Who's Who in Tourism

What Does it Mean for Tourism Businesses?

See also:

• Public sector tourism
• Private sector tourism

So what do the complex structures of public and private sector tourism mean for tourism businesses?

More support

With so many changes having taken place in tourism over the last ten years - especially the changes in technology, visitor trends and competition - having good business support is crucial to success. With regional, area and local tourism organisations and a diverse range or private sector operators it has never been easier to find answers, get advice and network with other businesses.

More choice

As a tourism business you have more ways than ever of reaching customers:

• Through your own marketing and your own website
• Through working with the public sector
• Through working with the private sector: choosing partners to market with and who can sell or re-sell your products and services

More homework

Unfortunately this also means more homework. There are so many places to advertise, not just all the traditional media: magazines, newspapers, radio, posters etc but now all the online and partner opportunities. This means you need to devote more time to thinking about how you sell and who you work with. The rewards are obvious - more business - but since most options involve a fee, either an advertising fee or a commission fee, then you need to be careful to make sure you pick the most cost effective ones for you. See our marketing section to see how you could do this.

What should you do?

Ultimately your decisions are down to what's right for you and your business. That said there are some things you definitely should do:

1. Get involved with the public sector in some way - because they aren't commercial organisations they aren't driven by making profit. They provide services and support as well as marketing and their destination sites are tourist information rich in way commercial sites simply cannot be - so they attract large numbers of visitors. And because they are the 'tourist-board' (in visitors eyes) they carry a lot of credibility.
2. Make yourself known to your Tourist Information Centres - they are the tourism equivalent of high street retail outlets and hundreds of thousands of visitors call in, phone and email each year. Go down, pay them a visit, take your literature along, invite them to come and see your business, offer free entry so staff can check you out personally.
3. Have the best website you can. That doesn't mean the most expensive website you can. Good websites are about the right information, the right tone, the right images and good booking/buying options. A good website can cost less than two hundred pounds. See our technology section for more information.
4. Take advantage of free advertising. There is lots of it around - see our marketing section for more information.
5. Use some form of distributable tourism e-commerce system - especially if you are an accommodation provider - so that your availability can be accessed by distributors and online travel agents. Check our technology section for more information.
6. Investigate which advertising and which commercial partners may be the right ones for you. Check the marketing section to see how to research them.

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