In our previous blog on this topic, we noted the value of cultural tourism to the visitor economy. But just like tourism (the visitor economy anyone?), cultural tourism is an often-confusing and complex industry that is quite difficult to describe. There is little agreement as to what constitutes cultural tourism. Moreover, because culture and heritage are inherently linked, it’s hard to separate “culture” and “heritage” in the mind of the consumer. So we thought it might be useful to summarise some of the issues and come up with a working … [Read more...]
How Culture and Heritage Tourism Boosts More Than A Visitor Economy
Culture and heritage tourism plays a critical role in building the visitor economy and goes even beyond that. A recent survey showed that over 50% of respondents polled agreed that history and culture are strong influences on their choice of holiday destination. Culture and heritage tourism is a fast growing and high-yielding sector Statistics also indicate that culture and heritage tourism continues to grow as rapidly, especially in OECD and APEC regions. We estimate the direct global value of culture and heritage tourism to be well over … [Read more...]
How Travellers Plan and Book Their Trip
In this recorded webinar we take you through the journey of what happens when travellers start dreaming of a holiday right through to their post holiday sharing. You will see that content is crucial to your tourism and marketing strategy.We also show you some cases of where it is done well.Press the play button on top of the travelling pooch. Do you want to hear more from us? Want to be kept up to date with the latest travel and tourism insights? Join Our Mailing List. Every 2 weeks, we send the latest practical insight for you to apply to … [Read more...]
How to Engage with India’s Booming Tech-Savvy Travel Population
One of the great side benefits of participating in Australia Business Week in India earlier this month was the chance for some ‘ethnographic’ observation of this exciting source market. One of the most noticeable observations we have made has been around the Indian market’s tech-savviness.A jointly-published report from the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and IMRB (Indian Market Research Bureau) International stated that India was expected to surpass the US as the second largest internet user base globally, behind China, in … [Read more...]
The Traveller Path To Purchase - Dreaming
Parks Canada has just announced that it will be putting Wifi into Canada’s National Parks. This has provoked a flurry of debate. Surely the point of a National Park is to enjoy wilderness and undisturbed by emails or the need to connect? After all, we now recognise Nature Deficit Disorder as a condition and JWT identifies Mindful Living as a key trend. SHARING SPURS DREAMINGBut I’m going to disagree - this is a fantastic initiative. Sharing has a strong role in driving conversion across the Path to Purchase. Over the years I’ve worked to … [Read more...]
How Indian Tourism Can Be Increasingly Incredible
No longer a slumbering giant, Incredible India is thoughtfully attracting varied tourism markets with an increasingly sophisticated marketing strategy. But there’s always room for more ‘incredibleness’ What are the drivers of increasing tourism to India?I’m feeling guilty. Since returning from Australia Business Week in India in mid January I've written a lot about how Australia can profit from the source market opportunity that India represents.But I didn’t join the trade mission for that reason. Our purpose was to extend the reach of our … [Read more...]
VFR Travel from India: A Moveable Feast
India and Australia share many things including the same national day (26th January). As we had back from the holidays, discussions round the MyTravelResearch.com barbecue have focused on the many reasons why Australia should encourage more friends and family visits (VFR travel) from IndiaIn the travel industry, the Indian market keeps on giving due to its size: UNWTO forecasts 50 million outbound visits by 2020 . And in our case there’s the loyalty factor. Based on 2013 figures, 47% of arrivals to Australia are repeat visitors.In the Indian … [Read more...]
Tips On How To Promote and Attract Indian Tourist
I'm a travel industry professional. I have just returned from the exciting and exhausting government trade mission - Australia Business Week in India. While in Mumbai and Delhi a few days ago I wrote about the huge potential that India's travelling middle class represents to Australia (and the rest of the world). Now that I'm back in Sydney and have had time to reflect on what transpired and turn it into practical advice about the insights of an Indian tourist. So for all destination marketers and tourism businesses out there, here are the … [Read more...]
Are You Asking the Right Questions in Your Tourism Strategy?
It’s likely no one needs reminding that 2014 was the centenary of the outbreak of World War I. This anniversary lead to a flood of books on the subject with two that seemed to be consistent winners in the reviewers’ eyes: The War that Ended Peace by Margaret Macmillan and The Sleepwalkers by Christopher Clark.‘The Sleepwalkers’ is next on my reading list, but I can certainly highly recommend ‘The War that Ended Peace’. One of the most fascinating elements of the book (plot spoiler) is the extent to which policymakers on all sides in Europe … [Read more...]
India: A Tourism Partner That Australia Should Embrace
I'm writing this in transit from Delhi to Mumbai while participating in Australian Business Week in India. It is the largest overseas trade mission to India by any country: some 450 delegates at a senior level (c-suite or director level) across many industries.So far it has been an exhilarating but exhausting trip, including meetings with Air India and other tourism industry stakeholders.Leaders from many industry streams including cultural services (my sector on this trip), agriculture, technology, education, health, resources, sport, life … [Read more...]