Back to the speakers' list
Back to the program

  Repositioning a Traditional Tourism Destination
What are the possible instruments?

Mr. Herman BOS - Director, the Dutch National Tourist, Office, Amsterdam, Holland

 

Answering the question on what possible instruments exist to reposition a traditional tourism destination is only possible when we have a common understanding on what we regard as a tourism destination and what makes it traditional.
Having concluded on that, the question is why and for whom we want to reposition that traditional tourism destination ? Is it really necessary ?
This includes the connecting relevant answer on the question if it is possible to reposition at all ?
When that answer is affirmative, finally the tools or instruments have to be listed that may be of help, including the chances of success for implementation and that subsequently result in a priority ranking of those elements available.

I will try to reflect on this by dividing the various elements into practical ones, including what we learned in our efforts to understand and to change.

The easiest answer can be given on what a tourism destination is.
A tourism destination is every city, resort, area or country that attracts visitors for its factual or perceived attractivity. Attractivity based on experience by travellers or by the image it has for a huge number of potential travellers.
Such a destination can be regarded as traditional when it has attracted many visitors for a longer period, let us say for at least twenty five years, but for many in practice even for a longer period.
Being traditional is not only related to its history as a destination in years, it is also related to its image and the awareness of its attractive supply.
The Côte d’Azur, where, according to all textbooks, European tourism began, can without any doubt be regarded as a traditional tourism destination. The same applies for Switzerland or for London. London as a city, Switzerland as a country and the eastern French Mediterranean coast as a part of France. Millions for many decades have visited these attractive and traditional destinations. I take the liberty to include my country, The Netherlands, as a traditional tourism destination too.

Visitors who decide to go to a possible destination want to do so because they think that they will have a nice holiday, based on the perceived or known attractive supply and their personal needs and wishes for active consumption.

This includes that potential visitors have a view of a specific destination that results from education, history in particular, from stories told by friends and relatives, from books, films, news programmes and documentary films on television or from specific products that are related to specific cities, regions or countries. I have the feeling that nearly every affluent potential holidaymaker today has at least some views on nearly every tourism destination. Of course more on nearby possible destinations or more exotic areas.
These views, correct or false, are based on images of the possible destination and these images influences decision making.

Images are in general very stable. They are difficult to control or change, as many impulses stem from sources that cannot be influenced by those who try to stimulate tourism to their destination.
This is more problematic when the image is not correct and results in the rejection of a destination for holidaymaking. It is problematic too when the image may be correct, but not in line with the identity that destination-management wants to communicate in order to stimulate demand.
(In between the remark that non traditional tourism destinations are in an advantageous position. Many of them are less known for their attractivity and it is easier to influence their image than change existing images. The main problem they are facing is the way, including costs, to communicate their product in a world with an overkill in the distribution of tourism information.)

Returning to the subject of the image of a traditional tourism destination in order to stimulate demand, one has to stress that the image differs from country to country of origin.
My country, The Netherlands, as a tourism destination has in general an image that is based on tulips, windmills, wooden shoes, cheese and Amsterdam. An image that has helped to attract tourists and does today as well.
From the farther away a country is to Holland, the more relevant and important these “traditional” elements are for attracting new visitors.

Relevant in this respect is that many Dutchmen are expressing objections to these elements.
They say that we are a modern society that does not need old, old fashioned, historical images and thus they feel a bit embarrassed by the use of them.
They forget however that these mental pictures/images are the openers for promotional activities.
In order to convince new tourists to come it is relevant to start with for them familiar elements that make it worthwhile to visit Holland. Potential tourists who want to experience what they think that is available and attractive. Why, one can ask, is it necessary to change that image, so reposition our attractivity? Is it not slaughtering the hen with the golden eggs?

From the nearer a country is to the destination, the less important the traditional image elements are.
Many inhabitants of nearby countries have already visited Holland and are familiar with its attractive supply. For them other elements create the base for our image, as e.g. the coastal area, the smaller historic cities, yachting, the special biking paths, the specific local atmosphere created by foreign languages speaking Dutch in cafes and bars or our Indonesian restaurants.
Repositioning is for these tourists more or less irrelevant. Image is less important than the actual product. A product that competes and needs to continue to compete by investing in quality and new extra’s to justify revisiting.

