Article Summary
Matthew Gardiner, Senior Vice President of FINN Partners and London Director of Travel Massive, delves into the exciting opportunities and distinct challenges of destination marketing, highlighting how powerful brand storytelling and strategic vision can transform a place into a must-visit destination.
Destination marketing is different.
The challenge of destination marketing compared to product or service marketing is that you don’t own or control your product. Who makes sure that the value promise is met everyday? It’s the tourism businesses in the region.
That creates a really interesting interaction between the destination marketing organisation and the tourism businesses and stakeholders within the region. Destination marketing contrasts sharply to marketing hotels, airlines, theme parks where most aspects of their product is under the organisation’s control.
Destination marketing should have a strong brand play. It is easy to tell tourists what there is in a destination. Done well, destination marketing should focus not on the product attributes or attractions of a country or region but instead what all these things mean for tourists. What does your country enable a tourist to experience? What sort of emotions? Our communications, as destination marketers, need to go beyond the functional benefits of visiting a destination. It’s about tapping into consumers’ emotions, values and aspirations.
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It’s about selling an experience, a feeling and a story. Destination marketing invites people to imagine themselves in a place and branding is one of the most important components of that. A destination offers a broad spectrum of experiences (nature, culture, food, adventure, entertainment), appealing to different types of travellers. This makes it a multidimensional brand with a wide audience to cater to.
If you’re a tourist board, you also can’t police your brand in the same way that you would do if you were, say, an airline, but that needs to be embraced. In destination marketing we don’t want to be perfect in our marketing. We don’t want to create perfection. What we want is for our story to carry – and for different stakeholders to tell our story, share our narrative even if that’s in their own way. A brand is the sum of its stories. Branding is about be front of mind. It’s about claiming share of voice and share of heart.
Canada’s relatively new “We are open” messaging, positioning Canada as the destination that inspires radical openness in the World is one that really resonates with me. It’s a clever emotional play. In a world that makes us feel trapped, Canada’s openness helps us break free. It’s Canada’s unique blend of openness; open spaces, open hearts, and open minds that offers the space for growth and enrichment. Canada – Not just open to business. Not just open to visitors but open as a people. Open as a way of life. Maybe I should disclose that I have some bias (Canadian family).
With global travellers increasingly seeking inclusive, welcoming destinations, one has to wonder why Destination Canada isn’t making a bolder push to lean into their “we are open” messaging and fully capitalise on Canada’s reputation for diversity and openness.
In terms of brand campaigns, a standout example for me was Visit Britain’s “Bond is Great” campaign featuring Connery, Moore, Dalton, Brosnan and Craig. The campaign brilliantly tapped into the global appeal of James Bond, blending the glamour, adventure and sophistication of the iconic British spy with the allure of real-life British destinations. Paired with cinematic visuals, it showcases the UK as a place of excitement, elegance and timeless appeal.
In terms of experience, it presents the opportunity of your own personal Bond adventure. It makes the UK feel aspirational and thrilling, yet accessible. It turned the UK into more than just a place to visit and at the same time highlights the power that film and TV productions have in redefining how people choose travel destinations, turning iconic locations into must-see spots for fans worldwide. If you’re interested in making an impact with the right partnerships in film and television, don’t miss the WTM session on how on-screen depictions can influence travel behaviours.
One session that I’m particularly excited about at WTM is Destination Reimagined: The Art of a Travel Sector Rebrand with Joy Jibrilu, CEO, Nassau & Paradise Island Promotion Board and Matthieu Quyollet, Chief Business Development & Integration Officer, Eurostar. If you want to learn about the nuances of crafting a compelling, authentic story that sets a destination or organisation apart, in this session we’ll outline key strategies for building a successful brand that not only attracts visitors but fosters long-term loyalty and sustainable growth.