Special Interest Tourism

The International Travel College of New Zealand 1
Special Interest Tourism
Unit #13 – Learning Outcome 1
The nature and development of
special interest tourism

Specialised tourism involves group or
individual tours by people who wish to
develop certain interests and visit sites
and places connected with a specific
subject.
Generally speaking, the people
concerned exercise the same
profession or have a common hobby.
World Tourism Organisation (WTO) 1985

Definitions of Special Interest
Tourism
• A counter-point to mass tourism
• A set of practices that differentiates tourists
• Greater opportunities
• A more meaningful set of experiences for
tourists
• Meeting specific needs, motivations and
interests
• Also referred to as niche tourism
• Includes leisure and recreational experiences
driven by the specific interests of individuals or
groups

Classification of Special Interest
Tourism:
• Active – sports, cycling, hiking, skiing, sailing
• Social – youth tours, clubbing, singles trips
• Educational – cooking, language schools
• Discovery – Antarctic exploring, Galapagos expeditions
• Hobbies – wine tasting, garden tours, flower shows
• Challenge/excitement – climbing Everest, trekking
• Relaxation – cruising, canal boats, camping
• Health & therapy – Spa holiday to Thailand, medical tours

Factors that Facilitated Growth of
• Evolution of transport
• Development of winter sports
• Increase in paid holidays
• Technical developments in all transport
• Advent of long-haul travel via jet aircraft
• Increased awareness of environmental & cultural impact of mass tourism
• Social changes leading to cash rich/time poor consumers seeking better quality/more
stimulating holidays
• Availability of low-price flights opening up backpacker market
• Introduction of budget airlines
• Developments in specialist equipment and systems
• Market diversification and emergence of niche providers
• Competition among providers and destinations
• Construction of new attractions in destinations
• Increased access to remote locations
• Regeneration of urban areas increasing their appeal
• Improved communication and marketing of natural features
• Improved infrastructure to cater for tourism

Internet & TV Influences in SIT
Growth
• Advent and expansion of TV travel shows, reality
shows, game shows featuring exotic locations
and activities
• Use of the internet for promoting niche products
and places + huge expansion in online booking
systems
• Increasing use of social media (facebook, twitter,
Instagram etc) to market, network, promote and
communicate with consumers, influencers,
networks

Social Media & Tourism Industry
• 40% of online travellers visit social networking sites to influence destination selection
• 87% said reviews impacted hotel choice
• 84% said reviews impacted method of travel
• 78% said reviews impacted choice of dining
• 70% of consumers trust online recommendations while only 14% trust advertisements
• 50% of blog readers read travel blogs
• 57% of travel-related website visitors read traveller-written reviews
– 97% of readers thought those reviews were accurate
• Facebook has the greatest influence over 25-34 year-old's holiday choices, and the greatest
influence over men
• More than 500 million active users
• About 70% of Facebook users are outside the United States (More than 70 translations are
available on the site)
• People spend over 700 billion minutes per month on Facebook
• More than 30 billion pieces of content (web links, news stories, blog posts, notes, photo albums,
etc.) shared each month
• TripAdvisor had the greatest impact on female booking habits
• 34 million unique monthly visitors
• 35 million reviews
• 98% of topics posted in the forum are replied to within 24 hours
• Twitter
• Twitter's search engine receives around 600 million search queries per day
• 175 million registered users
• 95 million tweets written per day
• Source: http://www.stikkymedia.com

Tourism Research &
Travel Motivators

Tourism Research
• 1950’s/60’s tourism was recognised as
contributor to economy
• Need for research to gain better
understanding of industry
• Research info informed planning and
policy to help deliver products that
matched demand
• Start of gathering statistical data

Research Includes:
• What products & services should be
offered to consumers?
• What types of consumers to target with
specific products & services?
• What price to charge for products &
services?
• How to promote products & services?

Tourism Research Categories
• Consumer behaviour and demand
Consumer Research)
• Supply of the tourism product (Product
Research)
• The relationship between product and
consumer

Consumer Research
1. Info which creates a profile of tourists
2. Info relating to tourist expenditure
3. Info on motivations for travel
4. Info on tourist behaviour and
consumption patterns
5. Info on consumer satisfaction levels

Tourist Types/Classifications
• By product: mass market or special interest
• By nature of the activity: active or passive
• Location preference: coastal, rural, city, mountains, lakes
• Duration of trip & distance travelled: day trip, weekend
break, annual holiday
• By purpose: business or pleasure
• By age/socio-economic group: backpackers, DINKS,
SINKS, Both DINKS & SINKS, empty nesters, boomers, youth
• By tourism type: heritage, rest, experience, special purpose

Travel Motivators
What motivates people to travel?
What motivates people to travel to a particular
place or to take a particular type of trip?

