The 3
Principals of all Travel
Prospects To evaluate safety and the best
destination/trip to spend their money on, tourist first need to know three core
elements about your country or trips. They want to know:
- You are
experienced - meaning that they are not the first tourists you have
ever had and that you or your region is experienced with tourists.
- Your
destination and trips are fun - meaning that you run good trips to fun
places.
- Nobody
DIED- meaning that your country is safe, you run safe trips and that
their safety and security is your #1 priority.
With so many
wonderful travel options on the planet, and information so readily available
via the internet or media - what and how prospective travelers hear about your
tour destination or tour business - can either help your sales and arrivals or
hurt them.
How
Prospective Tourist Develop Safety Perceptions
Prospective tourists
and OBTO develop their perceptions about the safety of a destination or
operator, whether if it is true or not, from three primary sources:
- What they
have read, seen or heard in a newspaper, magazine, television or
radio.
- What they
have heard from a friend, family or associate.
- What they
read or hear about your country, tour company or tourist lodge on your website,
in E-mails, brochures, tradeshow stand, in person or on the phone.
Where did these
sources get their information in the first place? As tourism professional, you
have the ability to influence, at some level, all three sources of information.
It is critical that you understand your potential impact. Implement the action
steps below and positively influence prospective traveler's
perceptions.
Improve
Travelers Perceptions of You As a Safe & Desirable Destination
During the fall of 2001, I did a USAID funded workshop on safety
and security in Mongolia for the Mongolian Tourism Association. As a group, we
summarized that Mongolia was near the very bottom of the list as an
international terrorism target and had no political instability, social turmoil
or war. This is good news! Israel, Jordan and Egypt, all with great historical
and religious tourism sites, have been economically devastated by significant
downturns in their tourism arrivals. Unlike these Middle Eastern countries,
Mongolia has not experienced enormous media coverage, either good or bad. This
is a problem - and an opportunity if you help increase the quality and quantity
of information the world read, hears and sees.
Tourism
Marketing - Web sites, Brochures and Tradeshow Stands
Media and
prospective travelers are now using the Internet as the #1 source of travel
information. This is the best place to start influencing perceptions. What does
your web site communicate about your region's/countries safety, security and
desirability first - on the home page -
then about your tourism company? In addition to language supporting a safe and
secure vacation, your words must also create desire to visit your destination
and what it has to offer. Some of the language, words and images we came up for
Mongolia and the tour operators to use were:
|
Safety & Security Words
- Stable
democratic government
- Growing
economy
-
Helpful, friendly people
- Very low crime rate
- Positive television coverage by Lonely Planet and
Survivors
- Enjoyed
by celebrities Julia Roberts and Richard Gere
- Well
educated people
- Very
welcoming to tourists
- No visa
for US &? tourists
- Good food
-
Buddhist religion
- Sparse
population
- Beautiful wide open countryside
- Western
standards of lodging and service available
- Good
exchange rate
|
Words that Create Desire
- No
Police problems
- No
earthquakes
- No major disease
problems
-
International flight with major airlines
- Adventure and sport opportunities
- ¨
Home of Chinggis Khaan
- Nomadic
lifestyle
- Gobi
/Dinosaurs
-
"Mongolia" - the name itself
- No
fences
- Authentic horse culture
- Famous
history
- Remote.
Not an overrun tourism destination
- Unspolied mountains, rivers, lakes, forest, steppes and
desert
|
To create your
own powerful tourism marketing message that communicates safety, security and
create a desire to take your tour or visit your destination, read:
Tourism
Marketing Material Success.
Install a "Media
and Travel Professionals" link on your site or use a profesional media
relations firm with more information and resources that will help prospective
visitors form positive opinions and decisions. When these tourism or media
professionals request information from you, what are they reading in your
brochures or e-mail response? The language, image and message should always
support that your destination is a safe and secure choice for international
travel.
Create
Ambassadors of Goodwill - Before and During a Tourist Visit
Even
after a tourist has decided to visit you, and before and after they arrive,
they have questions, concerns and maybe some fears. These are usually based on
their current level of information - or lack of it. It is your job to address
their needs and questions. The more thoroughly you educate your guest, the more
comfortable and safe they will feel, even if the information has some negatives
and warnings. An informed and secure traveler or media professional, will be
better ambassadors of your country or tourism company - spreading goodwill,
even before they arrive.
Some of the
areas that should be addressed before the trip in your pre-departure
information, e-mail and verbal communications and during the trip
are:
- Vehicles & roads
- Food
and vegetarian options
- Safety precautions
- Drivers
and guides experience and capabilities
- First
aid knowledge of staff
- Rated
difficulty levels of trips
- Travel
Insurance, Insurance in Mongolia, Liability insurance
- Water
supplies & quality
- Aircraft safety
|
- Horse
trip considerations
- Emergency communications
- Vaccination
requirements
- Cultural faux -pas
- Availability of medical Services &
Quality
- Bathroom and shower options in UB and in the
countryside
- Any
special food, medical needs
|
Keep
Ambassadors of Goodwill - After a Tourist Visit
If a tourist or
media has a great time visiting your destination and taking your tour, then
they will return home and communicate to their friends, family and associates,
what a wonderful, safe and secure country you represent. Hopefully they are
very enthusiastic and are communicating positive and accurate first-hand
information. This is word-of-mouth advertising at its
finest. We want these visitors to spread the word that your
destination and tours are safe, secure and fun vacation destination that they
will recommend to all
Keep your former
visitors vacation positively alive in their memory through regular
communications. Use E-mail newsletters, post visitor travelogues on your web
site, mail post cards, phone calls, letting them know about new media coverage
and personal visits during trade shows and sales calls. Our former guest should
the best sales people we can have. Let's promote and demonstrate safety and
security in your destination and your operations, and watch tourism
grow.
Tim Warren © 2003
Since 1994, Tim Warren and Adventure Business
Consultants, has helped dozen's of ecotourism and adventure travel business,
destinations, tourism Assn. and ministries increase profits, arrivals and
success. Click Here For Free
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