Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
as the leading tourist destination in Spain, and is the reason why Spain
repeatedly ranks in the world's top destinations in terms of arrivals and
receipts (Cabrini, 2003).
Turisme de Barcelona, the city's DMO, is a member-based organisation.
Therefore its approach to tourism marketing is to support its members,
mainly tourist operators and event organisers, by developing promotional
techniques and tools, such as brochures, websites and advertising. This has
been successful to date, as all industry stakeholders have leveraged off the
profile and branding of the city of Barcelona to promote their own products,
be it an event, attraction or tourism activity (Barcelona Turisme, 2006, 2007).
Tourism marketing campaigns that promote the characteristics of a des-
tination, such as showcasing its creative industries, can engender curiosity,
interest and loyalty, which result in longer-term relationships between the
consumer and the destination (Holt, 2004). Developing a connection between
tourists and a particular destination can achieve increased visitation, return
visits, word-of-mouth recommendations, and inspiration as a future holiday
destination (Nanda
et al
., 2006). However, establishing this emotional rela-
tionship is not easily achieved through the short-term marketing activities
so often produced by the tourism industry, such as promotional brochures,
product launches and television advertisements (Kavaratzis, 2005).
Marketing academics and practitioners emphasise the importance
of targeting audiences through the use of creativity, especially 'stories'
(Kavaratzis & Ashworth, 2005), and many have embraced this concept
to develop and position a brand (Roberts, 2004). Brand stories and stories
told through marketing activities, such as advertising, events and social
networking tools, are particularly effective in reaching and engaging youth
consumers aged between 17 and 25 (Dane & Yoon, 2009). Similarly, even
younger consumers, aged 8-14 (those considered in this chapter), are engaged
by marketing that tells a story (Belch
et al
., 2012; Gregory Thomas, 2007).
However, regulations and social concerns in marketing to this younger
cohort (Quester
et al
., 2011) can lead to industries disregarding them as
potential consumers.
Creative tourism marketing is relevant for a young, aware audience for
several reasons:
• the buying power of young people;
• the growing influence that young people have on deciding where families
holiday;
• the continual need for DMOs to market their destination so as to
increase visitation;
• the need to support sustainable tourism so that cultural attractions can
remain for future generations;
• the wishes of young students to learn about history and culture in an
experiential and more creative way.
