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INTERGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS IN PROMOTING DESTINATIONS:
A STUDY OF PUBLICITY PROGRAM USED BY NATIONAL TOURISM ORGANIZATIONS
Florence H.M. Chan
A Project Submitted
In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of
Master of Arts in Communication
Supervisor: Dr. Chen Ni
School of Communication Hong Kong Baptist University
Hong Kong 17 July 2006
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The author wishes to thank Dr. Chen Ni for her advice and support in the preparation of this project. All survey described in this project was my own original work and was carried out by myself under the supervision of Dr. Chen Ni.
________________________ Florence H.M. Chan
M.A. in Communication
School of Communication Hong Kong Baptist University
Date: 17 July 2006
TABLE OF CONTENT
PAGE ABSTRACT 1 - 2 PART I - INTRODUCTION 3 - 8 PART II - LITERATURE REVIEW 9 - 16 PART III - RESEARCH QUESTIONS 17 - 20
AND HYPOTHESES PART IV - METHODOLOGY 21 PART V - FINDINGS 22 - 35 PART VI - CONCLUSION 36 - 41 EXHIBITS - TABLES 42 - 51 REFERENCES 52 - 54
1
ABSTRACT
Promoting destination and location branding are hot topics throughout the world
nowadays, principally as a key driver for tourism, inward investment and / or export
revenue.
Promoting a destination presents many challenges. Critical to the creation of a durable
destination image is the identification of the image’s values, the translation of those
into a suitably emotionally appealing personality and the targeted and efficient
delivery of that message.
This paper points out the importance of evaluating the effectiveness of promoting a
destination and the importance of the role of each promotion tool in integrated
marketing communications is discussed. The process of image evaluation as a
self-analysis process leading towards building a strong destination attraction is
considered.
To date, research into the integrated marketing communications of destination
marketing organizations (DMOs) has typically focused on topics such as destination
image studies, marketing strategy, conversion studies and advertising research. A
promotional method that has been largely ignored in research conducted so far is the
use of publicity. While much publicity concerning a place (destination) is unplanned
and incidental, and occurs in the general course of 'news', the publicity programs
conducted by destinations are often quite deliberate, planned, methodical and
coordinated with a clear set of objectives. Indeed, some DMOs report receiving a
2
greater annual value (as measured in terms of equivalent commercial advertising
expenditure) from their publicity programs than from their entire annual budgets.
This paper reports on research undertaken to gather information on the extent, nature
and conduct of efforts by national tourism organizations (NTOs) to generate publicity
for the purpose of stimulating tourist demand, and to compare and contrast the
different approaches and outcomes.
3
PART I : INTRODUCTION
Travel and tourism have become a global industry and are widely considered to be
one of the fastest growing industries, if not the fastest growing industry in the world.1
It ranks as the largest industry in the world in terms of employment and ranks in the
top two or three industries in almost every country on nearly every measure.2 Thus the
travel and tourism industry has become a major contributor to the gross national
product of many nations, with marketing tourist destinations and its products
becoming a widely recognized practice for both public and private sector
organizations.
Today, all the leading destinations offer excellent accommodation and attraction,
service and facilities are no longer differentiators and every country claims unique
culture and heritage. As a result, the need for destinations to portray a unique identity
is more critical than ever. Indeed, it has become the basis for survival within a
globally competitive marketplace. Yet, despite this aggressive marketplace, the stock
in trade of too much destination advertising remain blue seas, cloudless skies and
endless golden beaches with a less than memorable tagline. Such ‘wallpaper’
advertising, selling the user benefit of relation and a golden tan, has the effect of
rendering all seaside destinations indistinguishable from one another. Yet in this
4
marketplace what persuades potential tourists to visit (and revisit) one place instead of
another is whether they have empathy with the destination and its values. The battle
for customers in tomorrow’s destination marketplace will be fought over hearts and
minds.
In a competitive global tourism market, the creation and maintenance of national and
regional images becomes crucial to the marketing process. As attraction visiting
becomes a central element of everyday life, the role of attractions in image formation
is also growing. Nothing, it seems, can escape the magnetic pull of branding.
Everything seems to aspire to brand status nowadays. Even the countries, regions and
cities in which people live are attempting to develop brand propositions to potential
‘buyer’.
What motivates the creation of location brands? The short answer is that in an
increasingly competitive environment, each location has recognized the economic
benefits in establishing a clear and compelling selling proposition. Such a proposition
makes it easier for potential purchasers to buy into the location, whether as a tourist
destination, a place in which to invest or a source of desirable products and services.
5
Destination market organizations (DMOs) focus mainly on marketing as the principal
management function. They may play some role in product development and
operations, but this is still rare and is normally left to the private sector to arrange,
with government providing a tourism policy and regulatory framework. Integrated
marketing communications, therefore, is the principal purview of DMOs. More
specifically, recognizing that integrated marketing communications entail much more
than just 'selling' or 'advertising', destination promotion is normally the DMOs’ major
activity and budget item.
Promotion may be undertaken in a variety of different ways, including advertising,
direct marketing, sales promotion, personal selling and publicity and public relations.3
The area of publicity and public relations is normally seen to be of secondary
importance compared to these other elements of the promotional mix. For this reason,
research into the use and effectiveness of publicity as a promotional tool for
destinations is quite limited, as evidenced by the apparent lack of published research
in this area. In the context of tourist destinations, however, anecdotal evidence
suggests that publicity can produce significant results, potentially overshadowing the
effect of all other promotional efforts combined.
