kilometers, a maximum of ninety minutes’ drive, to the south-east of Melbourne, Australian Coast. It is the most frequented spot by tourists, both local and from all over the world. Philip Island has been ranked amongst the top seaside resorts due to its unique landscape and physical scenery. At Philips Island, the picturesque farmland joins the sea characterized by undulating coastline, with exemplary massive rocky cliffs and extensive swimming beaches. The island’s natural beauty and attractions have been further enhanced by abundant man made constructions distributed all over the island. These include art and crafts works as well as historical paraphernalia with an island race track which often is used to conduct major track events notably the annual Australian Motorcycle Grand prix usually held in October. The outspoken and world famous nightly penguin parade is also found on this resort. Phillip Island offers an extensively wide variety of services to visitors. For instance, the resort has accommodation facilities suitable for couples, small to medium families, groups and pet friendly accommodation for pet owners. Visitors are at liberty to choose from resort-style luxury apartments, motels, holiday parks, self-contained cabins and cottages depending on their preferences. The resort also offers powered and unpowered sites for camping, open-top caravans as well as mobile homes. Accommodation is further enhanced by first class catering that do not only offer mouth-watering delicacies but are also budget-friendly. 2.0. Philip Island Beach Resort Analysis This section discusses the current state of Philip Island Beach Resort in relation to its ability to favorably compete against similar market participants especially during the low season. The ability of the facility to receive a significantly high number of visitors during the low season is a huge advantage since most of the tourism destinations along the Australian coast often lay off some of their staff due to significantly low visitors turn out and therefore inability to maintain huge wage bills. 2.1. Philip Island’s competitive framework Tourists often like to associate themselves with destinations that offer unique and adventurous experiences. As a result, tourism management and destination marketing has become an extremely competitive industry. It calls for a simulated and well controlled approach that incorporates within its framework, a blend of collective contributions and strong partnerships to wade off such competition. Failure to implement competitive frameworks eventually results in low visitation which then impacts negatively on the various economic activities within Philip Island that virtually depend on revenue earned from visitations and visitors’ activities within the region. Philip Island has a program dubbed destination management which aims at provision of positive response to the dynamic and demanding need for systematic, multidisciplinary and intersectional strategies. Destination management is one of the modern and recent conceptualizations adopted by destination managers and stakeholders to enhance responsibility and coordination in delivery of both products and services at any destination. The above strategies are then implemented so as to offer guidance for the overall management of Philip Island at standards accepted by visitors at all levels, local, regional and national level. The management of Philip Island therefore expects to compete favorably with other destinations once the fundamental requirements of the destination management are fully adhered t. this guarantees high quality service delivery in all quotas through responsible performance amongst all stakeholders. 2.2. Philip Island Beach Resort Promotional materials Philip Island has a number of materials in place and in circulation for the purpose of promoting the destination to the various categories of visitors. The initial stakeholders of the destination had designed and erected signage to direct visitors to the region. However, the location places have grown shrubs and mild bushes hindering clear visibility of such signage thus rendering them unusable. Further promotional materials include an annual newsletter which often covers new attractions as well as tourism businesses within Philip Island. The newsletter is given free of charge to visitors of the visitors who come to Philip Island. Alongside the newsletter, there are brochures given out at certain points in the island. Such brochures often contain information about upcoming events, nature parks, promotional offers as well as directions and guidelines to various points within the Island. Finally there is an active and interactive website www.philipisland.com.au managed by the local authority. The website contains information regarding the physical location of Philip Island, existing accommodation points within the island, existing attractions as well any current offers that might be available. The website also contains a portal through which potential visitors can make enquiries, seek clarifications where necessary and make online bookings and reservations for accommodation. 