Good Case Study About Tourism Victoria Summer Campaign 2015

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Problem Statement
Victoria is a lovely island off the Pacific, off the western coast of Canada. Tourism is not reaching its full potential. Despite Victoria’s web site and marketing, tourism is down during the 2006 to 2010 period. Visitors were down from 3.56 million to 3.08 million. Visitor spending was down from $1.19 billion to $.97 billion. In an analysis completed for Tourism Victoria, it is estimated that Victoria would lose 5% in revenue each year from 2009 through 2014 (Grant Thorton). With tourism growing world wide, Victoria is in trouble. There number of visitors and revenue should also be increasing each year, not declining. Victoria is located very near Vancouver. Vancouver and the rest of British Columbia have experienced modest growth in truism revenue, $12,005 million in 2006 and $13,450 million in 2012 (Hallin). Victoria should be growing with her neighbors.

Problem Analysis

Victoria is losing tourists to other destinations because it is not marketing itself correctly. They have an incredible product to offer and their location is close to millions of potential visitors. Their marketing plan is loose and a little vague. They are not reaching out to the correct target markets. They need to streamline their marketing plan. The website is comprehensive but it is large and difficult to navigate (Tourism Victoria website).
Victoria and British Columbia are still bragging about the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. They need to focus on what they have to offer now. The Olympics was an achievement and millions were exposed to the region through media coverage of the event. This should have caused their

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tourism numbers to increase over the last couple of years, but it has not. Visitors and tourism revenue were both down after the Games, which was unexpected. Victoria needs to quickly recover from the slump it experienced post-Olympics (Stats BC).
Victoria is not aligning itself with Vancouver and the rest of British Columbia. There website and marketing all appear to make Victoria a destination in of itself. Victoria is beautiful but it needs to market itself as a part of a vacation to the entire region. By isolating themselves in this respect, they are losing valuable business. Victoria needs to partner with Vancouver and British Columbia to make the entire area a complete destination.

Solution

The solution to Victoria’s tourism woes is to market heavily to a more streamlined market. My recommendation would be to target the Senior market. Seniors are living longer and healthier lives. After retirement they have the time and the money to travel. They have more disposable income compared to other market targets. They are known to look for deals and are willing to travel to destinations during shoulder seasons. They can travel when they want and are not restricted to vacation times. They tend to stay for longer periods of time compared to other travelers. Today’s senior citizens are physically fit, active and enjoy outdoor activities. They also prefer beautiful, natural settings (Hotel and Resort Insider).

Objectives

The objectives for this marketing plan are to direct marketing towards urban areas in North America that have large senior populations. A goal of a 5% increase in overall tourism revenue for the next 5 years is attainable. Another objective is to increase the daily spending of a

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each tourist by 5% over the next five years. The last objective is to increase the number of visitors to 2,500,000 next year, and 5 % increases over the next five years.

Strategies and Tactics

Victoria would benefit greatly by partnering with Vancouver and British Columbia to attract visitors to the entire region. This would encourage longer vacations from tourists who come to enjoy the city life of Vancouver, the nature of British Columbia and the quaintness of Victoria. A joint campaign between all three tourism bureaus would be cost effective and beneficial to all three. A joint campaign to entice senior visitors would benefit the enire area.
Tourism Victoria should create a website just for seniors. Seniors look for convenience in booking. Today’s seniors are more computer savvy but they prefer to book vacations as a package and on website if at all possible. A sharp and easy to navigate website that features the beauty of the area and vacation packages would be attractive to the senior traveler.
Advertising that is directed at market with large senior populations would be smart. Television advertising on stations that seniors watch frequently would be prudent. The content of the ad should echo the information and style of the website for easy recognition. The focus should be on the natural beauty of the area, ease of travel and great deals on packages. Victoria should be portrayed as a vital but peaceful destination. Magazine advertising should also be placed in periodicals that seniors read such as AARP’s magazine, AAA’s and CAA’s magazines.
A partnership with AARP and CARP would be clever. They already market to the senior markets and have many resources that would make marketing more efficient and effective. Tourism Victoria also needs to form and maintain a partnership with British Columbia and Vancouver’s tourism agencies. By marketing the entire region to seniors the entire region could

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benefit from the money spent by seniors while on vacation. Seniors have more time to travel and would be able to explore the entire region.

Metrics

The metrics to employ to measure the success of this campaign are: total visitors; tourism revenue; average daily expenditures and length of stay. These measurements will reflect any success of the campaign as it relates to the goals and objectives of the plan. Analysis of exit survey will also be helpful in reading the response and attitudes of the gay and lesbian traveler and their perceptions of Victoria.

Timeline

The marketing campaign would begin with the development of the website by January 2015. By February 2015, commercials and print advertising should be completed and ready to debut by April of 2015 on television stations and in magazines. Many travelers are making their travel plans for the summer during the spring months. Beginning the beginning of May 2015, measurement of revenues, expenditures and the number of visitors should be monitored to see if the campaign is having success. Measurement should continue through October since seniors tend to travel during shoulder seasons. If the campaign is successful, planning to repeat it the next year or adjust it to a different season such as Christmas or Valentine’s would be smart.

Conclusion

Victoria would be able to recover from their recent tourism slump by targeting the senior market. Partnering with the region of British Columbia and Vancouver would also be beneficial

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reaching and attracting this market. By specializing their website and directly advertising to this market, revenues would be increased for the island.

References:

British Columbia Stats. Retrieved from:
http://www.bcstats.gov.bc.ca/StatisticsBySubject/BusinessIndustry/Tourism.aspx
Grant Thorton (21 June 2011). Analysis of estimated impacts related to declines in tourism
activity and visitor spending. Retrieved from:
http://www.tourismvictoria.com/includes/content/docs/media/2011TourismStudy.pdf
Hallin, Lillian (3 Jan 2014). Tourism Indicators 2014. BC Stats. Retrieved from:
http://www.bcstats.gov.bc.ca/StatisticsBySubject/BusinessIndustry/Tourism.aspx
Tourism Victoria website Retrieved from: http://www.tourismvictoria.com/
Travel trends of seniors. Hotel and Resort Insider. Retrieved from:
http://www.hotelresortinsider.com/news_story.php?news_id=2094&cat_id=8#top