“People go away because they no longer feel
happy where they are – where they work,
where they live.
They feel the monotony of the daily routine,
the cold rationality of factories, offices,
apartment blocks and transport, shrinking
human contact, the repression of feelings, the
loss of nature and naturalness…holidays thus
become therapeutic fantasies projected on to
distant lands.”

Motivation Theories
• Maslow Hierarchy of Needs
• Cuebro Ramumbos' 4 categories:
* Physical Motivators
* Cultural Motivators
* Interpersonal motivators
* Status and prestige motivators
• Professor Gray – Wanderlust and Sunlust
• Tourism as ‘discovery’

Product Differentiation
• Differentiation is part of the ‘marketing mix’ and can be defined as:
** “Making the output of a business distinctly different from the
output of competitors”
**“The process by which a product is distinguished from others, so
that it appeals more to the target audience”
• This process ensures that the product is distinct from other products
• Product differentiation gives the product or service an ‘edge’ over
rival products
• Highlights unique aspects of the products and generates value for
the product in the eyes of the buyer
• If the buyer perceives a difference they will remember the product
and buy it

The Marketing Mix in Tourism
1. Product: an item that satisfies what a consumer needs or wants.
2. Place: any way that the customer can obtain a product.
Price: the amount a customer pays for the product.
3. Promotion: any vehicle you employ for getting people to know more about
your product
4. People: the employees of the organization with whom customers come
into contact.
5. Packaging: the integration into one package of the components of the
tourism product
6. Programming: strategies designed to increase customer spending (add-
ons)
7. Partnership: when two or more businesses co-operate together on some
aspect of their business operations
8. Partnership: when two or more businesses co-operate together on some
aspect of their business operations

Marketing Challenges
• Tour operators face competition not just from other tour operators in their
area, but from other areas and destinations.
• Potential clients can choose to not only use a different tour company, but a
different type of holiday to a totally different place.
• With similarities increasing between destinations because of globalization,
countries have in many cases become interchangeable in the tourist’s mind.
• Whether they are seeking good beaches, tranquil scenery or ancient cities,
it has become relatively unimportant to many people as to where these
happen to be found.
• This makes it particularly important for destinations such as New Zealand
(far flung and considered expensive to travel to) to offer something unique in
the tourism market.
• Todays consumers often make choices based on “whether the product
represents an exciting new concept-a desirable experience”.
• With this in mind all tourism providers need to work hard at differentiating
themselves in a very crowded market.

SWOT Analysis
• A structured planning method used to evaluate the Strengths, Weaknesses,
Opportunities, and Threats involved in a project or in a business venture.
• Can be carried out for a product, place, industry or person.
• It involves specifying the objective of the business venture or project and
identifying the internal and external factors that are favourable and
unfavourable to achieving that objective.
• When considering the start up of a tourism business or when running an
existing tourism business, a SWOT analysis is a commonly used tool to help
identify current or potential product differences.

Strengths Weaknesses
characteristics of the business
or project that give it an
advantage over others
characteristics that place the
business or project at a
disadvantage relative to others
Opportunities Threats
elements that the business
or project could exploit to
its advantage
elements in the
environment that could
cause trouble for the
business or project
SWOT Analysis as a Marketing Tool

Differentiating Concepts in Tourism:
PRICE:
Differentiation based on price leadership is mostly unsuccessful in the
tourism sector as whilst it might generate more individual sales it
results in less revenue whilst expenditure remains the same, reduces
profit and can be a quick path to bankruptcy!
Differentiation based on high prices is more successful, as for many
people high prices equals better quality and exclusiveness of product.
Expensive products bring prestige as fewer people can afford them,
hence special interest tourisms’ success into very exclusive tours such
as Mountain Gorilla Tours in Rwanda or expeditions to climb Everest.

BEING FIRST:
The first business to launch and operate a new
or innovative product brings with it kudos and
uniqueness in the marketplace.
Consumers may believe that ‘first to market’
business operators have more knowledge or
experience than those who copy or follow on
later.

