Brand Experts - BRAND POSITION FINDS OPPORTUNITY FOR TRAVEL INDUSTRY

Branding firm analyzes destination and tourism market, identifies strategic brand position for destinations GREENSBORO, N.C. - April 21, 2006 -

Branding experts at Stealing Share^®? have concluded that destination and tourism companies could grow market share by defining their customers in terms of how those customers perceive themselves, rather than talking to customers about the destination category overall. Stealing Share, a strategic marketing and brand planning firm, has completed an analysis of marketing approaches by the segments in the tourism industry, including tropical destinations, resorts, cruise lines and national parks as well as airlines and rental cars.

The report is available online at www.stealingshare.com. “Just about every segment of the destination and tourism industry is missing the opportunity to uncover brand positions that will allow them to steal share, which is a shame considering the economic hardship they have recently endured,” said Tom Dougherty, senior strategist at Stealing Share. “Few industries have been hit harder by 9/11 and other factors, but their response has been to tell customers, for example, why they should take a vacation instead of why they should take a vacation here.”

Based on its findings, Stealing Share recommends that tropical destinations adopt a branding position that discusses the customer in terms of being a “traveler” rather than a “tourist.” “A tourist is a distant visitor,” Dougherty explained. “A traveler, on the other hand, is invited into the local culture, leaves a part of himself behind and carries a part of the experience with him.

The power in this position is that visitors already identify themselves as travelers, yet no destination speaks to them in those terms. Doing so would allow the traveler to have an emotional connection to the destination.” Stealing Share’s investigation of the destination and tourism market includes an evaluation of a sampling of print and television advertising, an explanation of the questions tourists ask themselves when making a decision on where to go and a glance at how different entities within the tourism market are currently positioned.

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