6
For example, the Hong Kong Tourism Board aggressively pursued the “2006
Discover Hong Kong Year” promotion campaign globally through image and brand
building thematic advertising, road shows, direct mail and tactical advertising with the
related sectors (such as retail).
The HKTB launched the “Discover Hong Kong Year” advertising campaign through
different media channels, including television, radio, print and internet in 16 key
source markets. It also collaborated with strategic partners on promotions, making use
of their partners on promotions, making use of their customer database and channels
for information dissemination. Furthermore, celebrities such as Jackie Chan will be
invited to participate in consumer promotional activities. The HKTB estimates that
the target audience coverage of these promotional activities will reach 44 million.
For publicity, locally, the HKTB co-operated with the media to enhance the
community’s awareness of the “Discover Hong Kong Year” campaign and foster
local hospitality culture. For overseas publicity, the HKTB targeted to invite 1,500
global media representatives to visit Hong Kong and produce special features and TV
broadcasts on “2006 Discover Hong Kong Year”.
7
DMOs in general, and National Tourism Organizations (NTOs) in particular, appear
to have recognized the potential value and effectiveness of publicity in destination
promotion, but again the lack of studies on this topic indicates that little is known in
general about how much use and emphasis is placed on this form of promotion.
Publicity campaigns can be used as part of any destination's normal promotional
strategy. They are also useful in targeting and developing new market segments.
DMOs also pursue publicity opportunities to capitalize on major events, such as the
2006 FIFA World Cup and 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, to soften or reverse adverse
trends, such as the decline in Asian tourism following the economic crisis experienced
in 1997-1998 or the tourism impact of the recent outbreak of bird flu in China, or to
improve poor public relations, such as the unhappy experience of tourists visiting
Hong Kong Disneyland during Chinese New Year, and in response to the events of
11th September 2002 and outbreak of SARS in 2003.
With governments allocating increased funding to destination promotion, this study
seeks to examine the use, management and impact of publicity as one promotional
tool. In some cases DMOs report receiving greater annual value from publicity
programs than from their entire annual budgets. For example, the value of publicity
generated by one such program organized by Hong Kong Tourism Board, “Best of the
8
Best Culinary Awards 2004”, was reported to have HK$26 million worth of publicity
for the city.4 This exploratory research is aimed at providing a basis and stimulant for
additional study in this important area.
The survey objectives of the study were to establish the extent and role of publicity
programs in the context of NTO promotional strategy, and investigate the
management of publicity programs in terms of budget, operation, industry
participation, tracking and evaluation. The survey focused primarily on the
operational aspects of publicity programs (e.g. invitation and selection of journalists,
development of itineraries, coordination with industry, the means of evaluating the
program, etc., and the effectiveness and value of their outcome.
With the above information, we can find out the importance of publicity in promoting
a destination and better allocation of resources to obtain the greatest result.
9
PART II : LITERATURE REVIEW
Branding has been considered to be the marketer’s key tool for creating product
differentiation. Stemming from the literature on product to service branding,
destination branding is one of the newest research areas. To brand a destination
successfully and make it outstanding from other competitors highly depends on the
marketing strategies and a number of integrated marketing communications tools are
used to achieve this objective. These promotion tools including advertising, direct
marketing, sales promotion, personal selling and publicity and public relations. It is
obvious that this process have been occurring in many nations in the past, whereas
research studies on this topic are limited.
Promoting destinations has been recognized as a complex and important concept in
the destination-selection process. In the last three decades tourism researchers as well
as industry practitioners and destination marketers have been very interested in
measuring the effectiveness in promotion a destination. In addition, the proper
methodology for measuring a destination’s promotion effectiveness has been the
subject of many travel and tourism studies.
10
Promoting destinations may be analyzed from different perspectives, and composed
of a variety of individual perceptions relating to various attributes. Milman and
Pizam5 suggested that promoting a destination has three components: the product (i.e.
the quality and variety of attractions, price, and uniqueness); the behavior and attitude
of employees who come into direct contact with tourists; and the environment such as
the weather, the quality and type of accommodation, and physical safety. Ries and
Ries argued that among all the integrated marketing communications tools, effective
publicity can accomplish for more than advertising in building a destination’s identity.
What one says about a destination is eminently more powerful than what one what a
destination says about itself. Shane Corinne suggested that direct marketing allows
marketers to get the attention of the client’s prospect or customer. The media is
bypassed as the way to the audience, and the message instead travels directly to the
person the marketer wants to reach. If the mailing list is good and the message is
strong, the piece will be read by a certain proportion of the total list and there will be
enough queries resulting in strong leads to justify the campaign.
Much work has, however, been done in the area of analyzing the image of
destinations and tourism researchers has picked a number of destinations and focused
on the attractions of those destinations itself. Gunn6 referred to two levels of image –
11
organic and induced. Goodrich7 also identified two levels of image – the primary
destination image formed by a visit, and the secondary image formed by information
received from external sources. Furthermore, Phelps8 referred to the same two levels
of image (primary and secondary). Building on the theory, Fakeye and Crompton9
developed a model to describe the relationships between organic, induced and
complex images that incorporated experiences at the destinations.
Destination promotion can be conducted in a variety of ways, and most destinations
appear to make widespread use of most of the possible forms of promotion. Some
promotional tools, however, tend to attract more use and attention. Advertising, for
example, targeting either travel consumers or alternatively the travel trade, is the most
manifest form of promotion. Consumer advertising, particularly using print, television,
radio, outdoor and now Internet media, predominates. But trade advertising in travel
trade magazines and newspapers, for example, also plays an important role.