This stresses the division between those who have visited the country and will do again and those who did not yet visit it. Research has shown too that they who came are more positive on the destination than those who did not yet come.

And, discussing images, most countries have at least two images.
On one side it is the image on its tourism attractivity and at the other side a set of one or more general non-tourism images exists.
In dealing with the tourism image one often forgets that this double images are to be
distinguished.
Three remarks are, based on our experience, in this respect relevant.
The first is that the tourism image is in general a positive one, the non-tourism image is in general
more often rather critical to even sometimes negative.
Secondly, the non-tourism image hardly influences the decision to visit, though it may influence
the mental process of satisfaction during the journey. The image of being unsafe is in most cases
the most critical in deciding not to go.
Thirdly, at national level, short-term problems on its non-tourism image are often thought to be more important than relevant in daily practice for potential tourists in deciding to come.

I put some emphasise on these existing double images because it may also be a fundament for using the non tourism images as a tool to strengthen the tourism image.
A study in Italy has learned that for a lot of Italians the image of the Netherlands is related to our history as an imperialistic nation with colonies in Asia; colonies that were the victim of colonial suppression that would not be acceptable today.
Forgetting the embarrassment that my country colleagues expressed when they heard this, it is still a tool to use for additional image building. For this we had festivities to celebrate that 400 years ago our semi-national, semi-public organisation to trade with Asian countries and governing them was founded.
The United East Indies Company (VOC) is part of our national history and is generally regarded as an institution that brought prosperity for many in Holland.

More non-tourism images from the past can be distinguished.
Czar Peter the Great stayed in Holland in the seventeenth century to learn on shipbuilding and till today it is an asset in the more emotional relationship between the Netherlands and Russia.
The opposite exists too: St.Petersburg was partly developed by Dutch engineers, in particular on its water management systems. It still satisfies many Dutchmen that we did and stimulates to visit the city, probably more intensely as the wish to visit Moscow.
In the Czech Republic their best known philosopher Comenius stayed in Holland and the small city of Naarden is for Czechs till today a place of pilgrimage.
For others the Netherlands have a more actual non-tourism image.
Our national policy on the use of soft drugs is an example that. A fact that, from a tourist board point of view will not be stressed. For some it does stimulate travelling, for others not.

Returning to the tourism image I used the word “country”. But it is the question if the tourism image of a country as a whole is relevant today. The bigger the country is, the more its images are related to specific regions. France has more to offer than the Côte d’Azur. Burgundy, Brittany or the Loire-area, all traditional destinations in France, are part of its attractive supply and influence its image, just as Paris does. In total, but more and more by specific regions as today’s’ travellers are better educated and better informed.
Why should Burgundy reposition its traditional image of excellent wines and gastronomy ?
The same applies for Italy. The images of Tuscany, the northern Italian lakes, Sicily and Rome influence the Italian image, together and or alone. Why should Tuscany as a traditional tourism destination reposition its image of culture and cuisine ?

Again the question is if the images of these traditional destinations need to be repositioned for attracting visitors, and if so, why and how.

In principle we regard three key words relevant in attracting foreign tourists.
Quality, variety and authenticity.
Quality and variety are not typical Dutch elements to use to stimulate demand. They are relevant for every competing destination.
Authenticity however is.
Authenticity is relevant because it distinguishes various possible and competing destinations.
It increases the satisfaction of visitors when new instruments will become available that deepen the knowledge of its authentic supply.
Instruments by marketing or new additional product supply.

An example can be found in the fact that about one third of Holland would be flooded when no dykes and dunes would exist. As a tourist board we thought that this authentic fact might be attractive to stimulate demand. The “fun” of holidaymaking below sea level might be interesting for tourists we argued.
Thus we wanted to deepen this authentic element by giving it more promotional attention.
However, focus group discussions in European countries learned that this authentic Dutch situation would not stimulate demand at all. On the contrary, potential visitor expressed fear if they might possibly drown during their stay. We skipped this idea of repositioning, even when we as Dutchmen have no fear ourselves.

