Cumbria Tourism Windermere Road Staveley Kendal LA8 9PLt: 01539 822222 f: 01539 825079 info@cumbriatourism.org www.cumbriatourism.org

Destinationcumbria

A 21ST CENTURY EXPERIENCE

GROWTH MARKETING STRATEGYfOR cuMbRIA 2008 – 2012

backgroundand introduction

We will look at the competitive and market context, our selected target markets, and our strategy to reach them. This Strategy knownas GM4C (or Growth Marketing for Cumbria) has been developed in consultation withthe tourism industry, public and private partners and strategic bodies including the Northwest Regional Development Agencyand Cumbria Vision.

Cumbria Tourism will be responsible for much of its delivery but it needs the continued support, investment and collaboration of these partners and stakeholders to succeed.

This Strategy is in line with: The Regional Economic Strategy to market the region, The Cumbria Strategic Regional Action Plan and The Destination Management Plan.

The Tourism Strategy for Cumbria highlights that growth in tourism will emerge from economic regeneration programmes including those on the West Coast, Barrow and Carlisle in addition to The Lake District. It is also forecast that domestic tourism will grow due to increasing costs of travel abroad and improvements in products and experiences.

The new Marketing Strategy is part of the quality improvement agenda outlined in the Tourism Strategy for Cumbria. The marketing approach is a step change as it is bold, ambitious and focused. It is about extending the season, attracting more staying visitors and increasing visitor spend, to all parts of Cumbria. It is about establishing Cumbria and the Lake District as England’s number one rural tourism destination.

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The Lake District is one of Britain’s few truly world-class destination brands. In the following few pages we describe how Cumbria Tourism aims to make sure it stays that way and how tourism can benefit the whole of Cumbria, the North West, and the UK and continue to contribute to the county’s economic success and cultural vibrancy.

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Contents

bAcKGROuNd & INTROducTION

WHERE WE’RE cOMING fROM

WHO dO WE WANT TO ATTRAcT?

GROWTH MARKETING fOR cuMbRIA uNdERWAY

OuR TARGETS

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the strategy in a nutshell

• Attract new/lapsed visitors through an awareness campaign with new messages and themes

• Attract using the strongest attack brand ‘The Lake District’ and disperse the benefits of tourism across Cumbria.

• Carlisle and Hadrian’s Wall Brand Development

• Focus on staying visitors, who bring greater spend and convert day visitors to stay

• Retain and increase spend of loyal visitors through a Customer Relationship Management approach

• Focus on ‘Best Prospects’ – those with most value and who are most likely to be persuaded to visit

• Develop innovative and integrated campaigns, including e-tourism and PR, which can differentiate Cumbria from other major destinations

• Develop alliances with related quality brands

• Use the branding and marketing approach to raise awareness and investment in other sectors of the economy

Above Left: Sunset over ConistonAbove Right: The Lazy Fish, Cockermouth

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where we’recoming from

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• 4 million bednights

• £142m of direct expenditure

• Supported approximately 2900 jobs

• Gave a return on investment of £23 for every £1 of marketing spend

We know we can make a difference through our marketing. The Lakes+ Marketing programme which ran from 2004 to 2007 was independently evaluated and produced significant impact:

trends anddrivers

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Above Left: Coniston WaterAbove Right: The Punchbowl at Crosthwaite

But we are operating in a fiercely competitive environment where it is becoming harder to catch the attention of potential visitors and persuade them to come to Cumbria rather than the multitude of other destinations in the market place. We have seen lower increases in growth in both our numbers of visitors to Cumbria, and their spend in the latter years of Lakes+. GM4C aims to rise to the challenge of competition by increased growth.

TRENDS DRIVERS

Travel sector explosion Internet

Short break growthLow cost airlinesNew destinations

Everyday luxuryCash rich, Time poor‘Because I’m worth it’

The truth will outOnline social networking

Everyone’s a criticTravel is a passion

Green is the new blackGreen goes mass market

Natural environment is attractive proposition

Growth of the destination brandSophisticated destination campaigns

New expectations and demands

03.

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who do we wantto attract?

We have integrated the two segmentation approaches to identify our growth target markets:

cosmopolitans These people are independent, active risk-takers who seek both intellectual and physical challenges. Holidays and short breaks provide a time for ‘living’ outside of their normal, busy routine. The segment is predominantly C1, although a quarter is classified as AB. A high proportion live in London, with the remainder living in the South East and West Midlands. This group uses the Internet the most (for information rather than purchasing). This group enjoys activities such as eating, drinking, clubbing, shopping, theatre, arts entertainment, museums and galleries whilst on holiday. They favour city destinations such as London or Paris, as well as scenic locations, such as the Lake District, and take on average over four short breaks a year. They are the most likely group to holiday in England. The most appealing destinations to this group are those that do not appeal to the mass market.

Above Left: Ullswater Steamers

Above Right: Furness Abbey

The Lake District appeals to many types of people. But for our marketing spend to have most impact, we need to focus on those people we most want to visit.