DMOs also undertake personal selling of destinations. This is executed mainly
through the travel trade for reasons of efficiency and effectiveness. Examples include
trade shows, exhibitions and events; specialist travel agency training programs; trade
familiarization tours; and meetings, conventions and incentives sales management.
12
But personal selling to consumers via telephone call centers and tourist information
kiosks run by DMOs is also common.
Direct marketing allows marketers to get the attention of the client's prospect or
customer. The media is bypassed as the way to the audience, and the message instead
travels directly to the person the marketer wants to reach. If the mailing list is good
and the message is strong, the piece will be read by a certain proportion of the total
list and there will be enough queries resulting in strong leads to justify the campaign.
Direct marketing is a highly effective vehicle for case history and testimonial material
in business-to-business public relations. Marketers should be alert for unsolicited
comments from customers that can be quoted in a letter, brochure, or newsletter, with
the permission of the customer. A sophisticated direct marketing operation will
produce a considerable amount of valuable demographic and psychographic
information. News releases that cite statistics can work very well for a client who is a
direct marketer in consumer goods and services.
Because DMOs are rarely operators of much of the tourism product, the use of sales
promotion techniques is limited to facilitating promotional partnerships and alliances
13
among member enterprises. Travel trade planner guides listing the products and
services of member firms are a commonly produced resource that serves to encourage
sales promotion possibilities. It appears the use of direct marketing methods has
increased as destinations have turned to the direct mail of destination brochures or
visitor guides / magazines, as well as the use of global distribution systems and
destination web pages to facilitate direct communication and bookings.
The last element of the promotional mix involves the use of publicity or public
relations techniques. Whereas publicity involves ‘information from an outside source
used by the news media based on its news value’,10 public relations is a much broader
concept as it involves in addition a broader range of planning activity for 'building
good relations with the company's various publics by obtaining favorable publicity,
building up a good "corporate image", and handling or heading off unfavorable
rumors, stories and events’.11 Seitel12 defines public relations as 'the management
function which evaluates public attitudes, identifies the policies and procedures of an
individual or an organization with the public interest, and plans and executes a
program of action to earn public understanding and acceptance'.
14
Based on these definitions, one can say that publicity represents the tools by which
public relations objectives are carried out. Kotler13 identify these tools as consisting of
news, speeches, special events, written materials, audio-visual materials, corporate
identity materials and community service activities which communicate information
about the organization to its publics through the various news, information and
entertainment media.
Common misunderstandings and confusions in the terminology between advertising
and publicity should also be explained. Unlike placing an advertisement, public
relations is not a sure-thing.
The advertising advocates will emotionally defend their work on the basis of
enhancing the equity of the brand or building brand value or creating an emotional
bond with consumers or inspiring and motivating the sales force. The purpose of
advertising is not to build a brand, but to defend a brand once the brand has been built
by other means, primarily public relations or third-party endorsements. Ries and his
partner (and daughter) Laura argued that effective publicity can accomplish far more
than advertising in building brand identity and brand loyalty.
15
A recent study conducted by Procter & Gamble, the world's largest
consumer-products group, found a much higher return on investment from their public
relations expenditures than their advertisements. Public relations spending in America
is expected to grow at nearly double-digit rates in the coming years, far higher than
predicted growth rates for advertising and marketing. Establishing credibility, whether
for a product, a corporation, an issue or a destination, can translate into far more
reaching impact than can be summed up in a clippings report.
The ascendancy of public relations is related to a number of factors. Consumers in
today's market have access to more information streams than ever before, and at the
same time have a greater ability to filter out unwanted content.
This trend, being mirrored by the growth of commercial-free satellite radio, Internet
browsing pop-up advertisement blockers, and the like, puts an increased premium on
communicating outside of traditional marketing. As a shift occurs to public relations,
there is a realization that public relations work is valuable for another reason:
Information is more effective when the source is perceived as more impartial.
The main weaknesses of the previous studies stem from the fact that there have been
16
no great efforts to distinguish the effectiveness among the promotional tools in
building a destination image and to promote a destination.
17
PART III : RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND HYPOTHESES
The majority of destination publicity is incidental; that is, it is not preplanned or
deliberate but merely occurs in the natural course of 'news' events being picked up
and transmitted by the various media and commonly having nothing to do directly
with tourism but nevertheless impacting on tourism. Tourism may have little or
nothing to do with these events. However, as long as the event says something about
'the place', the perception that such publicity creates accumulates to form, or influence
at least, the image that potential visitors may develop about what that place would be
like to visit. The SARS problem in 2003, noted above, is a good example of this.
Incidental publicity might arise from world events, movies, documentaries, celebrities
who originate from and therefore represent the place in some way and a wide variety
of other direct and indirect symbols and indicators.
Tourism authorities have moved to 'capture' or capitalize on this incidental publicity,
endeavoring to shape, influence, create or foster publicity that helps to promote the
place as a tourism destination. DMOs, for example, have been keen to sell movie
producers on the virtues of their 'location' for filming, to invite travel writers and other
journalists to visit for the purpose of featuring the destination in their work and to
leverage the tourism impact of major events such as Formula One Grand Prix. Of the
18
various publicity tools described above, those which appear to have the greatest
prevalence in destination marketing include movies, press kits and media
familiarization tours.
