Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
as the backbone of marketing practice has taken on an entirely different meaning. Old models of
marketing become outdated in the face of such revolutions. Consumer-centricity has become
one of the fundamental laws. Paradigms of marketing must change and be driven by the outcomes
of this business orientation. No longer can the old frameworks of bygone marketing be applied
as standard, marketers must sense and respond to their unique markets, their unique relationships,
their unique understanding of the changing customer.
Increasingly then, the fl exibility and the degree of reactivity to the changing tourism
environment are becoming pivotal to competing successfully in this sector. Marketers must have
a grasp not only of their immediate and current environment and its impact on consumers,
but more importantly, on the landscape of tomorrow, the next day and the more distant future.
The ability to predict new key emerging trends will allow fl uidity and fl exibility of marketing
initiatives, accuracy of consumer communication and innovation of delivery.
This chapter will consider some of the developments and trends which pose the most
substantial challenges for the marketing of tourism products and the marketing responses which
might best address them. First,
The UnknownTourism Consumer
which considers the new emergent
demands of today's and tomorrow's consumer which are infl uencing the nature of the market;
second,
The Tourist as a 'Prosumer'
which focuses on the future implications of more empowered
consumers; third,
The
New e
-
Tourist Generation
which explores how new technologies are
infl uencing all aspects of marketing delivery as well as consumer behaviour; fourth,
Evolutions and
Revolutions in Branding
which considers a new branding paradigm based upon these consumer
shifts. Finally, the chapter outlines
Vectors of Future Success
- a summary of those paradigm shifts
necessary for tourism marketers to successfully engage with the new tourist.
The unknown tourism consumer
Few organizations in any sector genuinely know their customers. Today's consumer is very
diffi cult to truly understand. All markets in all sectors are fragmenting, behaviours are becom-
ing more fl uid, changeable and individual. Conceptualizing consumers using outmoded tech-
niques and variables no longer helps to forecast behaviour. Inconsistencies in behaviour are
persistent across age, gender, geographic as well as many other vectors which now lack power in
discriminating between consumers. People are simply more diffi cult to predict. As tourists
become more sophisticated in their behaviour, tourism marketers must in turn become more
sophisticated with regards to understanding them and, subsequently, developing marketing
strategies and tactics that they use to interact with them. Futurecasting key trends in the
tourist environment, some obvious, some currently less distinct, can lead marketers to a better
understanding of motives and how to predict and fulfi l them. The rise of the '
prosumer
' in the
tourist sector, discussed in detail in the following section, is an outcome of some of the more
noteworthy developments in the tourist marketplace.
There are some critical shifts in our economic, demographic and global competitive arena in
tourism which will cause momentous change in the way we approach market tourist goods and
services. Perhaps one of the most obvious and dramatic changes in the consumer marketplace is
the ageing population. In the USA the 'baby boomer' generation, now aged between 47 and
65, accounts for the largest share in sales in most product categories (Dickie 2012). By 2050,
22 per cent of the world's population will be 60 years or over (UN 2011). The UK, Italy,
Germany and Japan represent 70 per cent of the world's tourism expenditure and these countries
have the fastest growing ageing populations (Yeoman 2012). Yet marketers have been slow to
respond to such changes in their marketplaces. Where they have, an indifferent and stereotypically-
driven set of initiatives has prevailed. The 'older tourist' has to be redefi ned. Assumptions of
