Selling That Tourist Feeling ...

I had the good fortune to be invited by Daithí Kearney to the #NTUTORR - "Embedding the UN Sustainable Development Goals in Teaching and Research" event last week in #DKIT. Lots of really interesting people sharing there experiences on Synergies in Arts, Heritage and Tourism. But I was struck by a presentation from Prof Simon McKerrell from Glasgow Caledonian University who presented a keynote speech about selling the intangible rather than the outputs of our actions. Its all about selling the feeling.

Its something I have been aware of for quite a while having worked with Fáilte Ireland for a few years on large digital projects like #VisitDublin #MeetInIreland and #DiscoverIreland. During the discovery phases for those projects we often brainstormed and researched in depth about the tourist. What drives, inspires and guides a tourist to take a holiday - preferably in Ireland? Why come here when there are so many other (sometimes warmer and less expensive) places in the World to visit? Why Cork, Why Kerry, Why Louth - Why Ireland?

Simons speech got me thinking as he remarked that far too often Marketers, Promoters, Local Government and National Agencies focus on the "transaction" as the goal when in fact its the "intangible" that is the gold.

A lightbulb went on in my head as he spoke as it wasn't that I not aware of how important the experience of an Irish holiday is to a tourist but I truely wondered how it made them feel. Living in Ireland make you somewhat blasé about what is on your doorstep. For I work from home in the beautiful seaside village of Blackrock, Co. Louth and every day I take my dog walk on the beach overlooking the Cooley Peninsula and Dundalk Bay. It's a little boutique village destination with coffee shops and chic bars dotted along the main street. The destination is thriving, friendly and gets its fair share of tourist over the summer season.

Makes me wonder how destinations like these across Ireland should me marketed not about "what you can do" and see but about "how you can feel" when you come here. Words like "Relaxed, Refreshed, Welcomed, Energized, Amazed, etc" come to mind for tourists who may come from a frantic pace of life elsewhere. Instead of promoting the Blackrock sea swimming or the cycling across the Carlingford Greenway or exploring heritage in the Boyne Valley- the focus should be about how feeling free, being inspired or being surprised.

I worked for Guinness for almost 10 years and they are the World leaders at this type of marketing. They never promote how a pint tastes but they somehow manage to promote how a pint makes you feel - even before you drink it. We should be doing the same for Tourism.

So when visitors look at the picture above its hard to know what they feel. It very much depends on where they are coming from in their own lives. But the message we should be trying to convey in the case of Blackrock is one of welcome, calm, safety, cleanliness, quality and friendliness. These are all the reasons why a tourist might go to any location - the trick is to sell that tourist feeling to make them want to come here.

END

www.visitblackrock.ie