2.3. Philip Islands Beach Resort key resources Philip Island has a number of key resources that makes it stand out thus giving it a competitive advantage over other tourist destination. The island has for a very long time been associated with motorsport and racing. The first Australian Grand Prix was held at Philip Island in 1928 and for eight consecutive years, until 1935, Phillip Island hosted the race on a rectangular public road circuit. The Phillip Island Auto Racing Club Ltd has soon taken over the organization mantle from the local authority and holds the motor grand prix on an annual basis in what is termed as Phillip Island Motor Racing Circuit. Philip Island has thus become home to world class motor sport and events making it a hive of activity year round. The event draws both spectators and participants from around the globe, with international participants taking part in the annual event. This is a unique event that is only held at Philip Island and no other place in Australia. Another key feature of Philip Island is the Summerland Beach which offers main penguin viewing area at the Australian coast. The area provides a 180 degrees elevated viewing from which visitors, sitting or standing on their timber boardwalks provided, can watch the little penguin perform their unique parade, arriving at sun rise and waddling across the beach to their residential sand dunes burrows at sunset. The daily parade of little penguins draws thousands of visitors from around the globe every year. It’s a unique and magical experience found at Philip Island. 2.4. Key competitors There are exists numerous tourism destination places along the Australian coastline. Some of these have been in existence for significantly while others are new entrants. Philip Island Beach Resort, a major tourist destination along Australian coast, experiences unequal competition from all these other destinations. However, two such destinations can be considered as major competitors, offering almost similar services and facilities at almost similar charges. They include Eden Accommodations and Prom Country- Victoria’s South Coast Resort both located on the South of the Australian coast. 2.4.1. Eden Accommodations Eden Accommodations, a major destination on the Australian Coast serves as the southern Gateway to the outspoken Sapphire Coast of New South Wales. The resort lies halfway between two great towns, Melbourne and Sydney and about 235 kilometers from Lakes Entrance on the Princes Highway. The serene atmosphere of the coastal resort is bounded to the north and south by National Park and woodland to the West. Eden Accommodations offers a range of accommodation facilities which can sufficiently cater for couples, families, groups as well as pet owners in from resort-style luxury apartments, motels, holiday parks, self-contained cabins and cottages, bed & breakfast establishments, holiday houses, pet friendly accommodation. 2.4.2. Prom Country- Victoria’s South Coast Resort Prom Country- Victoria’s South Coast Resort comprises of beautiful and thriving coastal villages scatter along the Victorian South Coast situated about 200kilomenters from Melbourne town. The resort is renowned for fishing sport and excellent caravanning and camping facilities. It offers great opportunity for visitors to explore indigenous arts and crafts, visit local farmers markets within close proximity and even chance to sample fresh local produce in the many fine eateries dotted throughout the region. Accommodation at the resort usually varies from luxury expensive boutiques to pitching a tent in one of the many tourist or affordable camping parks for memorable holidays on this spectacular rugged coastline. 2.5. SWOT analysis of Philips Island 2.5.1. Strengths i. Well established brands, strong interest and preference for Philips Island Beach resort across many markets which readily attract visitors to the destination. ii. Availability of variety and wide range of unique attractions at Philips Island hence making it preferable by most visitors. iii. Presence of experienced professional staff at Philips Island Beach Resort with long time experience in tourism management and general visitors’ treatments, offering quality services that attract more visitors. iv. Presence of events and festivities held at Philips Island Beach Resort that are often attended by many people, both local and visitors. v. Cooperative advertising partnerships with major operators which will see to it that the advertisements and promotions reach the possible maximum number of people. 2.5.2. Weaknesses i. Perception and notion about the quality of services offered at Philips Island Beach resort. For example, a perception that Philips Island Beach resort offers expensive services ii. Overall low visitations throughout the whole coast of Australia which subsequently limits the number of visitors reaching Philips Island’s Beach Resort. iii. Insufficient statistics on visitors to Philips Island Beach resort which makes it hard to estimate the exact number of visitations made and expected numbers coming in. iv. Insufficient online marketing advertisements hence limiting the target audience for most individual advertisement made by Philip Island’s Beach Resort. 2.5.3. Opportunities i. A new approach to advertising and promotion; cooperative advertising approach which isn’t in use by other stakeholders hence offering higher chances of succeeding. ii. Likelihood of cruise ships visits during the said low season adding to the expected increase in the number of visitations to be made. iii. Proximity to Melbourne town which often receives many visitors who often seek alternative accommodation at Philip Island’s Beach Resort for their stay while in town. iv. A well-established public media embracement among the Australian community. This further increases the audience population for the advertisements and promotional news. 2.5.4. Threats i. Stiff competition from other similar players such as Eden accommodations and Prom Country Accommodations which attract visitors away from Philip Island’s Beach Resort ii. The expensive nature of the chosen strategy which might easily hinder its full exploitation as intended and designed within the plan iii. Limited financial resources set aside for strategy implementation iv. Safety and security of the Australian Coast (Presence of beach pirates). Such incidences of pirates’ presence subsequently tend to scare away potential visitors to Philip Island’s Beach Resort. 