Movies
Movies are a form of audio-visual material. Cohen14 suggests 'Movies can
communicate a striking image', while Riley15 recognizes 'movies as powerful forces
when publicizing and promoting consumable items'. Busby and Klug16 note that
'Many countries ... have seen a dramatic increase in visitor numbers to locations that
have been featured in films or television programs.' There are numerous examples of
the purported impact of movies or television series on tourism. For example, the
Korean television series 大長今 broadcasted in TVB Jade last year has led to a
drastic increase in Hong Kong tourists to visit Korea in 2005. Movie and television
broadcasts provide access to large audiences and provide an additional form of
publicity for destinations.
Press kits
Press kits represent another technique employed to generate publicity for a destination
in the form of written material. In their study of travel writers, Gladwell and Wolff17
19
demonstrated that press kits were an effective way to inform travel writers about a
destination. Although press kits provide valuable information concerning a destination,
their study revealed that a personal visit was considered to be the most effective way
to inform travel writers about a destination. Press kits were used extensively by the
Hong Kong Tourism Board with success to inform the media and thereby promote the
2006 Discover Hong Kong Year and also promote Hong Kong.
Media familiarization, travel writer tours and visiting journalist programs
These activities or programs represent a form of special event designed to generate
news. They may be known by a variety of names including press tours, visiting
journalist programs and travel writer or media familiarization tours. They are all
designed, however, to attract a variety of journalists, writers, film crews, documentary
producers, etc, to a location to experience the tourism product and provide media
exposure for a particular destination.
As suggested by Gladwell and Wolff,18 personal visits or those described as media
familiarization tours are a routine part of destination marketing organizations
promotional activities. 'Hosting the international media provides many benefits to
individual tourism organizations and entire destinations', according to Mackellar and
20
Fenton.19 Although hosting international journalists is seen as a cost effective
promotional activity, some destination marketing organizations question the
qualitative and quantitative results of such a program.20 Problems in meeting
journalist expectations, the lack of control over the finished product and desired
image are just some of the negative elements associated with conducting a media tour
program.
Despite the challenges associated with conducting media familiarization tours, these
tours have become an essential part of the promotional activities of many DMOs. The
tours are designed to attract the international media to a destination with the sole
purpose of generating free publicity from the articles and stories written or
audio-visual material produced about the destination.
Although many DMOs conduct travel writer tours as part of their marketing and
promotional program mix, very little is known about the conduct and management of
these tours, nor of the level of free publicity that is generated from them. For this
reason there is considerable scope for theory development in this field, but before this,
a possible study is required which explores current practice as a basis for such work.
21
PART IV : METHODOLOGY
Although research has been undertaken on a variety of marketing and promotional
activities by destinations21, little research has yet been conducted on the publicity
programs of DMOs. This paper reports the results of a survey of practice by ten NTOs
(i.e. DMOs at the national level) in Hong Kong. Nineteen surveys were distributed to
NTOs with offices in Hong Kong. Response from ten NTOs were received (a
response rate of 53 per cent), which was satisfactory given the exploratory nature of
this study. The results were supplemented with information gathered from annual
reports, strategic plans and other material provided by each NTO. Because the
research addresses aspects of marketing strategy and some NTOs expressed concerns
regarding confidentiality, the results of the survey are reported, where necessary, in
the aggregate and the identity of the participating NTOs is not reported for this
reason.
22
PART V : FINDINGS
Publicity in the context of promotional budgets and impacts
Although an aim of the research was to undertake a comparative analysis of DMO
budgetary allocations against a range of marketing and promotional activities, with
particular emphasis on publicity programs, the inconsistent responses to certain
questions on the survey combined with differences in budget structure made this task
difficult. The World Tourism Organization (WTO) in their research on NTO
promotional budgets also expressed similar difficulties. They found that the structure
of the budgets varied from country to country, that promotional expenditure was often
assigned to differing budget items across countries, and that some ‘breakdowns by
cost category were based on total budgets, whilst other were based on promotional
budgets’. These structural differences in budgetary allocation therefore ‘hamper
comparative analysis of the data’ according to the WTO.22 Despite these difficulties,
however, the WTO research did indicate that ‘promotional budgets had grown at a
greater rate than total budgets, and that in general promotional budgets account for
between 60 and 80% of the total annual budget’, although the ‘general conclusion…
was that promotional budgets were small’.
23
Despite these apparent difficulties, the survey was able to uncover broadly a sense of
organizational funding and the allocation of funds across promotional activities in
general and to publicity programs in particular.
To understand the use of publicity in the overall marketing effort, some contextual
information on the DMOs is necessary. For example, a larger total marketing budget
enables greater use of a range of promotional techniques. The balance between public
and private interests might also influence the extent of the use of publicity programs
which tend to rely more for their success on industry participation. The survey asked
NTOs to indicate the level and source of total funding, and the proportions spent on
various forms of promotion, including publicity. The majority of NTOs surveyed
were funded through an appropriation in government budgets. The percentage of such
funding ranged between 50 and 100 per cent. One NTO received 50 per cent of its
funding from ‘dedicated taxes’. Another NTO recorded receiving 100 per cent of its
funding from ‘other government departmental’ sources. Only two NTOs indicated
receiving a percentage (2-15 per cent) of their funding from ‘membership fees from
the private sector’, ‘revenue from sales’ or ‘other sources’. Despite some governments
in recent years seeking to decrease the proportion of government funding of NTOs
24
relative to industry funding and revenue, it would appear that NTOs still rely heavily
on government financial support.
Although an attempt was made to elicit the actual budget allocation for 'all
promotional activities' and the 'total marketing budget' (all promotional activities plus
all other marketing costs), very few NTOs provided a consistent response to this
question, thus making it difficult to comment adequately on this aspect. It appeared
that many DMO’s were either reluctant to provide this information or had difficulty in
separating the promotional activities from other marketing expenses.
