Edinburgh

1. Team Exercice 3: Market Reserarch andSegmantation Plan Edinburgh Group nº 2: Davide Antonelli, Mirko Chianesi, Andrea Scacchioli, Stefania Sossi, Marco Vaglica 1

2. summary General information about the destination to understand which are the major Unique Selling Propositions. This point is further developed in the second stage. Background analysis: what is the actual tourism market in Edinburgh? Identification of the main research and studies for the development of the market research plan. Structure of the timetable for the plan implementation. Possible approaches to market segmentation. 2

3. General information 3 Edinburgh is the capital of Scotland and the seat of the Scottish Parliament. Its population counts around half million inhabitants; in 2001 the 22% of the citizens were born outside Edinburgh. * The Old Town and New Town districts were listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995. The city is well-known for the annual Edinburgh Festival. The number of visitors attracted for the Festival is roughly equal to the settled population of the city. The most famous of these events is the Edinburgh Fringe (the largest performing arts festival in the world).

4. Edinburgh USps 4 Edinburgh Castle, which dominates the city skyline, is the most popular visitor attraction in Scotland with over 1 million visitors each year. History The Palace of Holyroodhouse is the Queen's official residence in Scotland. Inspiration Manycelebritiesgrew up (Sean Conney, Conan Doyle), worked (JK Rowling) or studied here (Tony Blair), in some of the prestigious universities of the city, like the Edinburgh University. Enjoyment The Scotch Whisky Experience museum is dedicated to the 300-year history of Scotch whisky and features sound effects and aromas!

5. 5 Background analysis: the actual market1 People from within the UK account for the majority of Tourism volume and value in Scotland While USA visitors represent the majority of overseas tourists The main travel purpose to Edinburgh is holiday

6. 6 Background analysis: the actual market The tourism flow is quite well distributed during the year, with a peak from July to September, corresponding to the Festival time Hotels remain the most common accomodation, but threathened by VFR1

7. 7 Background analysis: the actual market These data refer to the year 2009 and they are focused on all most visited attraction in Scotland. As we can see from the second table, the first 3 places are occupied by attractions (with paid ammission) situated in Edinburgh. While 4 out of 10 attractions with free admission within Edinburgh are the most visited in all the Country; but what is interesting is the positive trend, compared to all the other attractions of the Country.

8. 8 Market research plan: studies and research As we saw from the previous figures, national statistics and commissioned research do a really good job in Scotland and also in Edinburgh to answer to the basic questions about the tourism flow within the Country, such as which are the main geographic segments visiting the city or what are the main accomodations... However we think there is a need to go into detail, especially for what concern the image and the identity of the city and especially the needs of the tourists, bot leisure and business in order to segmentate the market as much as possible. For this reason we thought about a market reaserch plan that is more focused on intangible and less measurable data, as you will see in the following slide.

9. objectives of the market research 9 1 2 3 4

10. 10 methodology Survey types Targets of the survey Location of the surveys

13. 13 Usage of the results The results should be shared among the players of tourism in order to reduce the margin of insatisfaction of the tourists and the inhabitants. The results can be also useful to the private sector in order to understand which are the needs of tourists and how to get profit from the strenghts and weaknesses of local tourism.

14. 14 Approach to Segmentation As we saw in the background analysis, the secondary research, done by local institutions, has already identified the main geographic segments. However, with this primary market research, we can go into deep and find, through proper questions, which are the differences among these geographic segments. In the questionnaires, it will be firstly asked about nationality and socio-economic characteristics and after having completed the research, it will be possible to group the different basic segments and pinpoint the differences and similarities.

15. 15 Approach to Segmentation A more accurate segmentation will identify behavioural and psychological characteristics, especially referring to the second goal of our market research, which was aimed at discovering the reasons why the tourists chose Edinburgh a destination. Finally, we will use information gathered from the forth goal (Which are the other Scottish destinations visited during the same travel? and which are the main activities done during the trip?) to identify “tripographic” characteristics.

16. 16 THANK YOU