3.0. Proposed Promotional strategy This plan proposes promotion and co-operative advertising as the major marketing strategy to help significantly increase the number of visitations to Philip Island during the low visitors’ seasons. 3.1. Mission statement Marketing Philip Island Beach Resort as a premiere travel destination along Australian coast thereby increasing visitation to the destination in the offseason hence creating vibrant growth in the economy 3.2. Promotion and co-operative advertising A well-coordinated combination of promotion and co-operative advertising can sufficiently be used to increase the exposure of tourism by combining the marketing power of Philips Island Beach Resort and the Australian coastal tourism to increase revenue returns and yield much returns from advertisements and promotional budgets. Such a strategy will see individual business advertisements for Philips Island placed in more effective public media such as local radio stations and televisions hence helping create the targeted visual impacts to the destination through location branding. Advertisements on Philips Island can also be enhanced and made more appealing by packaging the same advertisement materials alongside other tourism products and experiences. The significance of co-operative advertisement is that it increases the chances of the target group seeing the advertisement unlike the case with individual advertisements which might be lost in the advertisements clutter. Co-operative advertising in this case will not only combine with it the advantages of branding but also draw people to Philips Island as well as boost individual tourism businesses of the locals. One of the major roles of Melbourne town, and the advantageous proximity of Philip Island to the town is that the town acts as a commercial catalyst and coordinator to develop and promote tourism in Philip Island. Collaboratively working in conjunction with others can aid to maximize exposure and minimize promotional expenditure while making limited resources stretch further. Other subsequent key organizations which can be used to maximize coverage of Philip Island as a coastal destination include: • Tourism Western Australia • Experience Perth • Local businesses • Surrounding local governments (Serpentine Jarrahdale, Kalamunda) 3.2.1. Signage Signage has been cited as one of the fundamental requirements for any effective tourist destination point. Effective signage should be designed and positioned in such a manner that it is in a visible location hence ability to provide precise information that can easily be used by any kind of visitor to interpret, locate and trace places. The current signage culture and practice in Melbourne and Philip Island is indeed of relatively poor quality and therefore less valuable to the visitor. They rather end up confusing new visitors when they are actually intended to provide directional guidance. For example, most signage are often placed in wrong positions and shielded off by shrubs and trees. In this case, one major strategy under the proposed plan will therefore include development of Philip Island signage strategy as a matter of urgency if allowable by the existing budget constraints. The developed signage should be designed in alignment with the Philip Island Beach Resort brands to increase efficiency. This proposed approach can be swiftly implemented in order to guarantee delivery of long-term incremental legacies over the long periods of time while incorporating a consumer-focused way of working into Philip Island’s activities and culture. As an approach recommendation, Philip Island as an Australian tourist destination is required to start working under this proposed marketing plan if there is need to realize ultimate and significant positive change. 3.2.2. Branding Branding of destinations has soon become an important aspect in the modern marketing practice as well as hugely exploited as a tourist attraction strategy. t has often become a habit for almost every destination, including even smaller non established destinations to try and brand their products and or services . Effective branding involves developing a creative and captivating brand description about the essence. An effective brand will this incorporate such information as: i. History :- The past outstanding performances and associated achievements of the destination ii. Geographical location: - A creative description of the serene atmospheres and all other geographical features round and within the destination. iii. Access routes: - This gives information relating to the ease of travelling to the destination. iv. Culture:- The attractive cultural activities associated with the destination v. Events: - A mention of major events held at the destination In an attempt to develop a suitable brand in the past, the attraction brand for Philip Island has been “Find yourself in Philip Island” which was formed way back by the initial operators who established the destination. The brand has been outdated as many other destinations have soon sprouted with more captivating and attractive brand and therefore offering stiff competition to the destination. This basically forms the rationale for the need to sell out “A new home in Philip Island” as the proposed new brand for Philip Island. Philip Island needs to develop a unique organizational and destination brand that collectively reflects the current perception of the place. This should thus take the proposed slogan as it conclusively hints at the expected scene and environment at the destination hence attracting attention and selling out. The slogan is not only consistent with tourism marketing but also a vibrant message depicting organizational mission and vision. 