Tourism Facilities Management

Basics

Attractions

Play a vital part in encouraging visitors to a region; Without attractions there would be a limited need for other tourism services; Some argue that tourism would not exist if it were not for attractions.

Part One \ defining attractions \ ...

Attraction defined

A designated permanent resource which is controlled and managed for the enjoyment, amusement, entertainment, and education of the visiting public.
(Middleton, 1988)
Part One \ defining attractions \ ...

What is an attraction?

Natural Environment; Man made attractions Tourist, Non-tourist purpose; Special Events. Boundaries are not always clear cut ! (Reichstag )
Please visit: http://www.northumberland.gov.uk
Part One \ defining attractions \ ...

Terminology and Interrelations

visitor attractions and tourist attractions attractions and destinations attractions, support services and facilities resort complexes attractions and activities

Part One \ defining attractions \ ...

Classification of visitor attractions

Ownership Primary and secondary attractions Catchment area Visitor numbers Location Size Target markets Benefits sought
Part One \ defining attractions \ ...

Ownership of Attractions
Sector (type of ownership) Main types of attractions owned
Museums, galleries Ancient monuments Archaeological sites Historic buildings Country parks Forests Theme parks Zoos Marinas

Main motives for ownership an operation Main priority Conservation

Other priorities Education, public access, increased leisure opportunities for the community, catalyst for tourism development, income, visitor management

Public:
- government, - local authorities, - nationalised industries.

Private:
- Commercial organisations.

Main priority Profit

Other priorities Entertainment, max. visitor numbers, market share, exploit growth markets

Voluntary:
- Trusts & charities.
Historic buildings Heritage centres Steam railways

Main priority Conservation via income from visitors

Other priorities Education, visitor management

Part One \ defining attractions \ ...

Swarbrooke's development of destinations

Single attraction; Embryonic destination: - Services develop around the single attraction; Developed single market destination: - Other attractions, designed for same market; Diversified destination: - Other attractions, designed designed for new markets.
Part One \ The role ... \ Attractions and other sectors of tourism

Development Feasibility Study

Feasibility study contents

The market study Who will visit the attraction?
- domestic and foreign holidaymakers, day trippers, School and college groups, local residents - age, sex, class, stage in family life-cycle

How many people will visit the attraction?

- population of catchment area, number of holidaymakers visiting the area, competitors targeting the same market segments

Where they will come from?

- catchment area

When will the visitors come?

- degree of seasonality affects staffing, attraction capacity and cash flow management
Part Two \ Development process \ Feasibility study

Feasibility study contents

Site selection criteria
Proximity to major centres of population Transport networks and their reliability Existence of other attractions in the area Socio-economic profile of the catchment area Availability of suppliers/services Amount, type, quality and costs of land Regulations on the use of land The climate Availability of qualified labour at acceptable costs Public sector financial assistance and help in kind Attitude of local community towards planned project
Part Two \ Development process \ Feasibility study

Feasibility study contents

Financial viability based on calculation of COSTS and REVENUES Depending on the type of organization viability means to produce a profit or surplus on running costs Cashflow management Break-even analysis
Profit Break-even point Costs Variable costs Fixed Costs 0 Number of visits

Part Two \ Development process \ Feasibility study

Development Business Planning

Why Plan?

Identify what business you are in; To determine where you are now; Determine where you want to be in the future - 12 months / 3 years / 5 years (clear, measurable objectives); Identify how to get there - how do you achieve those objectives? (action plan);

Part Two \ Development process \ Business Planning

What does planning encompass?

Business is primarily about one thing only, determining what it is the consumer wants and providing it at a profit. Strategic positioning; Market research; Financials; Marketing strategy; Human resource management; Operational planning.
Part Two \ Development process \ Business Planning

Management Marketing Planning

Visitor attractions as service products

1. Staff is part of the product itself - attitudes and behaviour affect enjoyment 2. Intangible elements dominate the attraction product - encourage to buy on basis of an imagination 3. The product is perishable - ensure consumption/income before product perishes 4. Customers are part of the production process - affects on experience are largely outside control 5. Service products are never really standardized - quality control difficult; guarantees??
Part Three \ The marketing concept

visitor attractions and tourism marketing

The product is an experience - that begins in advance of consumption and continues - visitors rarely distinguish between responsibilities The product offers only shared use rights - try to avoid conflicts between different groups The product offers only temporary use rights - the longer the stay the higher the spending The product is rarely being delivered to the customer - good signposting, directions and brochures are essential The demand for the product is highly seasonal
Part Three \ The marketing concept

Scope of strategic marketing planning !!!

Where are we now?
- analysing the organizations current situation and direction

Where do we want to be in the future?

- establishing mission statements, setting goals and objectives

How are we going to get there?

- devising strategies and tactics helping to achieve these goals and objectives, and looking at implementation issues

How will we know when we get there?

