Millions of people around the world suffer from illnesses and diseases, poverty and loneliness. There are many ways that we can all fight these social negatives. For those who have can afford to travel, travel and tourism can add, if only for a few days or weeks, enchantment back into our lives.
Travel is not always accessible. Climate activists have caused airline prices and other forms of transportation to become unaffordable for the masses. Hotels have become so expensive that many in the middle class can no longer afford to stay in them, and restaurants have become unaffordable, especially for families. Tourism is also challenged by the fact that businesses have begun to find alternative ways to communicate and often find that internet meetings are not only less costly but equally or even more efficient. All of the above reasons are valid, but from the perspective of travel and tourism, they are passive events over which the industry often has little control.
If the travel and tourism industry is to succeed in these hard times, it must do more than merely see itself as a victim of the economy or other people’s evil. It must also examine itself to see where it too can improve.
Perhaps the greatest threat to the leisure industry (and to a lesser extent to the business travel industry) is the fact that travel has lost a good deal of its romance and enchantment. In its rush for efficiency and quantitative analysis, the travel and tourism industry may have forgotten that each traveler represents a world unto him/herself and personal quality must always override quantity. For tourism to succeed in difficult times it must never forget that our clients seek enchantment and beautiful memories and these come not from machines but from the warmth of human beings and smiles.
When there is a lack of enchantment, there are also fewer reasons to want to travel and to participate in the tourism experience. For example, if every shopping mall looks the same or if the same menu exists in every hotel chain, why not simply stay at home? Why would anyone want to subject him/herself to dangers and the hassles of travel, if the journey’s enchantment is destroyed by rude and arrogant front-line personnel?
To help your locale or attraction put a bit of the romance and enchantment back into your industry, Tourism Tidbits offers the following suggestions.
Emphasize the unique in your community
Do not try to be all things to all people. Represent something that is special. Ask yourself: What makes your community or attraction different and unique from your competitors? How does your community celebrate its individuality? If you were a visitor to your community, would you remember it a few days after you had left, or would it be just one more place on the map? For example, do not just offer an outdoor experience, but individualize that experience, make your hiking trails special, or develop something special about your beaches or river experience. If, on the other hand, your community or destination is a creation of the imagination, then allow the imagination to run wild and continually create new experiences.
Create enchantment through product development
Advertise less and give more. Always exceed expectations and never overstate your case. The best form of marketing is a good product and good service. Provide what you promise at prices that are reasonable. The public understands that seasonal locations have to earn their year’s wages in a few months. Higher prices may be acceptable, but gauging never is.
Enchantment comes from the people who serve the public
If your employees hate tourists, then the message they are giving is one that destroys a sense of being special. Often managers are more interested in their own ego trips than in the vacationer’s experience. An employee who is unique, funny, or makes people go away feeling special is worth thousands of dollars in advertising. Every tourism manager and hotel GM ought to do every job in his or her industry at least once a year. Often tourism managers push so hard for the bottom line that they forget the humanity of their employees. Be with the visitors and see the world through their eyes.
Assess the areas of your tourism experience that destroy enchantment
For example, are people subjected to:
• lines that are too long
• a lack of shelter from the weather, sun, wind, cold, etc.
• rude service personnel
• personnel that neither listen nor care
• traffic jams and airport hassles
• a lack of adequate parking
• no one who is willing to listen to or own a complaint
If so, these are some of the elements that transform a positive travel experience into a negative one.
Check for ways that you can recreate enchantment
To do this, work with specialists in such areas as lighting, landscaping, color coordination, exterior and interior decorations, street appearances and city themes, parking lots and internal transportation service. Utilitarian devices, such as the San Francisco trolley cars, can be vehicles of enchantment if they enhance the environment and add something special to a particular place.
Coordinate festivals and other events with the ambiance of the place
Festivals often do best when they are integrated within the community rather than taking place outside of town. In-town festivals that are part of the community’s genre not only add to the charm but can be a boom to local businesses rather than a reason for money to leak out of the community.
Create a safe and secure atmosphere
There can be little enchantment if people are afraid. To create such an atmosphere, local security professionals must be part of the planning from the beginning. Tourism security is more than merely having police or security professionals hanging around a site. Tourism security requires psychological and sociological analysis; use of hardware, interesting and unique uniforms, and careful planning that integrates the security professional into the enchantment experience. Enchantment oriented communities realize that everyone in the community has a part to play in creating a positive tourism experience and one that creates a unique and special environment not only for the visitor but also for those who live in the community.
Be a bit outlandish
If the other communities are building golf courses, then build something else. Think of your community or destination as another country. People do not want the same food, language, and styles that they have back home. Sell not only the experience but also the memory, by being different from other destinations.
Never forget that we dare not take our customers for granted. The visitor does not have to go on vacation nor travel to our destination. When we begin to take people for granted, then in the end, we destroy our greatest asset – namely our reputation.
The author, Dr. Peter E. Tarlow, is President and Co-Founder of the World Tourism Network and leads the Safer Tourism program.