1.1. Objectives of Promotion and co-operative advertising i. Increase the number of visitors that come to Philips Island during off peak periods of the year. ii. Implement a promotion and cooperative advertising approach so as to increase Philips Island’s representation in major coastal tourism campaigns and publications throughout Australia iii. Increase the total number of overnight stays and general stay by visitors at Philips Island Beach Resort during off peak periods by 10% 1.2. Key strategies The key strategies for attaining the above enumerated objectives will include the following activities: i. Jointly work with others to cooperatively develop and promote the Philip island as a tourist destination and hub ii. Support the annual motor racing prix in order to attract national and international events which will raise the profile of Philip island iii. Design and implement a suite of events for the whole year to attract visitors iv. Design and incorporate a tourism brand for Philip Island Beach Resort on Melbourne’s corporate brand v. Position Philip Island as the first stop along the Australian coast for travellers from the south vi. Design and subsequently implement a signage strategy for Philip Island beach Resort 1.3. Product strategy In order to reap higher gins from the strategy, the implementation shall involve a series of activities. For instance, effort will be made to work towards complementing and leverage Experience Philip Island Beach Resort and Australian coast marketing campaigns and promotions. This will be achieved through encouraging advertising by Philip Island Beach resort management in premium private sector forums and similar provisions. The second part of the strategy will involve design and development of a series of campaigns to run over the entire low season. Activities under this part will involve publication of such campaigns messages in the monthly prospectus, leaflets and brochures for Philips Island Beach Resort as well as sell buy-in to the tourism businesses in Philip Island. In order to encourage and emphasize on the efficiency of buy-in, the strategy will also put into consideration conducting of periodic campaigns that sufficiently achieved significant buy-in hence providing substantial feedback and responses to the individual tourism businesses and the entire industry on the outcomes of each of the conducted campaigns throughout the entire period. 1.4. Promotional strategy The entire co-operate advertising and promotional strategy program will majorly concentrate on a co-operative approach to advertising alongside conducting promotional activities for Philip Island Beach Resort, the brand strengths of the resort. The theme of the strategy will be “Find a second home in Philip Island Beach Resort”. The approach will all along incorporate quality tourism services and products that have been identified and perceived as the major strength points of Philip Island Beach Resort and present the same to proven tourist markets through well designed campaigns that seek to address certain pre-identified market segments. The Philip Island Beach Resort co-operate advertising and promotional strategy will also jointly bring together a variety of related tourism products as unique tourism experiences, often with a high sense of appeal and easily draws attention once introduced into the target market segments as well as new markets with existing similar products. For instance, activities under this move will include harnessing the access potential of the organization’s website www.philipislandbeachresort.com.ua , introducing online booking, reservations and enquiries, alongside elongated and frequent advertisement messages on mass communication platform and media such as radio stations, local dailies, brochures and bulletins. 1.5. Target market The target market for the strategy can be split into two broad groups as elaborated in the subsections bellow. They include: 1.5.1. Domestic visitations This category of visitors includes people coming to Philip Island from different locations along the Australian coast or territories within Australia: Day trippers along Philip Island Coastal beach Individuals visiting friends and relatives Big group or institutional organized tours along the coast lasting between 8-14b days All sorts of conferences held along Philip Island Events held along Philip Island e.g. Australian Motorcycle Grand prix Interstate visitors Business events and trips to Phillip Island and Melbourne town Short individual or group tours lasting between 1- 3 days 1.5.2. International visitations International visitations to Philip Island may emanate from any of the following visitors categories: Big tours, these might be institutional or group organized tours Individuals visiting friends and relatives Events held in Philip Island Trade conferences Cruise ships passengers Conferences hosting and services Day trippers often refers to those visitors who travel as far as beyond 50 kilometers round trip journeys and often find themselves far away and late for home by at least four hours of travel but do not intend to spend a night away from their homes. As a result, they are forced by circumstances to put up in destination sites along the coast. Visiting friends and relatives are defined as those visitors who travel to Philips Island with the core reason being to visit friends and or relatives. It may also refer to family outings in which hosts opt to accommodate their visitors at the coast instead of keeping them in their homesteads elsewhere. This category comprises of both interstate as well as international visitors. Interstate visitors on the other hand are a collective terms used to refer to visitors coming to Philip Island from another state or