Over the past two years we have spent a lot of time and effort researching who visits and why, what they do on holiday, where they come from and the type of people they are. Importantly, we have also researched who is not coming and why not. We have identified two growth segments using the ArkLeisure segmentation approach developed by VisitBritain for the UK market. These are ‘Cosmopolitans’ and ‘Discoverers’.

Figure 1 ArkLeisure (Domestic Leisure Preference) Current Strength of Visitors to Cumbria Figure 2 Cumbria Bespoke Visitor Segments

OldScenery

Watchers

FamiliarFamilies

CulturedFamilies

NewExplorers

WildernessCouples

Freq.AdventurousIndependents

Culture

NatureDo Nothing

Innovators

Independent Market

Sustainers

Mass Market

Followers

HighStreet

Habituals Functionals

Traditionals

Discoverers

CosmopolitansStyleHounds

GreatestStrength

From visitor research we have also identified six bespoke segments based on who is currently visiting. These segments help to focus our thematic campaigns by targeting visitorswith specific reason to visit. Retention activity will continue to ensure that our loyal ‘Old Scenery Watchers’ and ‘Familiar Families’ (81% repeat visitors) remain loyal, thus providing an extended customer life-cycle.

discoverersDiscoverers are independent of mind and are the least likely group to worry about what others might think. Discoverers live a relatively relaxed pace of life – 42% have children at home and a further 25% are post family. Discoverers come from a variety of regions including East Anglia, North West, South East and Scotland. Discoverers are the most active Internet users, with half of them making online purchases. This group is more likely to take a bargain break or last minute deal than a package holiday. They are also more likely to holiday off the beaten track and to show an interest in activity or themed holidays. Some appealing short break destinations for this group include Paris, Scotland, Wales and the Lake District. They enjoy a mix of activities whilst on holiday such as sporting events, eating out, museums, history and heritage, wildlife attractions and funfairs. The opportunity to spend time as a family is a key driver for short breaks, as are special deals and offers. They are independent of mind and favour familiarity.

We have selected these as our target groups to acquisition because they are:

• High spending

• Frequent holiday and break takers

• Attracted to our destination and product offer

• More likely to return than other groups, increasing their lifetime value to us

• Have the best growth potential

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Most of our activity will be targeted to generate staying visitors who spend almost twice as much per day as day trippers and almost 12 times as much per trip. However we will be targeting ‘Purposeful Planners’ (an additional segment who plan thoroughly and well in advance of their visit) as day visitors because our research shows they are a group we can convert through our marketing to staying visitors and who, even as first timers, are more willing to make the trip from further afield.

We will focus most of our resources on the UK market which makes up 91% of our visitors. 67% of current visitors come from within a two hour drive time and will remain a priority audience but opportunities for growth also exist in the Midlands and the South East.

internationalmarkets

To make sure we reach international markets we will work in partnership with other destinations through the England’s North Country consortium to target USA, Canada, Australia, Spain, Italy, India and Czech Republic. In addition, the destination individually responds to tactical opportunities in mature markets including: Japan, The Netherlands, Ireland and Germany.

3.1 how do we getthem to visit?

To communicate this we have identified particular themes that we know will appeal to our specific target markets and offer that quality experience they are looking for. These themes will also be used to drive visits throughout the whole of Cumbria. The themes are:

• Culture – traditional history, heritage, gardens and literature, as well as contemporary art, festivals and events

• Food & Drink – promotion across the product range – from farmers markets to Michelin-star restaurants

• Outdoor Activities – the ambition is for the destination to be recognised as Adventure Capital UK

Cumbria Tourism will work in partnership with relevant thematic industry working groups to deliver effective campaigns. Thematic product and sector development activity will also be implemented.

Green or sustainable tourism is a cross-cutting theme which will be developed to meet the demands of the market, and of course we will cross-market at every opportunity with our wide offer of events, attractions, activities and quality accommodation.

Having identified our markets with most potential, we conducted further research to find out more about what would motivate them. From this we developed our ‘Big Idea’ – the creative approach that would run through all our marketing communications to reposition Cumbria and the Lake District as a vibrant, 21st century, world-class destination.

The research showed that our beautiful landscape is a key driver to attract visitors but it also revealed that visitors want more than just natural beauty on a holiday. They want modern comfort, quality, style and a fully rounded experience. While the Lake District is seen as a beautiful destination, it is perceived as “just lakes” – not particularly chic and with little style.

To meet this challenge, Cumbria Tourism has adopted a quality improvement agenda including Tourism Connect, a grant accommodation improvement scheme as well as a new marketing approach. This allows us to reposition the destination and demonstrate that, as well as having a beautiful landscape, Cumbria also has an abundance of quality product. We call the new marketing campaign ‘Wilderness Refined – Two Sides to Every Story’ and it will be used across all marketing activity.

thematiccampaigns

Left: Loughrigg Terrace

Right: The Waterhead Hotel, Ambleside

Below Top: Grizedale Sculpture Trail

Middle Enjoy a glass of organic wine

at a Michelin-starred restaurant

Bottom: Cycling at Helvellyn

wilderness refined

Figure 4 Webby Nominated Golakes Website Homepage Attracting 3.6 million visitors per annum.