In order to place the extent and conduct of publicity programs in context, the survey
then sought to identify the various forms of promotional activity conducted by each
NTO, the percentage of the annual promotional budget allocated to each of these
activities and the perceived importance of each of these promotional activities to the
destination's overall promotional effort. For this purpose, the survey grouped
promotional activities into seven categories: consumer advertising, trade advertising,
personal selling to the trade, personal selling to consumers, sales promotion
partnerships, publicity and public relations and direct marketing.
25
Table 1 indicates the average distribution of promotional expenditure across each of
these seven classes of promotion. It is not surprising that total advertising (consumer
plus trade) represents the largest area of expenditure (47%). Personal selling to the
travel trade was the next largest component (23%). It is interesting to note that, at
17%, 'publicity and public relations' is the next most significant item of promotional
expenditure, with significantly smaller amounts spent on direct marketing, sales
promotion partnerships and personal selling to consumers.
Within the category of publicity and public relations, Table 2 indicates that, on
average, formal media familiarization tours (sometimes known as VJPs) consume the
largest share of funding on this element of the promotional mix. The cost of these
formal programs is examined later in this paper.
Although the largest proportion of promotional budgets is directed towards consumer
advertising and personal selling to the travel trade, these activities involve a 'payment
for a desired outcome'. Publicity and public relations normally involve no direct
payment or control of outcome but rather rely on an ability to generate a level of
'unpaid' or 'free' promotion for the destination. Given this distinguishing feature of
publicity and its implications for the cost-effectiveness of this form of destination
26
promotion, respondents were also asked to express the NTO’s perception of the
importance of each component of promotion (using a seven-point Likert scale with 7
representing ‘extremely important’).
The most notable finding in Table 3 is that respondents perceived that formal media
familiarization tours or VJPs were rated highest in terms of their promotional
importance across all promotion subcategories. This is clearly very significant and
supports anecdotal evidence regarding the impact and cost-effectiveness of these
classes of destination publicity program. This result should be regarded with some
caution, as it is possible that the survey instrument may have created an upward bias
in the rating responses to this form of promotion. Nevertheless, it is reasonable to
conclude that formal publicity generation programs today play a major role in the
strategies of many NTOs.
In recent years there has been a heightened interest in conversion studies or
accountability / program evaluation research designed to assess the impact or net
benefit derived from destination promotional (but mainly advertising) programs.23 In
light of the perceived importance of formal publicity programs and their implied
cost-effectiveness, similar research into the performance of this form of promotion is
27
overdue. The remainder of the exploratory survey sought to shed some light on the
administration and conduct of formal publicity programs and efforts to evaluate their
resulting outcomes and benefits.
Administration of publicity programs
All survey respondents indicated that they conducted some form of formal publicity
program designed to produce publicity for the destination as 'a deliberate, proactive
objective rather than an incidental, reactive outcome'. The survey asked respondents
to indicate the names of up to two such programs with a brief description of each.
They were described in a variety of ways, such as ‘guest programs’, ‘overseas media
visits’, ‘media summit’, ‘media familiarization’ or ‘media briefing programs’.
Additionally some NTOs described these as product- or event-specific activities such
as the ‘(destination) City Experience’, ‘Colors of (destination)’ or ‘Millennium
Extravaganza’.
In a number of instances, NTOs conducted more than a single publicity program.
These programs had varying objectives and levels of funding. All NTOs reported that
their publicity programs were operated on a continuous basis throughout the year. In
the majority of cases they were designed generally to:
28
1. target various forms of media and television crews to visit
2. increase awareness concerning the destination
3. generate positive images of the destination
4. motivate and increase the consumer's desire to holiday in a particular location
The survey found that most of the cash cost of the formal media tours was funded by
the NTO (varying from 60 to 100 per cent), with additional cash contributions from
other state, regional or city-based tourism organizations (10-20 per cent) as well as
from tourism industry enterprises (5-20 per cent). Airlines, tour operators and hotel
cooperatives were major industry participants. The opposite pattern was identified
with regard to ‘in-kind’ contributions. In-kind contributions included such things as
free air tickets or accommodation provided to journalists by airlines or hotels, certain
free meals in restaurants, free escorted tours, etc. Industry partners contributed the
majority of in-kind support (75-100 per cent), with lesser amounts contributed by the
NTO (0-20 per cent) and tourism organizations at other levels (i.e. sub national) (0-15
per cent). Table 4 summarizes the source and distribution of funding for these formal
publicity programs.
29
The survey asked respondents to indicate the number of journalists and other media
participants who took part in the program on the last occasion it was conducted (see
table 5). As all NTO publicity programs were operated on a continual basis
throughout the year, the numbers provided represent whole-year figures. The print
media is by far the largest group of participants. While many of these journalists are
travel writers for newspapers, magazines or travel guides, NTOs also invite other
types of journalists to participate, such as food writers for example. Television and
film is the next most significant group of participants. The growth of lifestyle
programming in general, and travel programs in particular, on network and cable
television has created increased opportunities for destination publicity via this form of
media in recent years. There has also been an increased tendency to take certain
television programs 'on location' for brief periods. For example, 'breakfast programs'
have done this frequently for a number of years. News anchors also leave their desks
on occasions to broadcast from locations to cover major news events. At times
television programs tie such on-site programming to events such as an Olympic
Games or other sport or site of news interest. Other factors involve competition
between sites as movie locations, discussed above, and the increased production of
documentaries.