regional territory within Australia. It is considered a form of local tourism and mostly advanced by trade and other commercial activities along the Australian coast. Intrastate visitors: - visitors who come to Philip Island from another location along the Australian coast. Most day trippers are often stranded intrastate visitors who find themselves stranded on their way or cannot make it back home on time. International visitors are defined as visitors who come to the Australian coast from their usual residences outside Australia; in other countries abroad. This category purely consists of international tourists who contribute to dominant visitors at the destination facilities along the Australian Coast. These visitors visit the coast in certain patterns according to their home climate. Cruise ship passengers refer to a category of visitors who visit Philip Island in the course of their cruise ships experiences along the coast. These are people who opt to explore the coastal areas and the ocean using cruise ships as the dominant mode of transport. They include interstate, intrastate as well as international visitors. 2.0. Monitoring and control A number of measures shall be instigated and put in place to monitor the performance and impact of the proposed Promotion and co-operative advertising strategy as measure to increase the number of visitations to Philips Island Beach resort. Such measures can be used to quickly point out weak points in the plan hence easy rectification to improve overall efficiency and effectiveness. These will include the following activities: Keeping records and statistics of visitors as well as visitors surveys for evaluation and reference. The records will include all types of visitors (both domestic and international) as presented and illustrated under the target market section of this destination marketing plan. This will in fact be the chief evaluation and control criterion for the whole plan. The method is in line with the initial core objective of the plan; increasing the number of visitations to Philip Island Beach Resort by 10% during the off season (winter). The records will help identify the trend, whether increasing or decreasing as well as establish the exact adjustments in the same trends. Another means of monitoring the performance of the strategy will involve ascertaining the overall stay of the visitors at Philip Island Beach Resort as well as the overall expenditure by the same visitors in terms of dollars spent. It’s possible to increase the number of visitations but maintain low number of nights spent at the resort and this is not the intention of the plan. The plan intends to simultaneously increase the number of visitations alongside nights spent at the facility as well as total expenditure when at the resort. In this case, this will be used to jointly evaluate the two major objectives of the plan; increasing visitations together with accommodation durations. In cases where the two scenarios don’t tally, it will be easy to identify from the records the areas that need adjustments or improvements to achieve the highest possible returns from the marketing plan, a major advantage of working with a plan. The last monitoring and control approach for the plan will also include evaluation of the facility’s online platform. Under this category, the company website for Philip Island Beach Resort, www.philipislandbeachresort.wa.com.au , will be continuously checked to establish client gestures such as early bookings and reservations, enquiries and client feedbacks from visitors after accommodation at the facility. Information from the online platform will give a summative presentation of the plans performance since it will incorporate feedback on past practices, current state and future expectations at the facility. 3.0. References MURDAUGH, M. E. (2012). Destination marketing insights: how to boost performance, increase customers, and maximize. [S.l.], Mill City Press, Inc. WANG, Y., & PIZAM, A. (2011). Destination marketing and management: theories and applications. Wallington, Oxfordshire, UK, CABI. GARTRELL, R. B. (2004). Destination marketing for convention and visitor bureaus. Dubuque, Iowa, Kendall/Hunt Pub. Co. HARRILL, R. ;. A. H. &. L. E. I. ;. A. L. A., &. LODG. (2012). Fundamentals of Destination Management and Marketing with Answer Sheet (Ei). Prentice Hall. LAWS, E. (2005). Tourist destination management: issues, analysis and policies. London, Routledge. WORLD TOURISM ORGANIZATION. (2007). A practical guide to tourism destination management. Madrid, World Tourism Organization. OWERS, S. (2000). Secrets, lies and other misdemeanours. Cowes, Vic, Phillip Island U3A. SHORT, A. D., & MCLEOD, K. A. (2006). Beaches of the Queensland coast: Cooktown to Coolangatta : a guide to their nature, characteristics, surf and safety. Sydney, Sydney University Press. VER BERKMOES, R. (2008). East Coast Australia. Footscray, Vic, Lonely Planet. LLEWELLYN, M. (2008). Night + day Sydney (and Melbourne). San Francisco, Calif, Pulse Guides. WHEELER, D., & EGGER, S. (2008). Melbourne. Footscray, Vic, Lonely Planet. AUSTRALASIAN URBAN HISTORY / PLANNING HISTORY CONFERENCE, NICHOLS, D., HURLIMANN, A., MOUAT, C., & PASCOE, S. (2010). Green fields, brown fields, new fields: proceedings of the 10th Australasian Urban History, Planning History conference. Melbourne, Vic, Melbourne University Custom Book Centre. (1930). Ideal summerland on the Nobbies Phillip Island. Melbourne, Phillip Island Holidays Development. Phillip Island Conservation Society, and E. C. F. Bird. 1990. The problem of beach erosion on the north coast of Phillip Island: a position paper. Cowes, Vic: The Society. BASSETT, J. (2002). The Facing Island: a personal history. Carlton, Vic, Melbourne Univ. Press. Read More