- monitoring and performance evaluation strategies, and systems for modifying strategies in response to monitoring
Part Three \ Strategic marketing planning

SWOT analysis
Strengths Weaknesses

internal factors within control (current situation)

Opportunities Threats

external factors outside control (market direction)

Part Three \ Strategic marketing planning \ Where are we now?

What to do with the SWOT?

Every section holds potential to put forward strategies For example, weaknesses and threats can be converted to strengths and opportunities. Whilst strengths can be matched to opportunities.
Weakness:

few visitors in off-peak season

Conversion Strategy:

attract school-group visits at low fares in off-peak season

Strengths:

- balanced cash flow - loyal visitors (return visits) - grater awareness (parents, relatives) - sanitised public image - .
Part Three \ Strategic marketing planning \ Where are we now?

Product positioning
Where customers perceive you to be in the marketplace
Exciting

Theme Park
Inexpensive Expensive

Exciting

Boring Positioning disparity

Boring Competitor analysis

If there are disparities between the customer and the managers viewpoint: - change the market or the product in order to reflect/match the views of the customers!
Part Three \ Strategic marketing planning \ Where are we now?

Inexpensive

Expensive

( )

Management Implementing Marketing Strategies

Basic statements

Marketing strategies are generally implemented through Marketing Plans. Implementing marketing strategies is mainly about manipulating the Marketing Mix.

Implementing marketing strategies requires to keep up with the latest Developments in Marketing.

Part Three \ The implementation of marketing strategies \ How are we going to get there?

Marketing Mix
Place of purchase Distribution Pre-booking Pre-purchase Intermediaries lace Booking agencies Ticket systems Product levels (Kotler) Designed characteristics Service components Image / Reputation Positioning roduct Packaging Branding Quality List price Discounts Concessions

Literature Advertising Signposting romotion Sponsorship Direct marketing Sales promotion Personal selling Press and public relations

Price

Value for money Cost of travelling Methods of payment Price / Quality trade off

Part Three \ The implementation of marketing strategies \ How are we going to get there?

The seven Ps

People

staff in terms of:

training, appearance, behaviour, customer contact,

Physical evidence Process

environment

layout, noise, cleanliness, furnishing,

corporate policies and procedures

employee empowerment, customer involvement,

Extension of the product category !

but emphasizes the importance of those three factors for service products

Part Three \ The implementation of marketing strategies \ How are we going to get there?

How will we know when we get there?

Evaluation requires that: - the marketing strategy contains measurable targets - there are management information systems, providing up-to-date information of the organizations performance - must provide internal data on the performance - and external information on business environment - there are control mechanisms to allow corrective actions Corrective actions should be fed back into the strategy!!!

Part Three \ The implementation of marketing strategies \ How will we know when we get there?

Management Human Resource

Human Resource Management

Considered to be the most important aspect of management Attitudes and abilities of staff have a crucial impact on the visitors experience Labour costs are likely to be the largest single items on the attractions budget

Part Three \ Human Resource Management

Problems of HRM at visitor attractions

Tourism industry suffers from bad reputation in HRM High turnover of staff Seasonality of demand Poor status of jobs Lack of career structures Unusually demanding jobs lack of management expertise Lack of widely recognized qualification and training schemes

Part Three \ Human Resource Management \ Problems

Management Quality

Quality management and services

No standardized product - difficult to adopt standardized quality control systems - affected by a number of variables - the product is different for every customer Intangibility and perishability - faults in the product cannot be easily seen - not ease to replace a faulty product Services are often complex products - involving a huge number of elements which are interdependent and difficult to monitor

Part Three \ Quality management

Quality management systems at attractions

There are three main points to consider:

- what definition of quality to use - what performance standards to use and what measurement system to implement - what systems to adopt to achieve quality

Part Three \ Quality management

Visitor management
visitor management incorporates aspects of both: quality management and green issues, and is the most critical part of the day-to-day management at the site

Tries to ensure an experience without disturbances by providing a trouble-free sequence of events Aims to minimize negative environmental and socio-cultural impact caused by the use of the attr. Although most important for non-purpose built attractions, there is a certain relevance for all types of attractions
Part Three \ Visitor management

Visitor management
Financial conditions
Experience without disturbances

Human resources

Legal conditions
Maximize quality of product/service

Visitor expectations Management objectives

Conservation: - environment - and assets

Visitor Management

Visitor satisfaction

Performance
Minimize negative impact

Marketing activities

HRM

Operational management

Part Three \ Visitor management

Problems to deal with

Damage on environment caused by visitors - wildlife, flora and fauna, pollution by traffic Damage on assets caused by visitors - intentional, unintentionally caused by heavy use Disturbances in visitor flow - bottleneck situations, waiting times Accessibility of certain areas - restricted access caused by construction work - distances between attractions on site - handycapped visitors

Part Three \ Visitor management