30
In terms of the criteria used by NTOs to select media participants / journalists for
publicity programs, a broad number of criteria have been used (Table 6). There is a
considerable degree of uniformity in the average importance ratings of these criteria,
with 'previous participation on media tour', 'new market direction' and journalist
participation is subsidized' being the only criteria to rate below five on the seven-point
scale.
The survey demonstrated that DMOs endeavor to ensure that their formal publicity
programs run as smoothly and successfully as possible by handling most of the
organizational arrangements and leaving as little to chance as possible. It is evident
from Table 7 that, although industry participants in the program contribute
considerable in-kind support / costs, the NTO normally maintains firm control on the
overall management and operation of the program as the central point of control.
Further evidence of the detailed organization and management of the programs is
indicated in terms of the information and material provided to the participating media
(Table 8). Although the media / journalists are free to publish / produce material as
they see appropriate, a portion of DMOs hope to influence the 'stories' through the
31
provision of general information as well as information in the style of a story-line,
target market information and marketing guides.
Evaluation of publicity programs
Only one of the DMOs reported no attempt to assess the commercial value arising
from their publicity program. Of those which reported an estimated annual value,
estimates varied greatly between a little under HK$1m to over HK$200m. In addition
to estimating the overall commercial value of the resulting publicity, several other
performance measures were also reported, including qualitative analysis of individual
stories, conversion studies, number of responses / enquiries arising from the publicity,
compilation of print media clippings and film footage, feedback from in-kind
suppliers and operators of products featured in the program and follow-up by public
relations agencies or international offices in origin markets.
The Hong Kong Tourism Board VJP is reported in 2000 - 2001, to have resulted in a
total of 1,040 media visits (across all forms of media) generating approximately
HK$270m of publicity in terms of equivalent commercial value. In fact, the number
of media visits and the level of publicity generated from these visits have increased
exponentially for the Hong Kong Tourism Board. In 2002 the Hong Kong Tourism
32
Board hosted approximately 1,200 media visits compared to less than 500 in 1992.
The publicity generated from these visits in 2002 was reported to be worth
approximately HK$500m compared to less thanHK$50,000 in 1992.24
Besides, in 2003, to create extra publicity splash in the middle of the “Hong Kong
Welcomes You!” period, the Hong Kong Tourism Board designed Sunday 17 August
2003 as a special “Welcome Day”. Over 3,000 visitors and VIP guests attended the
premiere of Strato-Fantasia, the first of the campaign’s Mega Event series and a
Welcome Banquet. The above initiative has created over HK$113.7m publicity value.
The range of performance evaluation methods used to assess the publicity programs is
summarized in Table 9. Estimation of the extent of the audience reached by the
program is the most widespread evaluation method used, closely followed by the
calculation of the equivalent 'column-inch' cost of printed material, the number of
forms of media represented and the rather blunt method of measuring international
arrivals and attributing changes to the publicity program. One NTO reported
undertaking a 'qualitative analysis of individual stories -- writing style, depth of
subject, applicability of theme to the market'.
33
Although many of the reported methods provide crude performance measures, it is
evident that performance measurement is considered important. Indeed, given the
cash and in-kind cost of the publicity programs, NTOs recognize that they need to
demonstrate the value of the programs to industry partners if they are going to be able
to continue to count on industry support and participation in subsequent years. On this
point, Table 10, which indicates the type and target of program outcome reports,
illustrates the extent to which NTOs recognize the need to report program results to
industry. Hence, performance in terms of both process and outcome or impact is
important to the success of these programs.
The Hong Kong Tourism Board provides a feedback form for journalists to complete
following their participation. The form gathers information on the target market, tour
type, information about the publication, its frequency and circulation audience and an
estimation of the publicity value in Hong Kong dollars, and a copy of the article
produced.
As noted above, most of the performance evaluation methods used are very limited in
their accuracy and reliability. Depending on the circumstances, the effect of publicity
may occur over a lengthy period of time and be dependent upon space availability;
34
motivation to travel may depend upon a number of factors; overseas arrival figures
are not necessarily linked to a particular publicity campaign; and the number of
enquiries, interviews and kits may be linked to other marketing activities or events.
None of the methods gives a true picture of the incremental change in visitation
resulting from a publicity program and some performance measures are probably
quite misleading for this reason, resulting in a likely overestimation of the program's
benefits. Nevertheless, when considering both the costs and benefits of the publicity
programs compared to other forms of promotion such as advertising, it is clear that
destination publicity programs can be extremely cost-efficient and effective.
Problems and improvements
The survey concluded by asking, in an open-question format, about problems
encountered and corrective actions or improvements required. The problems
encountered during the conduct of the programs fell within five categories: budget,
industry support, resources, expectations and quality. Specifically, points noted were
limited funds, lack of selected industry support, short notice of arrival of journalists,
quality control of material published, and results did not meet expectations, program
did not meet journalists' interests and lack of staff resources.
35
Suggested measures to correct these problems or to introduce other improvements
included allocate a larger budget to program, set minimum timeframes for each visit,
obtain sponsorship, establish and maintain good public relations, improve
communication, conduct regular meetings, provide better staff training, target media
more specifically, undertake themed media tours to target different market segments
and decrease support for visits in high season and increase support in shoulder / low
seasons.
36
PART VI : CONCLUSION
This exploratory study has found that the publicity programs conducted by NTOs
have become critically important elements of their destination promotional strategies.
While publicity programs run third behind advertising and personal selling in terms of
expenditure by NTOs, they are rated first in terms of promotional importance due to
their much greater perceived cost-effectiveness.