Another example relates to our tulips and other flowers, exported world wide. We thought them to be typically Dutch and an instrument to attract more visitors. However, the idea to strengthen our image in marketing by emphasising Holland as “the flower country” proved to be not possible. Potential visitors in other countries fully agreed that flowers are part of the specific Dutch attractivity, but they said that our flowers did not distinguish Holland as being so specific that it would be a major argument for coming.
Both approaches, marketing oriented, did not help to reposition or, more factual, were not valid enough to be used as instruments to increase our position as a traditional tourism destination.
Based on this and what was mentioned earlier, we concluded that as a traditional tourism destination repositioning is hardly an approach for new success. I am confident that the same applies for other traditional tourism destinations too.
So, when repositioning is not the line to follow, but at the same time our target to increase our competitiveness, resulted in the conclusion that it is better to add new themes and products that are in line with our core authentic product and attractiveness. Thus all investments over many years, actively or passively, will not be lost but strengthened. In addition new, not really tourism related elements can be added.
The first approach is more based on extending the present situation by smaller extra’s, including the policy to combine relevant aspects into new combinations.
The second approach must open up new ways in positioning towards the future.

We realise that we cannot fulfil the needs for mountains, for long, hot and sunny summers or on many old and interesting castles, and, being a small country that has difficulties in competing with major players we focus on our prime target group of potential repeat visitors, looking for additional arguments to revisit The Netherlands..

As for the extra’s we concentrate our promotional activities that emphasise on specific exhibitions and events that are connected with culture. Exhibitions in museums with paintings of world wide known artists, as Van Gogh, Rembrandt, Vermeer have to be mentioned here.
This instrument is important in particular to stimulate off-season demand in cities.
The second area, of specific and authentic supply, relates to the activities tourist do when being in Holland. Sailing and biking are than important.
In this area we now try to develop via what we call non-physical product development to stimulate co-operation between suppliers in the same line of business, in chains of consumption or regional availability. The philosophy is to make better use of what exists and extend on that than add non-authentic products. In practice we distinguish four colours: “red” for city trips and culture, “green” for the countryside and eco-tourism, “bleu” for the coastal area’s and inland waterways and lakes”, “orange” for events and sports. The main target of this non-physical product development – as we do not own what is available – is to create small extra products that can be connected with the major existing ones. The second target is to stimulate co-operation between suppliers who are normally working on their own for their shorter-term benefits.

However, this does not mean that no fully new instruments are not developed at all.
In the promotional area a new approach to stimulate gastronomy on the Belgian market or to stimulate touring holidays by private cars in Great Britain have to be mentioned. Products that were some years ago not yet feasible.

A new element in our positioning is our approach to promote the country as a sportive destination. In co-operation with the national sport organisations we are promoting Holland as a destination. In order to stimulate the awareness of Holland the tulip on the cloths of our sporters in Salt Lake City should be mentioned. Our support to stimulate major sportive tournaments in Holland is in this respect additional. Not basically for extra revenues, but to stimulate awareness in particular.

Summarising the theme of this introduction, reflected in a pragmatically approach, result in the following conclusions:
A traditional tourism destination can hardly change its product, its image and its customers
Only small steps in marketing and additional product development can help, not to reposition the destination, but to extend the known image and product and thus to compete better
A priority in tools to do so is rather difficult, as suppliers vary in interest, product and region and all want to benefit based on that

Given these conclusions we are at present in the process to formulate a policy for the coming years. A policy that should concentrate on a limited number of major items. A policy that should be supported wholeheartedly by the various levels of government, organisations of suppliers and by the individual enterprises. The final target is to organise that these chosen main items will result in all the possible efforts to be implemented at various levels.
As national tourist board we want to play the general initial, stimulating and conducting role to
succeed. And that includes the formulation of targets to be proven to be reached for their success by solid measuring the effectiveness.