Audience Development and Visitor Engagement - the research tool kit

One way of attracting visitors - good cakes in the café!

How should you set about visitor market research as part of a programme of audience development and visitor engagement? The case study on the link below sets out a method for understanding the profile and background of past and current visitors to a major multi site museum and heritage attraction that can then lead on to creating an audience development programme for attracting new visitors, encouraging repeat visitors and importantly ensuring that both are entertained and engaged during the visit. The case study covers the requirement to gather and measure the views of visitors and ‘non visitors’ on the attraction ‘offer’. Overall the approach is aimed at determining who the visitors are, where they come from, what their needs are in terms of the visit and to identify gaps in both the product offering as well as communications, pricing, on site facilities etc.

Click here to see the case study

Researching, Developing and Marketing Tourism Products

Speakers from Attract can offer the following content for conferences workshops, seminars and academic courses - all tailored to fit the audience

 

1. Tourism - Destination Marketing

 Marketing is one of the core functions of a destination manager. The module provides advice on adopting a strategic approach from the outset i.e. defining the product, market planning and targeting, identifying the right media and implementing campaigns.

 

• A strategic approach to Destination Marketing
• The product or what to take to market, including branding
• Who to target
• Routes to market – or how to reach the visitor
• Marketing to business tourism organisations
• Selecting the media mix
• Case study

 2. Visitor attractions

This module looks at what constitutes an attraction, examines the general principles of developing an attraction, the focus of different kinds of attraction and in particular looks at attractions in the cultural and heritage tourism sector

 

• Defining Cultural and Heritage tourism
• Basic concepts - setting the scene
• Feasibility studies and business planning
• Audience Development Planning
• Interpretation - developing themes and storylines
• Access for all - physical and intellectual
• Operational issues in visitor attractions
• Case study - based on a visit to a local attraction and a workshop

3. Using market research techniques to help make the right decisions

This module looks at gathering and using data on which to make the right strategic decisions and how to use market research to monitor and evaluate performance.

 

• Key elements of a successful research project
• Developing the objectives of the research project
• Primary and secondary research - differences and when to use
• Quantitative and qualitative research – differences and when to use
• Other techniques’ e.g. online, desk research, diaries, workshops, csultation
• Ad hoc and on-going/continuous research
• Evaluation of marketing activity
• Planning and developing a brief
• Case study