Study-primarily based tourism technique is a get for all | View Columns

When it will come to marketing and advertising a vacation spot to prospective guests, quite a few tourism boards count on prior knowledge, own viewpoints, anecdotal facts and even hunches to build their marketing and advertising tactics. Though individuals things can and do have a part to perform in the approach, practically nothing is far more beneficial, insightful or exact than exploration.

Study not only lets us to build really wide customer profiles this kind of as age, revenue and geographic origin, it also lets us to drill down into really particular aspects like things to do, pursuits, expending, pleasure, internet promoter rating and the chance of returning to Walla Walla. It lets us to be productive in our get the job done, focused in our marketing and advertising, successful in our results and the most effective doable stewards of the resources to which we are entrusted.

In conditions of informing a vacation spot administration organization’s strategic technique, and prioritizing and allocating the methods that will be expended in opposition to it, I imagine there is maybe no increased return on investment decision than exploration.

Pay a visit to Walla Walla makes use of two most important strategies of exploration — customer intercept surveys and recognition and notion exploration — to enable us far better recognize, amid other factors, who is viewing, when and why they are viewing and their perceptions of Walla Walla as a vacation spot. Customer intercept surveys seize knowledge from vacationers even though they are presently in Walla Walla, even though recognition and notion exploration targets vacationers who may well or may well not have frequented Walla Walla beforehand, but who meet up with particular demographic or geographic standards.

Practical experience tells us at the macro amount that the Walla Walla Valley is extensively regarded for its attraction as a wine and culinary vacation spot, alongside with a escalating supporting forged that features recreation, undertaking and visible arts, heritage, society and far more. Study paints a considerably clearer image of the micro influences and possibilities that we can mine from a marketing and advertising point of view.

Most a short while ago, Pay a visit to Walla Walla contracted with RRC Associates, which specializes in market place exploration for the tourism market, to perform a comprehensive customer intercept study in the summer season and tumble of 2021.

With funding from the Walla Walla County and town of Walla Walla Lodging Tax Advisory Committees, surveys ended up administered by area team at many destinations throughout Walla Walla such as downtown, the airport, Fort Walla Walla Museum, the Pay a visit to Walla Walla customer kiosk and at many wineries and tasting rooms. In all, far more than 600 finished surveys ended up received in between July three and Nov. twenty, 2021.

Though the conclusions validated quite a few of our beliefs, they also drop mild on possibilities to attain new audiences, market new or distinct things to do at specified instances of the yr, fantastic-tune messaging to particular demographics and alter the timing of messaging to align with shifts in shopper journey setting up habits. We also uncovered that as quite a few as forty four% of respondents uncovered about Walla Walla as a vacation spot via our owned marketing and advertising channels such as promotion, PR, online lookup, social media and web page.

Employing demographic and psychographic knowledge gleaned from the exploration, we have the capability to “clone” audiences, which lets us to attain even far more individuals who match the similar or comparable customer profiles. We can also more improve our concentrate on viewers primarily based on return on investment decision, by cross-referencing demographics with journey traits this kind of as size of continue to be, lodging variety, journey expending, bash measurement, market place of origin and manner of journey.

Armed with these conclusions and far more, Pay a visit to Walla Walla has presently started to make even far more knowledgeable selections on in which, when and how to concentrate on prospective guests. We also have a 2nd spherical of exploration, funded by town of Walla Walla LTAC, concentrated on Walla Walla’s recognition and notion ranges amid vacationers in essential concentrate on marketplaces. This study is at present becoming done by Vacation spot Analysts, and the conclusions will enable more determine our viewers and posture relative to aggressive places and improve our messaging and marketing and advertising appropriately.

The financial gains our neighborhood will make as a outcome of these investments will be viewed in the motels, dining places, tasting rooms, stores and other companies that will reward from tried out and real exploration-primarily based technique to tourism.

To receive a duplicate of the full Walla Walla Summer time/Slide 2021 Customer Study, remember to e-mail [email protected]