Formally organized and conducted media familiarization tours, VJPs and the like have
become the core publicity activity for NTOs. It is clear from this exploratory study
that, although publicity results in unpaid promotion of the destination, these programs
are not cost free. Indeed, in order to formalize and operationalize these programs, a
considerable effort is required to design, organize and manage their execution so that
they run smoothly and attract the interest and participation of industry enterprises
which contribute only modestly to the monetary cost of the programs (about 5-20 per
cent) but which provide the greatest proportion of in-kind support (75-100 per cent)
without which these publicity programs could not function.
This exploratory survey has demonstrated that NTOs regards formal publicity
generation programs as a vital promotional tool, and essential in any destination
37
marketing strategy. Promoting a national destination in a number of targeted origin
markets faces considerable costs. NTOs have found that carefully designed and
managed publicity programs present an opportunity to gain extensive promotion of
the destination at a relatively low cost.
Although publicity avoids the need to pay for 'column inches' or 'on-air time', it does
yield control of the promotional content. Hence, as content can not be controlled,
NTOs do their best to facilitate favorable coverage of the destination by investing
resources into the smooth management and operation of programs designed to host
visiting journalists and media, thereby increasing the likelihood of favorable stories.
In addition, as the NTO and industry participants pay for much or all of the costs
associated with hosting the media, it is reasonable to conclude that at least some of the
members of the media participating in these publicity programs are unlikely to 'bite
the hand that feeds them'. Interestingly, in some cases, certain publishers have policies
prohibiting participation in such programs, preferring to maintain their editorial
independence. Anecdotal evidence suggests that this trend may be continuing.
38
A successful formal publicity program is therefore not cost free, but the costs can be
orders of magnitude lower than they would be if the same column inches or on-air
time were acquired commercially.
What others say about your destination is so much more powerful than what you can
say about it yourself. That's why publicity in general is more powerful than
advertising. And why publicity has eclipsed advertising as the most powerful force in
promoting destination.
Yet for years publicity has been treated as a secondary function to advertising. Public
Relations people even used to measure their successes in terms of advertising space.
Publicity stories were converted into equivalent advertising expenditures.
Even worse, marketing strategies were usually formulated first into advertising
slogans. Then the public relations people were asked to reinforce the advertising by
creating public relations programs to communicate the slogans.
Not anymore. Today destinations are built with publicity and maintained with
advertising. The cart is now driving the horse.
39
Most companies develop their branding strategies as if advertising were their primary
communications vehicle. They're wrong. Strategy should be developed first from a
publicity point of view.
In summary, the managerial implications for NTOs arising from this exploratory
study are as follows:
1. The anecdotal and survey evidence suggests that NTO publicity programs are
very cost-effective and have become critical elements for any NTO promotional
strategy.
2. To maximize their effectiveness and ensure that the resulting destination
publicity is as favorable as possible, publicity programs need to be highly
organized and coordinated.
3. As governments are today coping with increased demands on budgets (such as
health, education, defense, etc), NTOs must ensure that they maximize their
promotional effectiveness, and publicity programs appear to offer substantial
advantages in this regard.
4. Although they result in unpaid promotion, publicity programs are not cost free
and do require considerable time and effort to design, organize and evaluate.
40
5. The value of publicity programs in terms of equivalent paid advertising has been
reported to range up to hundreds of millions of Hong
Kong dollars. However, it is clear that the measurement of the dollar impact is
fraught with difficulty. Improved methods for measuring their promotional
effectiveness and impact are greatly needed.
6. At a time when destinations are adjusting to an increasingly competitive
international tourism environment, promotional budgets are under strain and
world events and news (such as terrorism) can dramatically shape the fortunes of
tourism destinations, NTOs need to become increasingly more adept at public
relations and publicity management.
The apparent success of destination publicity programs is likely to see further growth
in the application of this form of destination promotion. There is therefore a need and
increasing scope for further research in this important area. A number of research
avenues are evident, as follows:
1. develop improved evaluation techniques
2. survey industry involvement, benefits and support, and how that might be
enhanced
41
3. survey journalist or media perceptions and experiences
4. survey the involvement of other DMO levels (particularly by state/provincial
organizations and city convention and visitor bureau
5. investigate the efficacy of publicity in different contexts (for example, to
compare the usefulness of publicity as a method of dealing with unfavorable
events,25 such as the aftermath of a hurricane or a perceived rise in crime, with
favorable events such as the hosting of a major sports event)
6. examine the impact of publicity in terms of its interdependence with the other
forms of promotion and messages, such as hybrid messages involving
advertising and publicity26
7. measure the impact of publicity in terms of the duration or lag of its effects, its
qualitative superiority over paid-for advertising, etc
8. study various consumer behavior issues, such as its effect on destination image
and choice, and its impact on visitation to individual enterprises participating in
the program
The results of this exploratory study provide an insight into the operationalization of
publicity programs by NTOs, and therefore a step towards these further research
opportunities.
