PO’IPU — The visitor industry, like the communications industry with the advent of the Internet, is a constantly changing entity. Those businesses which will thrive in this new economy are those that can continually evolve, re-think what they do, re-concentrate
PO’IPU — The visitor industry, like the communications industry with the advent of the Internet, is a constantly changing entity. Those businesses which will thrive in this new economy are those that can continually evolve, re-think what they do, re-concentrate what they offer, and re-invent who they are.
That was one of many messages conveyed last week by Tony S. Vericella, president and chief executive officer of the Hawai’i Visitors & Convention Bureau (HVCB).
Learning more about people with the potential to come to the islands, and getting them the information they need in the form they need it at the time they need it, is crucial in turning them from potential visitors to actual visitors, he said.
Where the strategy used to be targeting people with the money to come to the islands (mostly U.S. Mainland and Japan markets) and reaching them through magazines or other media to get them to come, today’s marketing must take an international, multimedia approach, he said.
That means Web sites (the more personalized, diverse, accessible and interactive, the better), lifestyle (golf, other sports, ocean activities, shopping, cuisine, entertainment, hiking, camping, etc.) and life-stage marketing, targeted direct marketing, and other strategies, he said.
Life-stage marketing focuses on people at various stages in their life, from newlyweds to middle-age folks to mature adults to retirees. People in different stages of their lives share many of the same needs, he said.
These tools can only help businesses get deeper, broader relationships with potential visitors, he added. Creating and sharing relevant knowledge about the state and counties can only help, too, Vericella said.
Even in today’s booming economy, companies cannot afford to waste marketing money missing potential customers.
Every single person in the room is different from every other person, and the more visitor businesses know about potential and actual travelers, the easier it will be to get those people the information they need at the time they need it in the form they want it in, he added.
“You have to drive response,” and businesses’ responses to requests for information must be instantaneous and in the form easiest to access by the potential visitor, he said.
Surviving visitor businesses will be “highly interactive, globally adaptive,” Vericella said.
Speaking before the quarterly membership meeting of the Kaua’i Chamber of Commerce at the Hyatt Regency Kaua’i Resort & Spa here, Vericella congratulated tourism-related businesses for their successes, and challenged them to push for even greater success and customer satisfaction.
That’s essential, since competition is keen and getting keener each day, with tourism now in the top three revenue-producing industries in every state and country of the world.
Kaua’i has the advantage of pristine beauty and a slower lifestyle other destinations can’t offer, he said.
And he singled out two individuals in the audience for their efforts to keep Kaua’i on people’s minds.
Mayor Maryanne Kusaka’s frequent visitor marketing trips may draw flak from some, but they’re extremely important in getting the spirit of the island out to potential visitors, face to face, he said.
A combination of physical (face to face) and virtual (Internet) marketing are needed to bring travel opportunities to the potential visitor, and bring potential visitors to the travel opportunities, he continued.
“Sue Kanoho every year gets bigger and better and stronger for Kaua’i,” Vericella said of the executive director of the Kaua’i Visitors Bureau.
But that isn’t enough.
A combination of creative marketing, face-to-face marketplace visits and computer screen-to-screen selling, are needed to help potential visitors become actual visitors.
Something happens sometimes between the time a potential visitor gets an intention to visit Hawai’i and they actually book the trip. He said getting the right information to that potential visitor at the right time and in the right form (magazine advertising, Internet, telephone, regular mail) will help properties close the sale.
He calls that point where a potential visitor becomes an actual visitor “conversion.” There is a high demand for travel to Hawai’i and other destinations now, so how does the industry capitalize on that? Remember, he told the crowd, the HVCB doesn’t close the sale. While the HVCB Web site (www.gohawaii.com) is the busiest Hawai’i site and will get better this fall, it simply offers information about the state and individual islands.
It is up to the individual businesses to close the sale, he said.
While there is high demand for travel in a booming Mainland economy and blossoming international economy, today’s traveler also demands excellent service, and is also inclined to take shorter, getaway vacations.
Vericella talked about “winning in the competitive destination marketplace,” with one of the goals for the HVCB being sustainable, diversified, global tourism demand.
There are no geographic or time differences in the world anymore, really, so international marketing must be in the language and culture of the potential visitor a business is trying to attract, he stressed.
Other destinations, like Las Vegas, Disney properties, cruise ships, Europe and others, are pouring dollars into their products and marketing efforts, essentially re-inventing themselves, he said.
The winners will be those that “truly add value to the consumers,” he said.
On the plus side, Hawai’i’s quality is world-renowned, and stronger than ever. Folks should be proud to be in the visitor industry on any island, he said.
The islands rank high in visitor satisfaction. “So our product is absolutely phenomenal in that respect,” he said.
The wave of tourism hitting the islands now shows all the signs of continuing into next year, he said. But every day there is more competition, more challenges, more changes.
Surviving and thriving must be team sports, and competing in today’s consumer-driven, global, information-based economy takes creative thinking and action, including the presentation of information about a product being open and accessible for all, Vericella said.
As far as the HVCB marketing strategy is concerned, increasing visitor expenditures, and selling visits to the islands to both the core (U.S. West Coast, Tokyo, Osaka, etc.) and developing (Canada, Europe, New Zealand, Australia, eastern United States, etc.) markets, remains a crucial component, he said.
Targeting light repeat visitors with inventive ways to bring them back again, and heavy repeat visitors with new things to do, are parts of the marketing strategy.
Increasing visitor expenditures is a key component, as well as balancing needs of visitors and residents, he said.
“What’s good for the visitors must be good for the residents.” It is not a contest to do good over one year or several months, but to ensure the long-term viability of the industry and islands, stressed Vericella.
Vericella has a degree in chemistry from Purdue University, and worked for various airlines including a time as vice president for sales and market planning at Hawaiian Airlines.
Alexander & Baldwin, Inc., this year celebrating 100 years doing business in the islands, sponsored the Chamber dinner.