Left: Glenridding Sailing Centre

Right: Lakes and Coppermines Cottages,

Coniston

retention programme

The retention programme (which of course will be supported by the advertising and PR of the acquisition activity) includes:

• Seasonal and thematic segmented e-marketing and direct mail

• For bookers: - Confirmation of booking email - Two week prior to the visit, a cross-sell mailer promoting the whole county

- Two week post holiday, feedback & website mailer with ‘Recommend a Friend’ opportunity - Anniversary of booking mailer

All campaigns are designed to include all areas and places across Cumbria. To orientate visitors and spread the benefits of tourism, all campaigns will ensure that all places in the county are promoted. In-depth and searchable Sense of Place and thematic online information (and where applicable in print) will be available to visitors to enable planning of accommodation, events, activities and dining.

e-tourismWith increasing numbers of visitors booking online as well as using online and wireless media for holiday information, a core part of the campaign is delivered via the web. Golakes.co.uk and lakedistrictoutdoors.co.uk will continue to be developed to inspire and provide essential visitor information and planning tools as well as enabling accommodation, attractions, long-distance walking and event booking. Other wireless media channels will be developed in line with consumer demands and the Northwest Visitor Information Strategy.

PR & publicity The power of print has not diminished and PR is essential to the effectiveness of the GM4C and thematic campaigns – people still regard the travel pages as a credible source of information, perhaps escaping from an ever increasing digital world. PR will also continue to be an effective way of communicating the importance of tourism to the Cumbrian community.

trade campaignsThree campaigns targeting trade will be conducted:

• Cruise – development of visitor potential from cruise ships into Barrow

• Business Tourism – 7% of visitors come for conferences and business purposes

• Group Travel – collective representation at trade exhibitions and promotion to touring companies

04. growth marketing forcumbria underway

GM4C was launched in December 2007 with funding support of £1m from Cumbria Vision and the Northwest Regional Development Agency matched with advertising revenue from Cumbrian businesses. This first phase in 2008 targets the North West and Yorkshire.

Figure 3 Outdoor Advertising Campaign – Feb 2008 – seen by 17m people across the North West and Yorkshire. Result: lifted Cumbria & The Lake District from No 2 to No 1 position for preferred short break destination beating Scotland.

Phase 2 of GM4C would extend the campaign to growth markets eg. the Midlands and South East. Funding of £2m per year for three years is required to achieve this.

The campaign has two strands. The first is about acquisition – attracting newor lapsed visitors to Cumbria. The second is concerned with retention – looking after our loyal visitors by providing them with regular communications and information, giving them further reasons to return here and not choose to go elsewhere. To do this job well we are developing our database of enquirersand bookers from both on and offline channels.

acquisition programme

Depending on funding available, the acquisition programme would include:

• Awareness marketing such as selected broadcast advertising, outdoor poster advertising campaign using high impact sites and press advertising

• Tactical Online, Direct Mail and e-marketing campaigns

• Driving requests for information (attractions, accommodation, themed campaigns, events) to the golakes website which has been refreshed and revitalised, and ultimately to booking online

• ‘Recommend a Friend’ direct mailings

• All supported by PR activity

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other challenges

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over the three years of the strategy we aim to achieve:

ourtargets

• Return On Investment – Retention 15:1 and Acquisition 7:1

• Lever private:public marketing revenue by at least a ratio of 1:2

• £18 million visitor spend per £1m invested pa

• Increase online bookings by £100k pa

• Increase advertising equivalent value of media coverage by £200k pa

• Increase number of overseas visitors by 1% pa

To consolidate the new marketing approach and make sure it benefits the whole of the county, we will need to develop a number of areas over the next three years:

• Achieve ‘Adventure Capital UK’ recognition building on our Year of Adventure ’08

• Strengthen the Destination brand by encouraging wider usage by partners

• Develop campaigns to promote areas outside the National Park developing a clear sense of place for all destinations in the county

• Knit together GM4C with marketing strategies for Carlisle and Hadrian’s Wall and develop joint promotional activity

• Review and refocus trade activity for business, cruise and group travel

• Review international activity with VisitBritain and England’s North Country to refocus on key markets

• Develop attractive advertising and sponsorship opportunities for our businesses to raise revenue which can leverage public funds for destination marketing

• Develop the campaign to benefit other sectors in Cumbria eg Inward Investment

• Develop new technologies to provide effective routes to market and meet consumer demands

And last but not least, we must continue to gain wide support for our marketing strategy to realise the growth it promises and build Cumbria’s market share. We will achieve this by working in collaboration with our partners in the public and private sector.

Above Left: Grizedale Forest

Above Right: Gilpin Lodge,

Windermere

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