42
EXHIBITS - TABLES
Table 1: Average promotional budget allocations Type of promotional activity Average Allocation (%) Consumer advertising 38 Personal selling to the trade 23 Publicity and public relations 14 Trade advertising 12 Direct marketing 6 Sales promotion partnerships 5 Personal selling to consumers 2
43
Table 2: Publicity and public relations budget allocation range Form of publicity and public relations Range of budget allocation (%) VJPs / media familiarization tours 2 - 12 Newsletters and magazines 2 - 5 Video and photograph libraries 2 - 2.5 News releases 0.5 - 5 Trade relations and databases 0.5 - 1 Information kits 0.5 - 5 Others 0 - 3
44
Table 3: Perceived importance of promotional activities Type of promotion Category Subcategory Importance
rating* Consumer advertising Television
Radio Outdoor Internet Print
5.0 2.8 3.9 4.3 3.9
Trade advertising Trade magazines and newspapers 4.7 Personal selling to the trade
Trade shows, exhibitions and events Specialist travel agency programs Trade familiarization tours Meetings, conventions and incentive sales management Other
5.8 4.8 5.4 4.5
3.5
Personal selling to consumers
Telephone call centers Tourist information kiosks
3.3 3.1
Sales promotion partnerships
Travel trade planner guides Promotional partnerships and alliances
5.3 2.8
Publicity and public relations
VJPs or media familiarization tours Newsletter and magazines Video and photograph libraries News releases Trade relations and databases Information kits Other
6.4 4.3 5.2 5.0 4.5 4.0 4.2
Direct marketing Telemarketing Direct mail Electronic commerce Other
1.4 4.2 1.6 0.4
* Average importance using a seven-point scale with 7 representing ‘extremely important’
45
Table 4: Funding structure of formal publicity programs Funding by NTO
% Funding by other state, regional or city tourism organizations %
Funding by industry participants %
Total funding %
NTO* Cash In kind Cash In kind Cash In kind
Cash In kind
1 75 10 20 15 5 75 67 33 2 100 - - - - 100 90 10 3 80 N/A 10 N/A 10 N/A N/A N/A 4 60 - 20 - 20 100 N/A N/A 5 100 - - - - 100 33 67 7 100 - - - - 100 50 50 8 80 - 20 - - 100 67 33 10 85 20 - - 15 80 50 50
* NTOs 6 and 9 did not provide figures for the structure of funding
46
Table 5: Type and number of participating journalists NTO* Media type 1 2 3 4 5 7 8 10 TV and film 80 94 5 20 133 6 20 300Print media 350 938 25 130 368 - 260 700Radio 10 34 1 10 - - 15 80 Electronic media
- 50 - - - - 5 -
Other - 83 - 10 - - - - * NTOs 6 and 9 did not provide figures
47
Table 6: Selection criteria for media participants Criteria Average importance
rating* Type of media represented 5.3 Country of origin 5.6 Audience distribution of media represented 5.2 Previous participation on media tour 4.5 New market direction 4.9 Journalist is recommended 5.1 Journalist participation is subsidized 3.7 Past performance of journalist 5.3 Number of articles published / produced 5.2 Period of publicity received 5.2 Foreign offices provide list of journalists 5.7
* Based on a seven-point Likert scale with 7 representing ‘extremely important’
48
Table 7: Arrangement handled by NTO *Percentage of NTOs indication that they handled this element of the arrangements
49
Table 8: Information and material provided to participating media Information and material Provided (%)* Letter of invitation 92 Programme guidelines 90 Media kit 85 Promotional brochures 82 Maps 100 Photographs 75 Transparencies 68 Videos 71 Story-line material 55 Itinerary 100 Press releases 82 Annual report 100 Target market information 55 Special event information 84 Marketing guide 38 General information on the country 100
*Percentage of NTOs providing such material
50
Table 9: Performance evaluation methods used Performance evaluation method Utilization (%)* Measurement of the number of participating journalists 67 Determination of the number of different forms of media represented
78
Estimate of the audience for each form of media 89 Determination of the period of publicity coverage 44 Calculation of the equivalent column cost of printed material 78 Estimate of the number of trade enquiries 22 Estimate of the number of consumer enquiries through travel agents
44
Monitoring of international arrivals 78 Undertaking visitor surveys on arrival 33 Determining the number of press kits distributed 22 Measuring enquiries by country following publicity 44 Monitoring the number of media interviews conducted 33 Monitoring the number of media enquiries 44 Measuring the number of product brochures distributed 56 Monitoring the number of films or special promotions conducted
56
Other 33 *Percentage of NTOs indicating use of the performance evaluation method
51
Table 10: Reporting of outcome of publicity programs Report to* Report form Government (%) Industry (%) Post-trip report 33 56 Copy of journalist’s publicity 22 100 Copy of overseas publications 22 78 Media reports 33 67 Statistical reports 33 44 Industry reports 22 33 Annual reports 67 67 Additional program publicity 33 33 Summary to tourism organizations 11 44 Feedback mailouts - 22
*Percentage of NTOs reporting
52
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AUTHORIZATION This is to authorize the School of Communication at Hong Kong Baptist University to place my project titled “Integrated Marketing Communications in Promoting Destinations: A Study of Publicity Program used by National Tourism Organizations” in the HKBU library for general public reference and inspection. Name: Florence H.M. Chan Student ID: 04405285 Signature: Date: 17 July 2006
PLAGIARISM DECLARATION FORM Student Name: Florence H.M. Chan Student Number: 04405285 Name of Project: Integrated Marketing Communications in Promoting Destinations:
A Study of Publicity Program used by National Tourism Organizations
Submission Date: 17 July 2006 Declaration: I have read the relevant sections on Plagiarism provided in the Handbook for Graduation Project and observed the standards of conduct. I am fully aware of the consequences in the event of plagiarism. I declare that, to the best of my knowledge, this project represents my own work and all sources have been properly acknowledged, and the Project contains no elements of plagiarism. I further declare that the Project has not been previously included in a thesis, dissertation or report submitted to this University or to any other institution for a degree, diploma or other qualification. Student’s Signature: _______________________________________ Date: 17 July 2006