TRADITION + AUTHENTICITY
Tradition and authenticity are often sought after
characteristics in special interest tourism.
For example, Maori tourism providers can offer a
unique insight into their cultures through sharing
their traditions and customs with visitors. Non
Maori tourism providers appear less authentic
when attempting this same type of tourism as they
lack the intrinsic ‘mana’ and respect conferred on
tangata whenua.

SPECIAL EVENTS
The delivery of a special event provides a unique opportunity for tourism
operators who can use the event in differentiating their product or destination.
Eg The New York Marathon can only take place in New York and tour operators
sell packages for participants and supporters knowing that their destination will
have a unique offering in the market for that time period.
Similarly London used the Olympics 2013 as their leverage for a huge tourism
campaign not just during the Olympics itself, but before and after for visitors to
check out the facilities and take in the scenes captured during the event itself.
Examples of Special Events Tourism in New Zealand include the Rugby World
Cup of 2011, the Winter Festival in Queenstown, the Jazz Festival in Waiheke
or the Food & Wine Festival in Devonport. The boost in tourism numbers of, for
example, RWC generated more than half a billion dollars in expenditure in the
Auckland region alone.

ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS
In order to genuinely differentiate on environmental grounds, tourism
businesses must establish:
• that consumers are prepared to pay more for a sounder environmental
product
• establish credible environmental product attributes and
• find an environmental innovation that cannot easily be imitated by
competitors.
As companies rush to be more environmentally friendly, many eco-
attributes are now becoming the norm in the eyes of the consumer.
Eg hotels promoting their use of grey water or recycling strategies may
not find any increase in business as these strategies are now
commonly in use.

UNIQUE NATURAL RESOURCES
Marketers commonly use the environment as their unique and genuine point of
difference as natural resources (such as lakes, mountains, scenery) cannot
readily be copied or replicated.
eg: if you’re operating culinary tours in Wanaka the beautiful scenery and
surroundings will be key points of difference to other culinary tours that may
take place in a big city or suburban environment.
One of the best and long standing destination marketing success stories within
New Zealand is New Zealand itself!
Tourism New Zealand’s use of the ‘Clean, Green’ message along with the
iconic 100% Pure logo has been sustained for 24 years, although it gets harder
and harder to justify the message with constant pressure on tourism operators
and the public to help reinforce and ‘prove’ that the message is true.

Tourism Trends in
Development

What is Driving the SIT Market?
The Modern Traveller
Today’s traveller is turning their back on what they see as contrived,
almost make-believe, vacation destinations. The modern traveller
wants to discover authentic places, regardless of whether it was a
tourist hotspot.
Build Your Own Package & Book It Online
Travellers are increasingly taking the power of booking their trips into
their own hands.
For 54% of global tourists, this results in making a booking online.
Planning a holiday online means that a traveller will often discover
options and accommodation that they would not otherwise have done,
and they will usually save money doing it this way.

The BIG Growth Niches
1. Cruising
2. Adventure Travel
3. Medical Tourism

The Top Ten countries for
Medical Tourism in 2012:
1. Thailand
2. Malaysia
3. South Africa
4. Egypt
5. Hungary
6. Costa Rica
7. Israel
8. India
9. Turkey
10.Lithuania

Also trending upwards…
Culinary
Tourism

Battlefield Tourism

Shopping Tourism

Grey Tourism

‘Doom’ Tourism

Cultural & Heritage Tourism

Bird-Watching Tourism

Farm & Country
Tourism

Educational Tourism

Cycling Tours

Sports Tours

Movie
Inspired
Tourism
Hobbit movie making:
• 99 sets built
• 6750 domestic flights taken
• 19 commercial properties leased long term
• 93,000 hotel bed nights sold
• 1800 rental cars hired
• 1650 work vehicles used
• $380,000 spent on coffee
• $9,180,000 spent on set construction materials
• Approximately 16,000 days worked by New Zealand actors
• $1,450,000 spent with local food suppliers
Source: Warner Bros. Pictures
The legacy of the Lord of the Rings
In 2004
• 6% of visitors to New Zealand (around 120,000 -150,000 people) cite The Lord of the Rings
as being one of the main reasons for visiting New Zealand.
• 1% of visitors said that the Lord of the Rings was their main or only reason for visiting.
• This 1% related to approximately NZ$32.8m in spend
• 63,200 visitors participated in a Lord of the Rings activity while here.
• 9,988 international tourists did a group tour for LOTRs fans
• 20,251 international tourists did an organised tour that included a LOTR site
• 29,233 international tourists visited a LOTR site independently
• Since 2004, an average 47,000 international visitors each year have visited a film location.

Special Interest Tourism

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